Vehicle assignment for low speed autonomous vehicles

Abstract

The invention provides vehicle assignment for low speed autonomous vehicles. A method for vehicle allocation for a fleet of vehicles includes: receiving signals from a set of infrastructure sensors; receiving signals from one or more sensors on the vehicle; processing signals from the set of infrastructure sensors and signals from one or more sensors on the vehicle; controlling autonomous queuing of the vehicle using the processed signal; and controlling autonomous loading and unloading of the vehicles onto a transport vehicle according to the queuing of the vehicles.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to vehicle allocation for a fleet of vehicles. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to vehicle allocation for low-speed autonomous vehicles. Background Art

[0002] The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.

[0003] During the manufacturing of vehicles, after the vehicles are assembled, they are placed in logistics parking lots to be queued and loaded onto trailers or loaded into train containers for transportation to the next hub so that they eventually reach dealers or customers. Typically, vehicles placed in logistics parking lots wait to be loaded and unloaded from trailers and train cars. The waiting vehicles require many human drivers to find the vehicles that need to be transported from a large number of vehicles, physically move the vehicles from where they are parked to the queue station for loading, and manually load the vehicles, which sometimes requires unloading and rearranging existing loaded vehicles to make room for the nearest vehicle.

[0004] Therefore, using human drivers to move a fleet of vehicles may reduce the efficiency of the logistics of moving the vehicles.

[0005] The present disclosure addresses these issues associated with allocation of vehicle fleets. Summary of the invention

[0006] This section provides a general summary of the disclosure and is not a comprehensive disclosure of its full scope or all of its features.

[0007] In one form of the present disclosure, a method for vehicle assignment for a fleet of vehicles includes: receiving signals from a set of infrastructure sensors; receiving signals from one or more sensors on a vehicle; processing signals from the set of infrastructure sensors and signals from one or more sensors on a vehicle; controlling autonomous platooning of the vehicles using the processed signals; and controlling autonomous loading and unloading of the vehicles onto transport vehicles based on the platooning of the vehicles.

[0008] In a variation of the method that may be implemented alone or in any combination: the transport vehicle is a trailer; the vehicle is queued for loading onto the trailer, is loaded onto the trailer, and subsequently unloaded from the trailer; the vehicle is unloaded from the trailer at a train station and then requeued for loading onto one or more railroad cars for transport to another train station, where the vehicle is unloaded from the one or more railroad cars; the vehicle is queued for loading onto a subsequent trailer, is loaded onto the subsequent trailer for transport to a vehicle dealer, and then unloaded from the subsequent trailer; the delivery of the vehicle at the train station is timed to reduce the time required to load the vehicle onto the one or more railroad cars. the signal from the set of infrastructure sensors and the signal from the one or more sensors on the vehicle enable the slow movement of the vehicle; the method also includes utilizing a fleet management system, which understands the movement of each vehicle to control the loading and unloading of the vehicle from the transport vehicle; the knowledge of the movement of each vehicle includes the location and destination of each vehicle; the fleet management system queues the vehicles based on the characteristics of the vehicles; the characteristics of the vehicles include the distance to the destination of each vehicle and the expected traffic along the transport route; and the transport vehicle is one or more train cars.

[0009] In another form, a method for vehicle allocation for a fleet of vehicles includes: identifying a vehicle in a parking lot to be loaded onto a transport vehicle; determining a current position of the identified vehicle in the parking lot; using signals received from one or more infrastructure sensors and one or more on-board sensors to coordinate autonomous movement of the vehicle from the current position to a loading location in the parking lot, wherein the plurality of vehicles are positioned in a queue sequence at the loading location; and controlling the autonomous loading of the plurality of vehicles onto the transport vehicle using signals received from the one or more infrastructure sensors and the one or more on-board sensors and in accordance with the queue sequence.

[0010] In a variation of the method that may be implemented individually or in any combination: the transport vehicle is a trailer; the vehicle is unloaded from the trailer at a train station and then requeued to be loaded onto one or more train cars for transport to another train station, where the vehicle is unloaded from the one or more train cars; the transport vehicle is one or more train cars; the combination of the signals from the one or more infrastructure sensors and the signals from the one or more sensors on the vehicle enables slow movement of the vehicle; and the method further includes utilizing a fleet management system that is aware of the movement of each vehicle to control the loading and unloading of the vehicles from the transport vehicle.

