“It’s a system that could immediately save lives, save fleets money, reduce energy use, and have these benefits immediately and on a large scale,” says Switkes.

Since trucking is such a huge industry, the impact of driverless tech could be significant, he suggests. In Europe, for example, there are around 6.5 million heavy goods vehicles in circulation. And in the US it is estimated that there are 15.5 million trucks in operation. As they say in the freight world: “If you bought it, a truck brought it,” meaning most of what we consume is conveyed by lorry at some point in its life cycle.

In the seat

I climbed up the steps into the cab, and into the surprisingly springy driver’s seat. Behind the almost horizontal steering wheel was a vast array of switches and dials, displaying the state of various truck systems; standard fare for a big-rig. The only obvious sign that this truck packed more advanced features were half-metre-long antennaes on the large shiny wing mirrors, and a display on the windscreen. Mounted high, where a rear-view mirror would normally be, was a computer tablet.

The principle behind the technology Peloton is working on is simple enough to anyone with even a passing interest in competitive cycling. If you have ever watched a long race like the Tour de France, you will have seen the riders cluster in a group – the peloton. That cuts wind resistance for the riders in the pack, and they can make more progress with less energy. The same applies in the truck world. Platooning vehicles can save the trailing vehicles a lot of energy, and the front one benefits too because it decreases turbulence left in a large vehicle’s wake, which negatively impacts aerodynamics. Peloton (the company) is developing technology which would allow trucks to form two vehicles platoons, driving far more closely to each other than human drivers would be able to, to cut fuel use and emissions.