Driving Together for a Greener Future: How Truck Platooning Can Cut Emissions on Busy Freight Routes

Madeira Chaffinch

27-10-2025

Perching turns into meditation the moment Kingfisher relaxes into the branch, yet stays ready for any sneaky fish. He inhales the morning like it’s his favorite tea, exhales whatever worries he never bothers to pick up, and lets thoughts float off like wayward feathers. Watching him, Zhuang admits, “I might be a revered thinker, but Kingfisher lives the Dao more than I know about it.

In Kingfisherish Wandering [1]

© Wix

As nations strive to decarbonize transportation, heavy freight remains one of the toughest challenges. A new study by McAuliffe, McTavish, Raeesi, and Harrison [2] published in Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment offers valuable insight into how Cooperative Truck Platooning Systems (CTPS)—a technology allowing trucks to travel closely together using automated coordination—could reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions on Canada’s busiest freight corridors.

Earlier experiments in controlled settings promised dramatic energy savings from platooning, but real-world trials have been less impressive [3-5]. To bridge this gap, the authors conducted a comprehensive simulation of 12 major highways surrounding the Greater Toronto Area. Their model accounted for complex real-world variables such as truck spacing, crosswinds, grades, vehicle types, and even seasonal weather conditions.

The findings reveal that while idealized scenarios predict up to 10% fuel savings, realistic platooning—limited by weather, traffic, and road design—yields more modest benefits. Specifically, platoons of four trucks spaced 15 meters apart can achieve up to 6.5% energy savings, translating to approximately 100 kilotons of CO₂ reductions annually, or 0.2% of Canada’s total heavy freight emissions. Under typical conditions with a 60% adoption rate, the overall savings drop to around 3.7%—a modest but meaningful contribution toward climate goals.

Beyond technical efficiency, this research illustrates a shift in how societies approach sustainability—by integrating cooperation as a guiding value in infrastructure [6]. Such cooperation is not merely an engineering feat, but also an expression of ecological intelligence: aligning technological progress with relational awareness between humans, machines, and ecosystems [7,8].

Truck platooning thus represents more than synchronized driving—it embodies collective adaptation, where efficiency emerges from coordination rather than competition. This principle resonates deeply with the pursuit of a system that balances economic activity with environmental responsibility. By valuing connectedness and mutual benefit, the transportation sector can evolve toward a more harmonious relationship with nature.

References

[1] Nguyen MH. (2025). Kingfisherish Wandering. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FVLLLXNW/

[2] McAuliffe BR, et al. (2025). Energy and environmental benefits of truck platooning for a busy freight corridor. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 149, 105001. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trd.2025.105001

[3] Sivanandham S, Gajanand MS. (2020). Platooning for sustainable freight transportation: an adoptable practice in the near future? Transport Reviews, 40(5), 581-606. https://doi.org/10.1080/01441647.2020.1747568

[4] McAuliffe BR, et al. (2018). Influences on energy savings of heavy trucks using cooperative adaptive cruise control. SAE Paper. https://doi.org/10.4271/2018-01-1181

[5] McAuliffe BR, et al. (2020). Impact of mixed traffic on the energy savings of a truck platoon. SAE International Journal of Advances and Current Practices in Mobility, 2(3), 1472-1496. https://doi.org/10.4271/2020-01-0679

[6] Vuong QH, La VP, Nguyen MH. (2025). Informational entropy-based value formation: A new paradigm for a deeper understanding of value. Evaluation Review. https://doi.org/10.1177/0193841X251396210

[7] Vuong QH, Nguyen MH. (2025). On Nature Quotient. Pacific Conservation Biology, 31, PC25028. https://doi.org/10.1071/PC25028

[8] Tran TT. (2025). Flying beyond didacticism: The creative environmental vision of ‘Wild Wise Weird’. Young Voices of Science. https://youngvoicesofscience.org/?p=1963