An Analytical Approach for Facility Location for Truck Platooning—A Case Study of an Unmanned Following Truck Platooning System in Japan

Daisuke Watanabe, Takeshi Kenmochi and Keiju Sasa
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Daisuke Watanabe: Department of Logistics and Information Engineering, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, 2-1-6 Etchujima, Koto-ku, Tokyo 135-8533, Japan
Takeshi Kenmochi: Transport and Socioeconomic Research Division, The Institute of Behavioral Sciences, 2-9 Ichigayahonmura-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-0845, Japan
Keiju Sasa: Urban and Regional Planning Research Division, The Institute of Behavioral Sciences, 2-9 Ichigayahonmura-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-0845, Japan

Logistics, 2021, vol. 5, issue 2, 1-15

Abstract: Truck platooning involves a small convoy of freight vehicles using electronic coupling as an application in automated driving technology, and it is expected to represent a major solution for improving efficiency in truck transportation in the near future. Recently, there have been several trials regarding truck platooning with major truck manufacturers and logistics companies on public roads in the United States, European countries and Japan. There is a need to locate a facility for the formation of truck platooning to realize the unmanned operation of trucks following in a platoon. In this study, we introduce the current status of truck platooning in Japan and present the optimal location model for truck platooning using the continuous approximation model with a numerical experiment, considering the case in Japan. We derived the optimal locational strategy for the combination of the long-haul ratio and the cost factor of platooning. With parameters estimated for several scenarios for the deployment of truck platooning in Japan, the numerical results show that the optimal locational strategy for a platoon of manned vehicles and a platoon with unmanned following vehicles is the edge of the local region, and that for a platoon of fully automated vehicles is the center of the region.

Keywords: truck platooning; facility location; continuous approximation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L8 L80 L81 L86 L87 L9 L90 L91 L92 L93 L98 L99 M1 M10 M11 M16 M19 R4 R40 R41 R49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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