While automated trucking developers have established regular commercial
shipments, operations and testing remain limited largely to limited-access
highways like interstates. This infrastructure provides a platform or operating
environment that is highly structured, with generally good road conditions and
visible lane markings. To date, these deployments have not included routine
movements from hub to hub, whether on or off these limited-access facilities.
Benefits such as safety, fuel efficiency, staffing for long-haul trips, and a
strengthened supply chain turn enable broader deployment which can enable
movement from one transportation system to another.
Infrastructure Enablers and Automated Vehicles: Trucking focuses on
unresolved issues between the automated vehicle industry and infrastructure
owners and operators that stand in the way of using infrastructure—both physical
and digital—to extend use cases for automated trucking to more operational
design domains (ODDs). The report also examines opportunities and
recommendations related the integration of automated trucking across
transportation networks and the supply chain. The topics include road conditions
and lane marking visibility, work zone navigation, transfer hubs, and facility
design, as well as connected and electric charging infrastructure.