[0011] In another form, a system for vehicle allocation for a fleet of vehicles comprises: an infrastructure server having a set of infrastructure sensors; one or more sensors on the vehicles; and a fleet management system that processes signals from the set of infrastructure sensors and the signals from the one or more sensors on the vehicles to control autonomous platooning of the vehicles using the processed signals, and to control loading and unloading of the vehicles onto transport vehicles based on the platooning of the vehicles.

[0012] In a variation of this system, vehicles are queued to be loaded onto a trailer, loaded onto the trailer, and subsequently unloaded from the trailer.

[0013] Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein.It should be understood that the description and specific examples are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] In order that the present disclosure may be better understood, various forms of the present disclosure will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0015] Figure 1 A system for allocation of a fleet of vehicles according to the principles of the present disclosure is shown;

[0016] Figure 2 The invention shows that the Figure 1 An exemplary vehicle assigned to the system shown in ;

[0017] Figure 3A According to the principle of the present disclosure, Figure 1 A flowchart of the system controlling the allocation of vehicles shown in ; and

[0018] Figure 3B According to the principles of the present disclosure Figure 3A Continuation of the flowchart.

[0019] The drawings described herein are for illustration purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] The following description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the present disclosure, application, or uses.It should be understood that throughout the drawings, corresponding reference numerals indicate the same or corresponding parts and features.

[0021] The present disclosure describes a system and method for allocating low-speed (i.e., slow-moving) autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles to achieve low-speed autonomous or semi-autonomous movement of vehicles without a driver using a combination of infrastructure (IX) and vehicle sensors (such as, for example, cameras, lidar, radar, ultrasonic devices). The system can be used in indoor and outdoor deployment factories. One or more systems described herein provide control of vehicle movement without a driver by using a wireless centralized fleet management system to guide the movement of each vehicle at any particular moment, thereby improving the efficiency of the entire logistics chain.

[0022] Reference now Figure 1 , a system 10 for allocating autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles 100, for example, located in a parking lot, is shown. The system 10 includes an IX server 12. The IX server 12 also includes a sensor component 14 that communicates with a set of IX sensors 18, such as, for example, one or more of a camera, a lidar, a radar, and an ultrasonic device. The sensors 18 monitor the movement of the vehicle 100 as it moves through, for example, a factory floor or a parking lot. The IX server 12 also includes a wireless communication component that provides communication between the IX server 12 and the vehicle 100.

[0023] Further references Figure 2 , in various forms, the vehicle 100 can be powered in various known ways, such as with an electric motor and / or an internal combustion engine. The vehicle 100 can be a land vehicle, such as a car, truck, etc., and / or a robot, such as a drone. The vehicle 100 includes a controller 110, one or more actuators 120, a plurality of on-board sensors 130, and a human-machine interface (HMI) 140. The vehicle 100 has a reference point 150, i.e., a designated point within the space defined by the vehicle body, such as a geometric center point where respective longitudinal and transverse center axes of the vehicle 100 intersect. The reference point 150 identifies the location of the vehicle, such as a loading location of the vehicle 100 to be loaded onto a transport vehicle.

[0024] The controller 110 operates the vehicle 100 in an autonomous or semi-autonomous mode. For the purposes of this disclosure, the autonomous mode is defined as a mode in which each of the propulsion, braking, and steering of the vehicle 100 is controlled by the controller 110; in the semi-autonomous mode, the controller 110 controls one or both of the propulsion, braking, and / or steering of the vehicle 100.

[0025] The controller 110 includes programming to operate one or more of the following: braking, propulsion (e.g., controlling the rate of change of speed of the vehicle by controlling one or more of an internal combustion engine, an electric motor, a hybrid engine, etc.), steering, climate control, interior and / or exterior lights, etc. of the land vehicle, and to determine whether and when the controller 110 (rather than a human operator) controls such operations. In addition, the controller 110 is programmed to determine whether and when a human operator controls such operations.

[0026] The controller 110 includes or may be communicatively coupled to more than one processor (e.g., via a vehicle communication bus as further described below), e.g., including controllers in the vehicle 100 for monitoring and / or controlling various vehicle controllers, such as a powertrain controller, a brake controller, a steering controller, etc. The controller 110 is typically arranged to communicate over a vehicle communication network, which may include a bus in the vehicle (such as a controller area network (CAN) or the like), and / or other wired and / or wireless mechanisms.

