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| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2026
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.13296 |
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| _version_ | 1866917340442001408 |
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| author | Lu, Yukun Li, Chenzhao Jiang, Xintong Zhang, Qiaoxuan |
| author_facet | Lu, Yukun Li, Chenzhao Jiang, Xintong Zhang, Qiaoxuan |
| contents | Autonomous trucking has progressed rapidly in recent years, transitioning from early demonstrations to OEM-integrated commercial deployments. However, fully driverless freight operations across heterogeneous climates, infrastructure conditions, and regulatory environments remain technically and socially challenging. This paper presents a systematic rationale for human-led autonomous truck platooning as a pragmatic intermediate pathway. First, we analyze 53 major truck accidents across North America (2021-2026) and show that human-related factors remain the dominant contributors to severe crashes, highlighting both the need for advanced assistance/automated driving systems and the complexity of real-world driving environments. Second, we review recent industry developments and identify persistent limitations in long-tail edge cases, winter operations, remote-region logistics, and large-scale safety validation. Based on these findings, we argue that a human-in-the-loop (HiL) platooning architecture offers layered redundancy, adaptive judgment in uncertain conditions, and a scalable validation framework. Furthermore, the dual-use capability of follower vehicles enables an evolutionary transition from coordinated platooning to independent autonomous operation. Rather than representing a compromise, human-led platooning provides a technically grounded and societally aligned bridge toward large-scale autonomous freight deployment. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_13296 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Rationale Behind Human-Led Autonomous Truck Platooning Lu, Yukun Li, Chenzhao Jiang, Xintong Zhang, Qiaoxuan Robotics Autonomous trucking has progressed rapidly in recent years, transitioning from early demonstrations to OEM-integrated commercial deployments. However, fully driverless freight operations across heterogeneous climates, infrastructure conditions, and regulatory environments remain technically and socially challenging. This paper presents a systematic rationale for human-led autonomous truck platooning as a pragmatic intermediate pathway. First, we analyze 53 major truck accidents across North America (2021-2026) and show that human-related factors remain the dominant contributors to severe crashes, highlighting both the need for advanced assistance/automated driving systems and the complexity of real-world driving environments. Second, we review recent industry developments and identify persistent limitations in long-tail edge cases, winter operations, remote-region logistics, and large-scale safety validation. Based on these findings, we argue that a human-in-the-loop (HiL) platooning architecture offers layered redundancy, adaptive judgment in uncertain conditions, and a scalable validation framework. Furthermore, the dual-use capability of follower vehicles enables an evolutionary transition from coordinated platooning to independent autonomous operation. Rather than representing a compromise, human-led platooning provides a technically grounded and societally aligned bridge toward large-scale autonomous freight deployment. |
| title | Rationale Behind Human-Led Autonomous Truck Platooning |
| topic | Robotics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.13296 |