2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Trucking is a critical segment of the economy, supporting the supply chains of many other sectors, moving goods that account for about half of U.S. GDP. However, it remains the least automated and most labor-intensive of all transport modes and is the leading cause of fatalities and pollution. The automation, electrification, and interconnected operation of trucks can help resolve driver shortage, supply-chain disruptions, delivery service delays, emissions, and road safety issues.
This paper reports on the development of a plan to bring together the knowledge and business ecosystems related to trucking technologies into an industry-university consortium, providing students with learning through interdisciplinary research. To be called the Center for Electrified and Automated Trucking (CEAT), the consortium’s vision is to converge and apply knowledge in emerging technologies in connected, electrified, and automated freight trucking and public transport networks to advance agile logistics and mobility for all. It will bring together diverse private and public sector stakeholders to conduct research on commercial vehicles, freight supply chain networks, and pertinent information systems to accelerate the adoption of automated and electrified systems to transport people and goods efficiently and flexibly.
Vehicle electrification and automation technologies focused on expensive private cars may not benefit all citizens. But their adoption in commercial vehicles can enhance mobility and improve life for underserved populations. Automation, electrification, and connected operation of trucks, buses, and autonomous delivery robots can help reduce driver shortages, supply-chain disruptions, service delays, emissions, fuel demand, and road crashes, can improve agility, safety, and predictability, and can enable innovations throughout supply chains and transit networks. Research is needed on how transport and logistics providers best use automation and electrification to address national concerns, such as supply chain resilience, flexible manufacturing, mobility for disabled and underserved people, elimination of carbon emissions, infrastructure utilization, congestion, workforce shortages, work-life balance, and the safety of truckers, road workers, and vulnerable road users.
The paper reports on a work-in-progress to formally utilize industry customer discovery and innovation eco-system mapping methods to construct a whole network of knowledge contributors in university, government, and business sectors, while also identifying communities of collaborators and players with strategic roles. Contributors to the modern trucking value stream include original vehicle manufacturers, component suppliers, software developers, fleet owners, transportation companies, infrastructure providers, university innovators, and transportation planners. An extensive and rigorous customer discovery process, primarily by telecommunication, provided many insights into industry needs and opinions. A series of industry-targeting workshops and meetings were held to determine industry interest and to discuss potential research plans. Finally, a formal ecosystem mapping process was launched to discovery communities and trends in both business and innovation spheres. Ecosystem maps are tools to understand the relationships and dependencies between the various actors and parts that contribute to creating customer experiences. The work helps plan a future industry-university consortium by creation of comprehensive eco-system maps of electrification and automation technologies for commercial freight trucks and buses.