Heavy Duty Trucking

MAY 2014

The Fleet Business Authority

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44 HDT • MAY 2014 www.truckinginfo.com Con-way Freight recently an- nounced it had fully deployed its Drive Safe Systems fleetwide. That system combines three in-cab safety technolo- gies the company has been using since 2009 with two newer technologies. To the Meritor Wabco OnGuard colli- sion avoidance system, AutoVue lane departure warning system from Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems and Meri- tor Wabco's roll stability control, the less-than-truckload company added Lytx's DriveCam event recorder and an onboard performance management system from Vnomics Corp. Air Liquide announced in March that new trucks rotated into its bulk fleet will feature safety technologies including a collision prevention system, front and side-mounted radar sensors to detect vehicles around the truck, roll- over stability control and a dual-facing event recorder. Wayne Brown, vice president infor- mation technology with Maverick USA, said the Arkansas-based fleet had "made a lot of progress over the years with active safety devices." Plus, the company compiles data from these systems in its own database. The information they glean is then used to coach drivers to help them improve their driving skills. In general terms, safety technolo- gies that fleets deploy can be passive or active. Passive safety systems have long meant items such as seat belts and head restraints, but in today's age of informa- tion technology, passive systems can include those that track, monitor and record data from the truck's onboard computer, mobile communications or other systems, which can later be reviewed via reports or scorecards – or send an exception notice directly to the fleet manager via telematics systems. An active system takes specific actions when the system de- termines a dangerous event is occurring. Antilock brakes are a common example. Today they go much further. Collision avoidance systems, for instance, detect vehicles or stationary objects in front of the truck and issue alerts when the distance between the truck and the vehicle in front passes a certain threshold. If the driver does not take action, the system can apply the truck's brakes and depower the engine independently. Other tools combine the data from both types of systems into analytical mod- els designed to help fleets predict which drivers need extra coaching or may pose safety risks in the future. Track, monitor, coach and reward Technologies you may already use to improve freight and fuel efficiency also can help make your fleet safer. "Many customers already are deploy- ing technologies but not using them to their fullest in terms of safety," says Rick Ochsendorf, senior vice president opera- tions and product management with PeopleNet. "We go out to customers and help them develop procedures and pro- cesses to capitalize on these safety tools." Integrating automated hours-of- service applications with dispatch, for instance, allows the back office person- nel to know not only which trucks are closest to a load but how many hours each specific driver has remaining for the day or week. Other systems can improve safety when integrated with a telematics system, such as tire pressure monitoring systems and electronic vehicle inspection ap- plications. For instance, the tire pressure Technology: Keeping Roads Safe Meritor Wabco's OnGuard collision mitigation and adaptive cruise control is a radar- based system that detects objects ahead and measures the truck's distance relative to other vehicles or objects on the road. It alerts the driver with audible and visual warnings that a rear-end collision is possible. s a f e t y t e c h n o l o g i e s . i n d d 4 4 safety technologies.indd 44 4 / 2 9 / 1 4 5 : 0 1 P M 4/29/14 5:01 PM

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