Office of Safety and Operations 

Research and Development 

1

Cooperative Driving Automation (CDA) Applications for Port Drayage

The transport of freight from an ocean port to a 

destination (i.e., port drayage) is an important part 

of maritime supply chains. Port drayage is a 

short-haul trucking service for moving shipping 

containers from the port to a storage area and back 

(figure 1). This process often accounts for a high 

percentage of overall transportation costs and a 

large proportion of truck arrivals at container 

terminals. Due to its complexity, the drayage 

process contributes to recurring congestion at 

entry and exit points at ports, which leads to severe 

emissions problems and economic impacts. CDA 

offers ample opportunities to help ease these 

challenges.(1)

BENEFITS TO TRANSPORTATION

© Getty Images Plus.

© Getty Images Plus.

Figure 1. Image. Freight vehicle with a cargo container.

Source: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).

 Reducing congestion in and around ports.

 Improving throughput capability and productivity of container terminals. 

 Enabling safe and optimal movement of freight vehicles 

 Alerting vehicles to changing conditions at the port, improving vehicle response. 

IMPROVING MOBILITY

IMPROVED EFFICIENCY
TITLE OF TECHBRIEF

2

For more information, please contact the CDA Program at CDA@dot.gov

FHWA-HRT-24-023

HRSO-40/12-23(200)

Recommended citation: Federal Highway Administration. Cooperative Driving 

Automation (CDA) Applications for Port Drayage (Washington, DC: 2023)

https://doi.org/10.21949/1521463

PORT DRAYAGE

EVALUATION OF THE CONCEPT

FHWA, in conjunction with the 

Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint 

Programs Office and the Maritime 

Administration, investigated the 

presented benefits of CDA.(1) The 

research focused on demonstrating the 

application of connectivity and 

automation for trucks transporting 

containers between a mock port area 

and a mock staging area (where 

containers can be temporarily stored 

before they are moved to warehouses) 

using a short-haul drayage scenario 

(figure 2). In this scenario, shipping 

containers were unloaded from and 

loaded onto a CDA-enabled truck. After loading, the truck stopped at an inspection point where, if the truck passed 

inspection, the truck would continue through the port gate before looping around to the original loading and unloading area.

Source: FHWA.

Figure 2. Images. Port drayage scenario.

RESULTS

The research team used the CARMASM (2) ecosystem of 

tools, including CARMA PlatformSM (3) and 

Vehicle-to-Everything Hub(4), to test the port drayage 

system. Independent evaluators from the U.S. 

Department of Transportation Volpe National 

Transportation Systems Center tested the port drayage 

system using the following criteria:

 The system could perform the port drayage 

operational tasks.

 The route execution, following, and communication 

performance was within expectations. 

 The fail-safe operation of the system worked as 

expected. 

 The system used was ready for operation.

While the system met the criteria, the project team 

provided suggestions for enhancement, which included: 

 Improving object detection and tracking in the 

vehicle’s path.

 Improving truck-stopping behavior and 

truck-motion control. 

 Adding driver-vehicle notifications to inform the 

driver about system disengagement and 

reengagement.

CONCLUSIONS

Maritime supply professionals can apply CDA in the port 

drayage scenario to guide automated trucks through the 

drayage process from start to finish. CDA enables the 

automated trucks and the port infrastructure to 

successfully communicate with each other. Future 

research for this scenario includes:

 An enhanced demonstration using a miniature port at 

a one-tenth scale, to enable CDA to be developed at a 

lower cost and in a more accessible manner. 

 An enhanced demonstration within the premises of a 

port to assess CDA in a real-world environment.

1 Leslie, E., O. A. Osman, S. Nallamothu, P. Bourelly, J. Smet, K. Garvis, H. Park, 

and K. Clausse. 2022. Cooperative Driving Automation: Research into Automated 

Port Operations and Automated Commercial Motor Vehicle Operations- Final 

Report: Proof-of-Concept Port Drayage Use Case. Report No. FHWA-JPO-22-933. 

Washington, DC: Federal Highway Administration.

2 USDOT. n.d. “CARMA” (web page). https://its.dot.gov/cda, last accessed 

November 22, 2023.

3 FHWA. n.d. “carma-platform” (software and configuration files in GitHub 

repository). https://github.com/usdot-fhwa-stol/carma-platform, last accessed 

April 12, 2023.

4 FHWA. 2023. “V2X-Hub” (software and configuration files in GitHub repository). 

https://github.com/usdot-fhwa-OPS/V2X-Hub, last accessed April 13, 2023.