[0027] The controller 110 transmits messages to and / or receives messages from various devices in the vehicle (e.g., actuators 120, HMI 140, etc.) via the vehicle network. Alternatively or additionally, where the controller 110 includes multiple devices, the vehicle communication network is used for communication between the devices represented in this disclosure as the controller 110. In addition, as described below, various other controllers and / or sensors provide data to the controller 110 via the vehicle communication network.

[0028] In addition, the controller 110 is configured to communicate with other traffic objects (e.g., vehicles, IX, pedestrians, etc.) through a wireless vehicle communication interface, for example, via a vehicle-to-vehicle communication network and / or a vehicle-to-IX communication network, such as communicating with the wireless communication component 16 of the IX server 12. The vehicle communication network represents one or more mechanisms by which the controller 110 of the vehicle 100 can communicate with other traffic objects, and can be one or more of the wireless communication mechanisms, including any desired combination of wireless (e.g., cellular, wireless, satellite, microwave, and radio frequency) communication mechanisms and any desired network topology (or multiple topologies when multiple communication mechanisms are used). Examples of vehicle communication networks include cellular, IEEE 802.11, Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC), and / or Wide Area Networks (WANs) (including the Internet).

[0029] The vehicle actuator 120 is implemented via a circuit, chip or other electronic and / or mechanical component that can actuate various vehicle subsystems according to appropriate control signals. The actuator 120 can be used to control the braking, speed, speed change rate, torque and steering of the vehicle 100. The controller 110 can be programmed to actuate the vehicle actuator 120 based on the planned speed change rate, including propulsion, steering and / or braking.

[0030] The sensors 130 include a variety of devices that provide data to the controller 110. For example, the sensors 130 may include object detection sensors, such as lidar sensors disposed on or in the vehicle 100, which provide the relative position, size, and shape of one or more targets (e.g., a second vehicle, a bicycle, a pedestrian, a robot, a drone, etc.) traveling beside, in front of, or behind the vehicle around the vehicle 100. As another example, one or more of the sensors may be radar sensors fixed to the vehicle bumper, which may provide the position of the targets relative to the position of each vehicle 100.

[0031] The object detection sensors may include camera sensors that provide images from the area surrounding the vehicle 100, such as to provide a front view, a side view, etc. For example, the controller 110 may be programmed to receive image data from the camera sensor and implement image processing techniques to detect roads, IX elements, etc. The controller 110 may also be programmed to determine the current vehicle position based on position coordinates (e.g., GPS coordinates) received from the position of the vehicle 100 from a GPS sensor.

[0032] The HMI 140 is configured to receive information from a user, such as a human operator, during operation of the vehicle 100. Additionally, the HMI 140 is configured to present information to a user, such as an occupant of one or more of the vehicles 100. In some variations, the controller 110 is programmed to receive destination data, such as location coordinates, from the HMI 140.

[0033] Thus, a vehicle 100 destined for a particular trailer can be autonomously moved to that trailer using a combination of the IX and vehicle and / or trailer sensors. Routing can be done using vehicle location, distance traveled, queued for trailer loading, trailer ready for loading, etc. Vehicles 100 that need additional power / fuel can be prepared in advance based on the final queue. Other vehicles 100 destined for other trailers operate in the same manner so that the movement of the entire fleet can be coordinated. The entire fleet is coordinated through a central fleet management system that directs all traffic and logistics from the assembly plant to the waypoint.

[0034] Once the vehicle 100 arrives at the designated transport vehicle (such as a trailer) for loading, the vehicle 100 coordinates with the trailer to load in a designated manner using the IX sensor 18 and a combination of vehicle and trailer sensors to drive onto the trailer using a series of interlocks to ensure that the trailer is in the correct orientation to accept each of the vehicles 100 in sequence. If the trailer is not ready (e.g., the ramp is not properly positioned to accept the vehicle driving onto the trailer), the automatic interlock between the trailer and the vehicle fleet manager prevents the loading of the vehicle 100. Manual interlocks (e.g., start / stop) provide the trailer loader with the ultimate control of the control process. In some variations, the driver secures the vehicle when the vehicle 100 stops and other vehicles 100 begin loading, thereby saving time. The same process is used to drive the vehicle 100 onto a railroad car. In addition, the same automated process is used to unload the vehicle from the trailer or railroad car. The system 10 is geo-fenced to load / unload the vehicle 100 at a specific facility so that automatic operation is not allowed outside of those specific areas. This helps prevent theft as the vehicle may be inoperable when transported outside the geo-fence. In some variations, a manual reverse setting is utilized to allow for loading / unloading of the vehicle based on unforeseen circumstances.

