Onboard platforms offer new functionality for fleets that want to have it all

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Text-to-speech technology was enough reason for John Pope to convert nearly 400 trucks to a new onboard computing platform. The technology enables drivers to hear incoming messages while keeping their hands on the wheel and their eyes on the road.

Since converting to Qualcomm’s OmniVision in January 2007, Pope – chairman of Claremont, N.C.-based Cargo Transporters – has decided to build upon this platform to improve driver safety. “Within our company, what drives investment are safety items,” Pope says. “We are much more apt to invest for safety applications than for any others.”

Soon after installing the hardware, fleet managers began receiving real-time alerts for critical safety events such as rapid deceleration, speeding and activation of vehicles’ roll-stability control systems. Last November, Cargo Transporters implemented electronic logs; since then, not a single driver has been placed out-of-service because of a log violation, Pope says. In March, the company integrated in-cab navigation from Maptuit’s NaviGo with its AS400 dispatch software system; drivers now can hear and see turn-by-turn directions from pickup to delivery without the need to enter addresses into the computer.

In the near future, Cargo Transporters plans to add more tools to monitor vehicle and driver performance. To help prevent future breakdowns, critical engine and vehicle fault codes such as low oil pressure or high temperature problems will be sent to fleet managers in real time.

Nothing evolves as fast as technology, which is why investing in new onboard computers might seem risky in the sense that the technology will become outdated as soon as you write the check. But as Cargo Transporters and many other fleets are realizing, today’s mobile computing and communications technology is really a platform that can be expanded continuously and allow for new additions and improvements for years to come.

Driver communications
The latest computing platforms feature high-resolution color touchscreen displays, Windows operating systems and processing power that rivals any office PC. Included in several of the latest platforms is multimode communications via satellite, cellular and 802.11 (Wi-Fi) wireless networks.

High-speed cellular and Wi-Fi networks allow fleets to transmit and store large packets of data, including video and audio files, between the office and vehicle. U.S. Xpress Enterprises is using the multimode capabilities of its onboard computing platform, the DriverTech DT4000 TruckPC, to collect more information about its operations while pushing more content to drivers. Since implementing DriverTech in 2006, U.S. Xpress Enterprises also has developed its own software applications for the new platform while leveraging several commercial offerings.