Western Express expands use of E-Smart ADAS

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Western Express announced Sunday at the American Trucking Association’s Management Conference and Exhibition in San Diego the expansion its partnership with fleet safety technology developer E-Smart.

The carrier plans to deploy 3,000 E-Smart Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) units in facilities across the country. The expanded deployment of E-SMART follows a pilot test of 111 units in May 2019.

The ADAS software/firmware manages the maximum truck speed for any posted speed limit and uses geofencing to protect drivers from high risk locations like low bridges by restricting the allowed speed as it approaches the bridge.

Western Express Director of Safety Daniel Patterson said the company had “occasional issues” with bridge strikes due to lack of clearance, violations for unsafe driving-speeds and collisions when a rig is parked on the shoulder of a roadway. It’s very, very important to us that our drivers get home safely. So we looked for a technology vendor that shared our values.”

During the trials held earlier this year, Western Express geofenced areas throughout Tennessee and New York State encompassing 3,400 low overpasses. At randomly selected locations, Patterson said drivers tested the locations.

“After we installed the first 100 units, we started seeing an ROI almost immediately,” Patterson said, noting there was a drop in speeding violations and zero bridge hits. “Even better, we were capturing data through the E-Smart portal that’s helping evolve our roadmap for safety.”