technology
The Movement of Anything | Is the Trucking Industry Ready?
Recent technical advances in the transportation sector, such as anti-lock braking systems, lane divergence sensors, and especially the evolution in dash camera technology, have focused not only on enhancing the overall driving experience but also on making our roads safer than ever before.
Drivewyze is Frost & Sullivan’s company of the year
Frost & Sullivan has recognized Drivewyze as its company of the year. Chandramowli Kailasam, team leader at Frost & Sullivan's Global Commercial Vehicles Research, said in a July 18 release that the company "addressed the shortcomings of existing transponder-based weigh station bypass systems, which require high up-front costs and heavy infrastructure investment, with a nimbler and more cost-efficient weigh station bypass solution."
Manitoba panel tackles challenge of new tech
WINNIPEG, MB - Technology is often developed to make a process simpler, more efficient or safer, but staying up to date with the trucking industry's latest advancements can often leave carriers frustrated. As technology continues to rapidly develop, fleets have to educate themselves on new technological capabilities but also look deeper into what the technology will do for their company.
PIT Group Boosting U.S. Testing Presence
PHILADELPHIA, PA and MONTREAL, QC - A Canadian engineering and research group for the North American trucking industry announced at the 2015 American Trucking Associations' (ATA) Management Conference and Exhibition this week the opening of a U.S. office and a significant increase in its presence in the United States. Performance Innovation Transport (PIT) Group is opening an office in Atlanta, GA and is adding the U.S. as the location for road testing of its technology certification process known as Energotest. Using stringent SAE/TMC testing protocols, PIT Group will now hold two Energotest events in Canada and two in the U.S. each year. "PIT Group has become the benchmark for precise, verified and unbiased data on the return on investment fleets can expect from green technologies in Canada," said Yves Provencher, director of PIT Group. "With the continual need to improve competitiveness and the increase in environmental compliance restrictions, the demand for green technologies has never been stronger. Our U.S. office will enable us to offer the level of service and experience we've been providing Canadian fleets and that U.S. fleets expect."
Here Come the Trucking Robots
GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN -- Robots might soon find their way into a very specialized, vocational side of the trucking industry, according to one truck manufacturer. "Imagine a robot that quietly and discreetly enters your neighborhood, collects your refuse bin and empties it into the refuse truck. It is done without waking the sleeping families and without heavy lifting for the refuse truck's driver," the Volvo Group said in a recent press release. It's about 'ROAR', a joint project aiming to develop tomorrow's smart transport systems. ROAR, stands for 'Robot-based Autonomous Refuse handling', and the goal is to introduce a robot that, with instructions sent from a truck's operating system, can collect refuse bins in a neighborhood, bring them to the truck, and empty them. All of this happens under the supervision of the truck's driver.
Omnitracs Unveils Rebranding Effort
DALLAS - The fleet management technology provider Omnitracs LLC says it is rolling out new branding to better unify its different business units under one name. What operated before as independent business units; Roadnet, XRS, Sylectus, and Analytics; are now fully integrated flagship products within Omnitracs' broad range of offerings including: compliance, safety and security, productivity, telematics and tracking, transportation management system (TMS), planning and delivery, data and analytics, and professional services.
Behind the Wheel of Freightliner’s Autonomous Truck
LAS VEGAS, NV -- Sometimes, trucking journalists like me do very funny things. Like getting certified to drive a truck that can pretty much drive itself. Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA) took a few trucking reporters to Las Vegas earlier this week so they could drive the Freightliner Inspiration autonomous truck, introduced in North America earlier this year. The prerequisite to sit behind the self-steering wheel of the Inspiration was to hold a commercial driver's license. Fortunately, I got one a dozen years ago, otherwise, I would have missed what was waiting for me at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. There were the two trucks at the event. Jim Martin, one of the few Freightliner engineers certified to drive the autonomous truck, would certify six trucking journalists, reminding us that nobody ever passed the test before.
