J.J. Keller lets drivers upgrade from a desktop
TORONTO, (Mar. 21, 2005) — J.J. Keller, the logbook and compliance-guide publishing company out of Neenah Wisc., has produced an inexpensive, portable truck-driving simulator that would make a welcome addition to any drivers’ lounge and/or training program.
This desktop Safe-Sim is not only educational, it can make you into a safer driver — on the highway, in the mountains, on an ice road.
For $1,795 US, you get the CD, training manuals and videos, a steering wheel and pedals and within minutes of installation, your drivers and/or trainees can be hitting the road. In a video-game sort of way.
At minimum, you need a 2.5 GHz Intel Premium 4 Processor with USB Port, Windows 2000 or newer, a 128 MB video card; 1 GB Ram, a sound card, and a monitor, the bigger the better.
Does it replicate the real McCoy? How could it? Does it really help drivers drive? The driver sits at the computer and holds the steering wheel. It’s about the same size as a go-cart’s, with the signal light, mirror and side-view switches built in within thumb’s reach. (Are you listening OEMs?).
The trainer or programmer decides what kind of vehicle is going to be driven and through what conditions. You shift into gear, accelerate, and away you go. You can easily program the software so the driver “experiences” a variety of equipment under a whole bunch of different conditions. Want to try a single-axle day cab pulling a half-loaded 53-foot trailer through snow at nighttime? How about feeling how long it takes a single-axle straight truck going 120 km/h to meet an oncoming four-wheeler?
When simulating a haul with a sloped-hood tractor and loaded tanker, it takes less than an eyeblink for a patch of ice to turn a leisurely cruise into disaster — for the journalist, wanna-be trucker that is. Good thing that you can walk away from this one.
The software also allows you to record your performance, so you can brush up on whatever little “oversight” got you into the wreck in the first place.
The Safe-Sim has also received the official blessing of the American Trucking Associations. You can test drive the Safe-Sim for 30 days for $99 US.
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