ALK Technologies has introduced CoPilot Truck | Pocket PC 6, a system that brings the company’s truck-specific navigation solution to Pocket PC handheld computers, or Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs).
CoPilot Truck is designed to deliver the precise map data and routing of the soon-to-be-released PC*Miler 20 in a small package that is easy to use in any vehicle. ALK has condensed PC*Miler’s truck-sensitive North American database into less than 1 GB for use on a PDA, resulting in a tool that gets drivers where they need to go and away from restricted roads, tunnels and bridges. A compact GPS receiver can be placed on the dashboard near the windshield and connected to the Pocket PC by wire or by using Bluetooth wireless technology. CoPilot Truck also is compatible with devices featuring integrated GPS receivers.
CoPilot Truck | Pocket PC is designed to ease the hassle of driving a large truck in unfamiliar territory, particularly the last few miles from the interstate to the customer dock, by providing the ability to automatically recalculate routes based on traffic, construction or accidents. CoPilot Truck displays its real-time directions on a Pocket PC’s color touchscreen in visualizations that convey, at a quick glance, both the route immediately ahead and the next turn the driver needs to make. CoPilot Truck provides real-time, spoken directions in a clear, easily understood voice; at the user’s option, the voice can be male or female and in 10 languages.
CoPilot Truck also includes driver/vehicle tracking, messaging and mobile dispatch functionality, providing a solution for dispatch and operations management. PDA communications can stay with the driver, providing a communications and tracking link even when the driver is out of the vehicle. ALK’s CoPilot Truck Software Developer’s Kit (SDK) allows seamless integration with transportation management, mobile communications and mobile resource management systems.
“A major industry trend in mobile computing has been the movement of fleets toward rugged handheld computers that stand up to extreme temperatures and conditions,” says Craig Fiander, senior director of marketing for Princeton, N.J.-based ALK. “CoPilot Truck is the ideal software addition for these or consumer-grade devices. CoPilot Truck helps reduce stress on drivers and helps them run fewer out-of-route miles and more paid miles. Fleets benefit from increased driver loyalty and operational efficiency.”
CoPilot Truck’s database includes 6 million miles of U.S. roadways; 13-foot, 6-inch height and 80,000-pound weight restrictions; hazmat and 53-feet/102-inch trailer restrictions; more than 100 million North American addresses; 3 million points of interest, including truck stops, weigh stations, rest areas and fuel locations; and 31,000 exit numbers. A million kilometers of Canadian roadway and street-level map data is available as an add-on.
Drivers can chose among reliable PC*Miler routing options, including Practical, Shortest, Toll Avoidance, National Network, 53′ Trailer and HazMat. CoPilot Truck | Pocket PC software is available in a freestanding version or bundled with a GPS receiver. Customers provide the mobile devices that support the Microsoft Windows Mobile 5 operating system, such as the Palm Treo 700w. Other Pocket PC operating systems and devices are supported, including Windows Mobile 2003, Windows CE, Pocket PC 2003, Intermec, Symbol and Dolphin rugged PDAs.
