Self-Powered Trailers Promise Leaner Freight Runs
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Self-Powered Trailers Promise Leaner Freight Runs
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Re: Self-Powered Trailers Promise Leaner Freight Runs
#2I think a cool application is that someone with a remote control could park these or manipulate them in the logistics park while the tractor trucks can immediately pick a different trailer and leave
Re: Self-Powered Trailers Promise Leaner Freight Runs
#3I think a cool application is that someone with a remote control could park these or manipulate them in the logistics park while the tractor trucks can immediately pick a different trailer and leave
AI could largely do that.
Re: Self-Powered Trailers Promise Leaner Freight Runs
#4In the US, commercial trailers are used like these crappy sheds, you go get one and the ABS unit is gone, the only thing worth stealing. For any company where this doesn’t hold it’s a big deal. The bigger deal is really RV trailers. You power assist, with simple motors controlled by pulling, and you can pull a huge one with ANY car, you don’t need truck, just modified mirrors. Plus the RV trailer benefits from slow self movement and power wall when disconnected. Total off grid tiny home.
Re: Self-Powered Trailers Promise Leaner Freight Runs
#5These paired with Janus Electric[0] conversions would make a hell of a road train.
Re: Self-Powered Trailers Promise Leaner Freight Runs
#6I think a cool application is that someone with a remote control could park these or manipulate them in the logistics park while the tractor trucks can immediately pick a different trailer and leave
That adds a lot of complexity. You'd need a steerable axle somewhere, for starters.
The usual tool for this is a mini-truck called a "yard goat".[1] There are also forklift attachments for this job.
[1] https://www.totalwarehouse.com/lonestar-battery-powered-trac...
Re: Self-Powered Trailers Promise Leaner Freight Runs
#7Cool, but I don’t see the real benefit.
Electronic trucks already work quite well, start at around 150k (vs. 150k for a retrofitted e trailer), and are afaik mostly limited by the charging infrastructure. If you now add a an electronic trailer to your diesel truck, you now also have to care about charging.
Yes, in Europe the legally required rest periods can already be used for efficient charging, but this is not an benefiting exclusiv to the trailers, but for general electronic trucking.
Re: Self-Powered Trailers Promise Leaner Freight Runs
#8Cool, but I don’t see the real benefit. Electronic trucks already work quite well, start at around 150k (vs. 150k for a retrofitted e trailer), and are afaik mostly limited by the charging infrastructure. If you now add a an electronic trailer to your diesel truck, you now also have to care about charging. Yes, in Europe the legally required rest periods can already be used for efficient charging, but this is not an…
Charging time. A truck/driver doesnt remain stopped. It drops a trailer and picks up another. And a truck needs charging on the open road where there just are not any charging stations. But a trailer remains parked at a loading bay for hours, a commercial facility where installing chargers makes sense. A trailer therefore has more oppertunity to charge than a truck.
And if a company wanted to, parking a trailer to let it charge is far cheaper than paying a truck/driver to sit around.
Re: Self-Powered Trailers Promise Leaner Freight Runs
#9I have a hard time seeing this adopted in many markets due to overall system complexity and weird new edge cases.
Trailers are supposed to be pretty dumb. This is what makes them valuable from a logistical perspective. If we hyper focus on reducing the carbon footprint of each specific shipment we may find we created an overall increase in aggregate once the higher order and deferred consequences come to bear.
Re: Self-Powered Trailers Promise Leaner Freight Runs
#10In the US, commercial trailers are used like these crappy sheds, you go get one and the ABS unit is gone, the only thing worth stealing. For any company where this doesn’t hold it’s a big deal. The bigger deal is really RV trailers. You power assist, with simple motors controlled by pulling, and you can pull a huge one with ANY car, you don’t need truck, just modified mirrors. Plus the RV trailer benefits from slow s…
In practice it's of course not so simple. Every truck that passes you (or that you pass) will suck you right in if your tow vehicle isn't heavy enough or you don't have good enough grip.
Also, (RV/drum) trailer brakes suck so hard that you really want a vehicle with some additional stopping power other than regular brakes (heavy duty transmission, big engine, and diesel exhaust or compression brake).
E-brakes work well so there the e-assist trailer has a real advantage if it can do that but you'll have to get used to the feeling of being pulled back rather than leading the stop...
So evy 6.7l diesel I tow a big RV and e-assistance would be very welcome but costs likely drastically reduce the attractiveness of such a system for an RV. For a trailer that's constantly on the road I can definitely see a use case but it's not to be towed by a (comparatively) tiny car