[0035] In the allocation of the vehicle 100, after the trailer is loaded, it is driven to the train station for the next stage of vehicle transportation. At the station, the vehicle 100 is autonomously unloaded from the trailer using the reverse process of loading, and when loaded onto the train car, the vehicle 100 (together with the vehicles from other trailers) is re-queued again for appropriate assignment. Multiple types of vehicles can be loaded onto the train car for regional transportation. In the direct loading scenario, the vehicle 100 is autonomously unloaded from the trailer and immediately loaded onto the train car in the same sorting order. In addition, delivery can be precisely timed to reduce waiting time at the station and improve delivery efficiency (e.g., lack of parking space), all of which are managed by a cloud-based fleet management application. In this way, the vehicle will not be touched by people until the dealership after the assembly process, which reduces the possibility of dents, dents, scratches, internal dirt, etc.

[0036] The centralized fleet management application has complete knowledge of the vehicles 100 under its control (e.g., current location, destination, special instructions, etc.), which increases the accountability and traceability of the distribution process. Fleet management coordinates within and between stations to optimize the delivery timing of each vehicle 100 riding on each trailer or rail car. Several logistics applications may be used herein, which may involve a combination of IX sensing systems integrated with traffic management algorithms to queue and deconflict vehicles in real time. Thus, the fleet management application queues the vehicles 100 based on their unique characteristics (how far the vehicles need to travel, traffic conditions along the route, when they need to get there to queue in the correct order, etc.). In some variations, the vehicles 100 are loaded directly onto one or more rail cars.

[0037] Reference now Figure 3A and Figure 3B , a flow chart 200 for allocating a fleet of vehicles 100 using the system 10 is shown. At step 202, the vehicles 100 enter the logistics parking lot. In step 204, the IX server 12 directs the vehicles 100 to their next location while receiving instructions from the IX fleet management application 218, which queues the vehicles 100 based on the characteristics of the vehicles (such as, for example, expected traffic volume and transportation routes). Next, the vehicle 100 waits for instructions at step 206, while the vehicle 100 enters the parking space number provided from the IX server 12 from step 208. Alternatively, at step 210, the vehicle 100 enters the loading queue.

[0038] If the vehicle 100 is waiting for instructions, decision step 212 determines whether there are new commands from the vehicle 100. If the answer is yes, the process 200 returns to step 204 to obtain further position instructions. If the answer is no, the process 200 returns to step 206 so that the vehicle 100 waits for additional instructions.

[0039] If the vehicle enters the loading queue at step 210, the process 200 proceeds to step 214, where the IX sensors 18 and vehicle sensors 130 assist in loading the vehicles 100 onto the trailer or railroad car. Next, the process 200 proceeds to decision step 216 to determine if all vehicles 100 are loaded onto the trailer or railroad car. If the answer is no, the process 200 returns to the IX fleet management application 218. If the answer is yes, the process 200 proceeds to step 220, where the trailer or train leaves, and the IX fleet management application provides instructions and monitors the movement of the vehicles 100 at step 222.

[0040] Next, in step 224, the trailer or train arrives at the predetermined location. The process 200 then proceeds to step 226, where the IX sensor 18 and the vehicle sensor 130 assist in unloading the vehicle 100 from the trailer or train car. In step 228, the vehicle 100 arrives at the vehicle dealer lot. In some variations, the process 200 provides for loading the vehicle directly onto the train car, rather than utilizing a trailer as an intermediate transport vehicle.

[0041] Among other advantages and benefits, the systems and methods described in the present disclosure minimize the amount of human contact for newly assembled factory vehicles, have the ability to move entire fleets of vehicles with limited use of human drivers, and provide increased flexibility and efficiency of the logistics transportation chain. In addition, the combination of IX and vehicle sensing increases the robustness of vehicle allocation in different weather conditions and variable lighting, and provides additional security to allow vehicles to be loaded / unloaded within geo-fenced facilities. Other advantages and benefits include real-time knowledge of vehicle location, sequencing order for automated loading and unloading, and just-in-time loading to optimize vehicle routing.

