Exploring heavy-duty truck operational characteristics through On-Board Diagnostics (OBD) data

Road traffic is a significant source of carbon emissions in China, and a thorough understanding of vehicle operating characteristics is crucial for reducing these emissions. This paper presents an integrative approach to analyze the operation of heavy-duty trucks (HDTs) by fusing On-Board Diagnostic (OBD) data. The operational intricacies of HDTs, including load statuses, origin-destination (OD) trip characteristics, and the frequency of HDTs start-stop pairs, were analyzed. We used OBD data from 3792 HDTs in China over whole year of 2022 and employed novel big data mining methods for dwell detection, load identification, and OD trip information calculation. The findings reveal that for cargo trucks, dump trucks, and tractor trucks at the OD trip level, their respective empty-loaded driving rates stand at 33.01 %, 33.58 %, and 31.71 %. The average OD travel distances for these vehicle categories are 110 km, 95 km, and 195 km, while the average travel velocities are 23 km/h, 16 km/h, and 40 km/h, respectively. Additionally, the average number of start-stop pairs for these categories is 2.8, 3.9, and 4.9, and the average dwell duration is 1.2 h, 1.6 h, and 2.1 h, respectively. This study demonstrates the great potential of optimizing load management and trip planning, and provides a reference for improving the economic efficiency and reducing emissions of HDTs in China.