The vision of long-distance platoons of trucks all running on intelligent highways without drivers has been a topic for some years. But the reality is not far away.
To date heavy vehicle autonomous trials relate to individual trucks and do not examine how automation applies to combination vehicles or fleets.
Rio Tinto currently has 69 automated heavy vehicles in operation at its iron ore mines in Western Australia, which are remotely controlled from Perth (Rio Tinto, 2016).
The National Transport Commission is preparing guidelines for the first trial of automated heavy vehicles in 2017.
Australia will undertake the first trial of automated heavy vehicles in Queensland in 2017.