[0042] Unless otherwise expressly indicated herein, all numerical values ​​indicating mechanical / thermal properties, composition percentages, dimensions and / or tolerances or other characteristics when describing the scope of the present disclosure should be understood to be modified by the word "about" or "approximately". Such modifications are desirable for a variety of reasons, including: industrial practice; material, manufacturing and assembly tolerances; and testing capabilities.

[0043] As used herein, the phrase at least one of A, B, and C should be construed to mean a logical (A or B or C), using a non-exclusive logical "or", and should not be construed to mean "at least one of A, at least one of B, and at least one of C."

[0044] In this application, the terms "controller" and / or "module" may refer to, be part of, or include: an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC); a digital, analog, or mixed analog / digital discrete circuit; a digital, analog, or mixed analog / digital integrated circuit; a combinatorial logic circuit; a field programmable gate array (FPGA); a processor circuit (shared, dedicated, or group) that executes code; a memory circuit (shared, dedicated, or group) that stores code executed by the processor circuit; other suitable hardware components that provide the described functionality (e.g., an operational amplifier circuit integrator as part of a heat flux data module); or a combination of some or all of the above, such as in a system on a chip.

[0045] The term memory is a subset of the term computer-readable medium. The term computer-readable medium as used herein does not encompass transient electrical or electromagnetic signals propagated through a medium (such as on a carrier wave); therefore, the term computer-readable medium may be considered to be tangible and non-transitory. Non-limiting examples of non-transitory tangible computer-readable media are non-volatile memory circuits (such as flash memory circuits, erasable programmable read-only memory circuits, or mask read-only circuits), volatile memory circuits (such as static random access memory circuits or dynamic random access memory circuits), magnetic storage media (such as analog or digital tape or hard drives), and optical storage media (such as CDs, DVDs, or Blu-ray discs).

[0046] The apparatus and methods described in this application may be implemented partially or completely by a special-purpose computer, which is created by configuring a general-purpose computer to perform one or more specific functions embodied in a computer program. The functional blocks, flow chart components, and other elements described above are used as software specifications, which can be translated into a computer program by routine work of a technician or programmer.

[0047] The description of the present disclosure is merely exemplary in nature, and thus, variations that do not depart from the essence of the present disclosure are intended to be within the scope of the present disclosure. Such variations should not be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

[0048] According to the present invention, a method for vehicle allocation for a fleet of vehicles includes: receiving signals from a set of infrastructure sensors; receiving signals from one or more sensors on a vehicle; processing the signals from the set of infrastructure sensors and the signals from the one or more sensors on the vehicle; controlling autonomous queuing of the vehicles using the processed signals; and controlling autonomous loading and unloading of the vehicles onto transport vehicles based on the queuing of the vehicles.

[0049] In one aspect of the present invention, the transport vehicle is a trailer.

[0050] In one aspect of the invention, the vehicles are queued to be loaded onto the trailer, loaded onto the trailer, and subsequently unloaded from the trailer.

[0051] In one aspect of the invention, the vehicles are unloaded from trailers at a train station and then requeued to be loaded onto one or more rail cars for transport to another train station where the vehicles are unloaded from the one or more rail cars.

[0052] In one aspect of the invention, the vehicles are queued for loading onto a subsequent trailer, loaded onto the subsequent trailer for transport to a vehicle dealer, and then unloaded from the subsequent trailer.

[0053] In one aspect of the invention, delivery of the vehicle at the train station is timed to reduce waiting time at the train station prior to loading the vehicle onto the one or more rail cars.

[0054] In one aspect of the invention, the combination of said signals from said set of infrastructure sensors and said signals from said one or more sensors on said vehicle enables slow speed movement of said vehicle.

[0055] In one aspect of the invention, the method includes utilizing a fleet management system that is aware of the movement of each vehicle to control the loading and unloading of the vehicles from the transport vehicle.

[0056] In one aspect of the invention, knowledge of each vehicle's movement includes each vehicle's location and destination.

[0057] In one aspect of the invention, the fleet management system queues the vehicles based on characteristics of the vehicles.

