Three autonomous Mercedes-Benz trucks just platooned across Europe

Mercedes' autonomous Actros trucks have been driving on public roads in Germany since last fall. On Monday, however, they rolled into the Netherlands.

The trio made the 375-mile trip from Stuttgart to Rotterdam to demonstrate their platooning prowess — the ability to tightly group together on the freeway.

The demonstration was Mercedes' way of showing its support for the European Truck Platooning Challenge 2016 initiated by the Netherlands government.

Platooning, or what most human drivers would call "tailgating," actually saves fuel and cuts pollution — up to 10%, according to Mercedes. That's because instead of each individual truck expelling energy as it plows through the wind, the forward truck plays windbreak while the other two fall closely into its slipstream. That causes the two trailing trucks to use far less fuel. Read more...