MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA —  A developer of vehicle systems designed to increase safety and fuel savings in truck fleets, along with providing analytics, is receiving an investment from Lockheed Martin.

The agreement with Peloton Technology is designed to accelerate the company’s development and deployment of truck-platooning technology for the U.S. and international trucking industries, according to a news release.

The Peloton Truck Platooning System is a vehicle automation technology that has the potential to save lives and save fuel in today’s trucking operations, according to the company. The system electronically couples pairs of trucks through a combination of vehicle-to-vehicle communications, radar-based active braking systems and proprietary vehicle-controls. The system allows trucks to travel at closer distances, which improves aerodynamics and reduces fuel use.

Lockheed Martin joins a $17 million investment round, co-led by Denso International America and Intel Capital, and has been involved in the development of autonomous vehicles for more than three decades, according to Peloton.

In 2013, Peloton began demonstrating its Truck Platooning System with fleets and other transportation stakeholders in the U.S. It claims the system reduces fuel consumption by 10 percent for the rear truck and 4.5 percent for the front truck, based on industry-standard testing.

The Peloton system has logged more than 15,000 platooning miles and been showcased in on-highway demonstrations, government, private and fleet tests in Nevada, Utah, Texas, Ohio, Florida, Alabama and Michigan.

Demonstrations and fleet pilot deployments in additional states will be held later this year.