Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/759228
commercial carrier journal | december 2016 23 JASON CANNON is Equipment Editor of Commercial Carrier Journal. E-mail jcannon@randallreilly.com or call (205) 248-1175. Continued from page 22 International partnered with Texas A&M to research and test platoon- ing tech beyond radar cameras, ve- hicle-to-vehicle communication and longitudinal patterns. They are pushing the envelope to also include lateral (lane change) movement. Tomasz Salamon, lead engineer for Navistar platooning partner Ricardo Inc., said platooning technology is readily available but needs refinement – and regu- lation – before becoming widely viable. Smay said interference from GPS satellites is not uncommon at this stage in testing, and Salamon said the ability to encrypt the radio signal tightly is an important hurdle to clear. Platooning's time is coming, and it already may be here. Lane departure warnings, adaptive cruise control, following distance alerts and collision mitigation each already are regulated and available widely. Each of those systems have to communicate with one another in a platoon, so the skeletal system – the electronic architecture – is already in the order book. Aer a couple of laps, the lead truck led us off the track to the staging area, again with our driver doing almost nothing. As truck No. 1 decelerated, we followed suit. As he veered le to exit the track, we followed him. It's interesting to watch platooning technology in action, even though it can be somewhat unnerving to ride in a truck that is being led around by some- one who is 50-plus feet away. WANT MORE EQUIPMENT NEWS? Scan the barcode to sign up for the CCJ Equipment Weekly e-mail newsletter or go to www.goo.gl/Ph9JK. It can be unnerving to ride in a truck that is being led around. Continental Tire breaks ground on $1.4B Mississippi plant C ontinental Tire last month officially broke ground on its state-of-the-art commercial truck tire plant in Clinton, Miss. e plant will augment its North American commercial truck tire production alongside its existing facility in Mt. Vernon, Ill. Continental will invest nearly $1.4 billion in its Clinton facility in the next decade, mak- ing it the largest plant investment in compa- ny history and the second-largest economic development project in Mississippi's history. e plant is expected to employ as many as 2,500 people and will be Continental's first new plant for its truck tire business globally in more than 10 years. e creation of a new commercial tire plant in North America comes as Conti- nental's U.S. market penetration increases, said Paul Williams, executive vice president, commercial vehicle tire, the Americas. e plant will include an internal training center, customer training center and cus- tomer showcase facility, and Continental will relocate its technology and warranty center from Mt. Vernon to Clinton. Site preparation will take a year and a half, with plant con- struction beginning in 2018 and manufactur- ing operations starting by the end of 2019. "We believe in our long-term opportu- nities to grow our business further in the U.S. market," said Nikolai Setzer, member of Continental's Executive Board and head of Continental's global tire business worldwide. – Jeff Crissey Once the lead driver accepted the request to join the platoon, he was in charge of the second vehicle's input, including accel- eration, braking and steering. Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant (fifth from left) joins Continental's Nikolai Setzer (fourth from left) and Paul Williams (far right) and other dignitar- ies in breaking ground on the company's new plant in Clinton, Miss.