Most fleets use digital mapping and mileage databases in their management systems to generate routes and directions for drivers on demand. A few fleets are beginning to use in-cab, turn-by-turn navigation systems to create safe and legal routes for various truck attributes, such as 53′ trailers and hazardous loads.
Truck manufacturers are also beginning to offer truck-specific navigation systems in their latest truck models. The leading suppliers of the digital map data used for all these applications are working on a radically different concept, however. In the near future, digital map data will be imbedded with vehicle controls, they say.
In recent interviews with CCJ, Tele Atlas and Navteq both said they are working with truck makers to develop advance driver assistance systems (ADAS).
“We’re talking to about every truck manufacturer. We have research programs ongoing. Everyone is investigating this,” says Bob Denaro, vice president of advance driver assistance systems for Navteq.
If seatbelts, airbags and re-inforced cabs were the first wave of safety, “The next wave is active safety,” he says. “Instead of mitigating damage and protecting the driver in the case of an accident, you try to avoid it altogether.”
The Tele Atlas Logistics Database, for example, provides detailed road attribute information specifically targeted to operators of large vehicles. As one of the largest providers of digital map data and dynamic content, TeleAtlas is now working with several truck OEMs on a breakthrough concept called assisted driver systems, says Dana Fenner, Tele Atlas’ Fleet Director.
“These are systems that are built into the integration and hardware of the truck,” Fenner says. By contrast, today’s navigation systems require user intervention; assisted driver systems are built into the vehicle and do not require user interaction to operate.
