New products from Garmin, an expanded dash camera platform and more

00:00 This week’s CCJ Tech Shorts highlights new products from Garmin, a SkyBitz and Platform Science partnership, new integrations for McLeod Software and J.J. Keller’s expanded dashcam platforms.

00:24 Garmin has rolled out its latest lineup of GPS trucking navigators as well as two new headsets.

Its next-gen dēzl OTR series is the first to integrate with the dēzl community, providing insights and ratings from thousands of fellow drivers to help users find best-rated parking spots and navigate to trucker-preferred destinations, including loading docks and security gates.

The new series offers custom truck routing based on the size and weight of the rig with alerts for upcoming bridge heights, sharp curves and more; expert arrival planning with high-resolution overhead views of the destination; dēzl community insights where fellow truck drivers share the best-rated truck parking and preferred trucking locations, including security gates, loading docks and more; wind speed alerts: a CAT Scale locator; PrePass notifications; a view of popular routes used by other truck drivers; voice commands; a built-in dash camera to record videos of incidents; and the ability to check real-time shower availability, restaurant options and amenities at participating Love's and Pilot Travel Centers.

Garmin is also offering the dēzl Headset 110 and 210. The headsets have an LED Flashlight built into the boom mic, active noise cancelation and increased battery life for up to 60 hours of Bluetooth talk time.

01:44 J. J. Keller & Associates Inc. has expanded its VideoProtects Fleet Camera System to offer three platforms for AI-enhanced dash cam technology.

The system, which provides actionable safety intelligence based on video of drivers and road events, integrates with J. J. Keller’s Encompass platform, the MyGeotab platform and now as a standalone platform. The expanded version gives fleets the option to choose a VideoProtects solution that’s part of a robust back-office platform or the new standalone option focused solely on identifying and addressing risky driving events.

The system comes with either a driver- or dual-facing dash cam, video review and scoring feature, driver coaching workflow, live stream video, event history log and video recall capabilities.

02:32 Platform Science has expanded its Virtual Vehicle application platform to include tractor-trailer pairing across fleets with SkyMatch, an end-to-end asset management solution from SkyBitz.

SkyMatch uses smart logic to facilitate quick and accurate tractor-trailer pairing verification through a local Bluetooth network while the SkyMatch app runs in the background on Platform Science’s in-cab tablet. Platform Science’s Virtual Vehicle can unlock all signals at the edge directly on the truck without any aftermarket hardware installation.

Cargo Transporters, a SkyBitz and Platform Science customer with more than 1,900 trailers, has improved overall operations and asset awareness since deploying SkyMatch on Virtual Vehicle to its entire fleet. The result: no cargo claims, improved trailer utilization and reduced errors associated with manual entry.

03:24 As part of McLeod Software’s 24.2 update to its LoadMaster and PowerBroker systems that we reported on last week, the company has also launched new partnerships and made updates to existing integrations.

The trucking software provider’s new artificial intelligence partnerships include Greenscreens.ai and Parade.ai. The integration with Greenscreens.ai allows PowerBroker users to access real-time market rate data. This integration is available in the 'Rate Index', 'Pricing and Bid', and 'Market Rate Export' modules, ensuring brokers have up-to-date pricing information readily available. The recently released integration with Parade’s Capacity CoDriver uses generative AI to enhance response efficiency for carrier load inquiries, streamlining offer management and load booking.

Updates to existing partnerships include Samsara, SMC³, EROAD and Trimble.

The updated reefer tracking integration with Samsara simplifies the management of temperature-sensitive loads; the enhanced partnership with SMC³ enables bidirectional communication for rates, order tendering, tracking, and document capture, connecting brokers with LTL carriers; updates to the EROAD integration allow for better maintenance scheduling through tractor odometer readings; and changes to 'PC*Miler' and ‘MileMaker Web Services' through Trimble provide users with better distance calculations and routing capabilities.