Leader Follower Platooning

Two white Mack trucks are driving in tandem on a wet road, splashing water, with the front truck leading the second truck in a Leader Follower Platooning formation.

Developed for Defense, Adapted for Business Continuity

Kratos has established the standard for the integration of driverless truck platooning to maintain business continuity in critical industries. The Leader Follower Platoon maintains all fleet drivers pairing each human-driven truck with a driverless follower as needed to maintain haul capacity when there are driver shortages or to increase haul capacity to meet growing production demands.

Ready For What’s Next

The Leader Follower Platoon consists of a human-driven Leader truck transmitting navigation command data to a driverless Follower truck. The Automated Driving Systems (ADS) are retrofit to existing fleets with kit components that include computer, navigation, Vehicle-To-Vehicle (V2V) communication, and sensor systems. This offers clients a tractor and trailer agnostic solution as a more cost-effective alternative to purchasing brand new “purpose-built” robotic vehicles. Once automated, the trucks are deployed in a Leader Follower Platoon configuration which maintains a human-in-the-loop for addressing edge- and corner-case scenarios on the roadway.

Two white semi-trucks drive in a line on a sunny day, with the lead truck displaying logos for DriveOhio and ODOT, demonstrating Leader Follower Platooning.

Retrofit

Upgrade Existing or New Trucks
Trailer Agnostic Design

Partnership

Work with local DOT, Highway Patrols, and Government

Safety

Focus on Safety with Support for Closed/Open Road Testing

Increased Safety — Mitigates risk of driver fatigue, boredom, distractions, poor judgement, and slow reaction times
Business Enabler — Maintains supply chain activity despite driver shortages
Deployment Flexibility — Systems can be deployed to existing supply chain routes with no infrastructure modifications required
Maintain Existing Driver Jobs — Existing fleet driver jobs are maintained for driving the lead platooning vehicle and driverless followers are paired as needed
Resiliency — Deploy day/night/twilight, extreme hot/cold, and inclement weather (rain, snow, fog) conditions
Tractor/Trailer Agnostic – Retrofit the ADS to your existing fleet vehicles

Increase Safety, Efficiency, and Productivity

Kratos has taken initiative to deploy self-driving truck solutions to Agriculture, Renewable Energy, and other critical industries. This initiative is hardening supply chain activity and enabling business continuity addressing impacts of driver shortages nationwide and specifically in rural communities. Deploying a Leader Follower Platoon offers several advantages to the organization with regards to maintaining their existing driver pool, enhancing haul capacity, and having a backup solution to deploy when qualified drivers are unavailable. Kratos self-driving truck deployments solve real-world workforce and safety issues of today burdening critical Transportation and Supply Chain operations.