Editor’s Note: To read Part 1 of this two-part article, please go to Don’t miss out on what wireless technology can do for you

Consider these new and emerging technologies:

Trip Recorders –Black Boxes

There has been a tremendous interest in developing black box technology similar to what has been in commercial aircraft for years. The day is coming ever closer when this will become reality. Since the late nineties, Class 8 trucks have been equipped with onboard computers that allow a diesel technician to connect a laptop computer to the Engine Control Module (EMC) on the truck. From this, the technician is able to ascertain how the engine has been treated: if the engine temperature has been too high or low, if the engine has been over-revved. The current move is to have onboard recorders track everything from critical safety systems to drivers’ onboard activities. This could include passive driver’s logs where an onboard system does all the required log entries for a driver, even determining driver fatigue. The future holds a time when this and other information will be available for everyone from the owner of the truck to law enforcement to accident investigators and insurance adjusters. The bottom line on black boxes is that most of the required technology is already available. The big question for lawmakers, regulators and the courts is where the personal privacy line will be drawn.

In-Vehicle Video Recording:

A company in San Diego has developed an in-vehicle video recording device that keeps track of the behavior of the driver of the vehicle and the activities of the vehicles and objects he comes across in his travels. This makes for a great tool for literally seeing improper driving behavior by the vehicle’s operator, creating the opportunity to correct the problem before it becomes an accident. It’s also used in defensive-driving instruction. The vehicle is equipped with a forward-facing windshield camera and an interior, rear-facing camera and records 10 seconds before a triggering event and 10 seconds after the triggering event. The unit’s sensitivity can be calibrated through its software, based on the type of operation. For example, a passenger-carrying operation would need to be far more sensitive than a construction dump truck.

Collision Warning System:

This radar-activated device warns the driver of a vehicle when he is approaching an object too fast. It indicates if there’s a vehicle in a blind spot, thus avoiding a lane change with catastrophic results. Properly installed, it can prevent the many backing accidents involving tractor-trailers. By providing this real-time information to the driver, one company claims it saw a 75% reduction in front-end accidents once the device was installed in just half of its fleet.

Fatigue Detection Devices:

With over 30% of all commercial truck accidents reportedly being caused by driver fatigue, this technology has become a hot property. With everyone from FMCSA to Public Citizen and Parents against Tired Truckers (PATT) chiming in on this one, it is an area where a number of companies are working at a feverish pace to develop the necessary technology. The plan is to develop a system capable of measuring a driver’s drowsiness behind the wheel.

Key questions

With all the mobile technology that has come down the pike in the last decade and all that is in development for tomorrow, the most important questions you must ask are:

1. Will it work at a price I can afford?

2. Will it increase safety, thus reduce insurance costs and injury and damage claims?

3. Will it create more efficiency, thus improving my bottom line?

4. Will drivers and other employees have a reasonably short learning curve to be able to operate this new technology?

   Not all technology is good or necessary. But the right technology is invaluable. And to know what is going to be invaluable tomorrow requires keeping up with what’s on the horizon today.

   Remember, it’s your company, your truck.

   Timothy D. Brady is a 20 + year trucking veteran, AMSA’s 2002 Super Van Operator HHG, co-author of “Driven 4 Profits,” developer of Load Profit Analysis Software, is the principle consultant for The Trucker’s Consultant Phone Service (866-890-8996).

   Catch him on Sirius Trucker’s Network’s “Open Road Café’s” “Trucker’s Business Advisor.”
   He is also available for speaking engagements.
   His trucking business books and software can be found at www.truckersbookstore.com
   You may contact him at tbrady@writeuptheroad.com or (731) 749-8567.

   
   
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   © 2007 Penton Media, Inc.