[0058] In one aspect of the invention, the characteristics of the vehicles include the distance to each vehicle's destination and the expected traffic volume along a traffic route.

[0059] In one aspect of the invention, the transport vehicle is one or more railroad cars.

[0060] According to the present invention, a method for vehicle allocation for a fleet of vehicles includes: identifying vehicles in a parking lot to be loaded onto a transport vehicle; determining a current position of the identified vehicle in the parking lot; using signals received from one or more infrastructure sensors and one or more on-board sensors to coordinate the autonomous movement of the vehicle from the current position to a loading location in the parking lot, wherein the multiple vehicles are positioned in a queue sequence at the loading location; and controlling the autonomous loading of the multiple vehicles onto the transport vehicle using signals received from the one or more infrastructure sensors and the one or more on-board sensors and according to the queue sequence.

[0061] In one aspect of the present invention, the transport vehicle is a trailer.

[0062] In one aspect of the invention, the vehicles are unloaded from trailers at a train station and then requeued to be loaded onto one or more rail cars for transport to another train station where the vehicles are unloaded from the one or more rail cars.

[0063] In one aspect of the invention, the transport vehicle is one or more railroad cars.

[0064] In one aspect of the invention, the combination of said signals from said one or more infrastructure sensors and said signals from said one or more sensors on said vehicle enables slow speed movement of said vehicle.

[0065] In one aspect of the invention, the method includes utilizing a fleet management system that is aware of the movement of each vehicle to control the loading and unloading of the vehicles from the transport vehicle.

[0066] According to the present invention, a system for vehicle allocation for a fleet of vehicles is provided, which has: an infrastructure server having a set of infrastructure sensors; one or more sensors on the vehicles; and a fleet management system, which processes signals from the set of infrastructure sensors and the signals from the one or more sensors on the vehicles to control autonomous platooning of the vehicles using the processed signals, and controls loading and unloading of the vehicles onto transport vehicles based on the platooning of the vehicles.

[0067] According to an embodiment, vehicles are queued to be loaded onto a trailer, loaded onto the trailer, and subsequently unloaded from the trailer.

Claims

1. A method for vehicle allocation for a fleet of vehicles, the method comprising: receiving signals from a set of infrastructure sensors; receiving signals from one or more sensors on the vehicle; processing the signals from the set of infrastructure sensors and the signals from the one or more sensors on the vehicle; using the processed signals to control an autonomous platooning of said vehicles; as well as Autonomous loading and unloading of the vehicles onto transport vehicles is controlled based on the queuing of the vehicles.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the transport vehicle is a trailer.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the vehicles are queued to be loaded onto the trailer, loaded onto the trailer, and subsequently unloaded from the trailer.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the vehicles are unloaded from trailers at a train station and then requeued to be loaded onto one or more railroad cars for transport to another train station, where the vehicles are unloaded from the one or more railroad cars.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the vehicle is queued for loading onto a subsequent trailer, loaded onto the subsequent trailer for transport to a vehicle dealer, and then unloaded from the subsequent trailer.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the delivery of the vehicle at the train station is timed to reduce waiting time at the train station prior to loading the vehicle onto the one or more train cars.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the combination of the signals from the set of infrastructure sensors and the signals from the one or more sensors on the vehicle enables slow movement of the vehicle.

8. The method of claims 1 to 7, further comprising utilizing a fleet management system that is aware of the movement of each vehicle to control the loading and unloading of the vehicles from the transport vehicle.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the knowledge of each vehicle's movement includes each vehicle's location and destination.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the fleet management system queues the vehicles based on characteristics of the vehicles.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the characteristics of the vehicles include a distance to each vehicle's destination and an expected amount of traffic along a traffic route.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the transportation vehicle is one or more railroad cars.

13. A system for vehicle allocation to a fleet of vehicles, the system comprising: an infrastructure server having a set of infrastructure sensors; one or more sensors on the vehicle; and A fleet management system that processes the signals from the set of infrastructure sensors and the signals from the one or more sensors on the vehicles to control autonomous platooning of the vehicles using the processed signals, and to control loading and unloading of the vehicles onto transport vehicles based on the platooning of the vehicles.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the vehicles are queued to be loaded onto a trailer, loaded onto the trailer, and subsequently unloaded from the trailer.

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