Platooning in logistics applications: MAN hands over pilot vehicles to DB Schenker

DB Schenker, MAN Truck & Bus and Hochschule Fresenius are deploying networked trucks for the first time in a practical application in the logistics industry. On February 13, MAN handed over the test vehicles for the joint platooning project to DB Schenker at its headquarters in Munich.

On behalf of the Essen-based logistics group, Chief Operating Officer, Ewald Kaiser, accepted the keys for the new MAN platooning vehicles from Dr. Frederik Zohm, Member of the Management Board for Research and Development MAN Truck & Bus AG.

– Autonomous and networked driving will fundamentally change road haulage. This project will focus on testing platooning for the first time in daily logistics operations. So we’re excited that we can now integrate the vehicles into the operational test runs – Ewald Kaiser emphasized.

The cooperative venture established in May 2017 will test truck convoys over a period of several months as part of DB Schenker’s scheduled operations in real traffic scenarios on the A9 freeway between Munich and Nuremberg. This will also be the first time that professional truck drivers from DB Schenker will replace test drivers at the wheel. Their experiences, assessments and evaluations of platooning are the focal point of the work at Hochschule Fresenius, which is providing the scientific support for the test drives as the third partner of the cooperative venture.