Trucking Technology

Qualcomm improving Mobile Computer Platform

2008-06-29T11:20:00.002-04:00

Qualcomm is improving their Mobile Computer Platform shortly and some of the features sound very promising:

Better Coverage - something everyone needs.

Navigation with Maptuit® NaviGo™

* Enhanced and more accurate directions for drivers
* Accurate mileage display between the NaviGo portal and the Mobile Display Unit
* More precise spoken directions for upcoming turns giving drivers enough notice to react in advance of a driving instruction

This sounds very cool. Everyone needs better navigation.

and of course, Improved Functionality.

From a driver perspective, how are you finding the Qualcomm Mobile system?

RightTag Unveils BT RIGHTReader, Industry’s First Bluetooth RFID Scanner

2006-03-09T16:01:00.000-05:00

This is truly HOT news - why?

Because armed with a PDA and this reader, the barrier of setting up readers and writers has now been eliminated.

A driver could be sitting in his truck while being LOADED and his software on the PDA or laptop could be reading in exactly what is being put onto his truck.

Just what RFID needs.
RightTag Inc. - RightTag Unveils BT RIGHTReader, Industry’s First Bluetooth RFID Scanner

Trucking Associations: Interview with David Bradley of the Canadian Trucking Alliance (Part 2)

2005-12-01T07:20:00.000-05:00

Link to the Show

In the second part of my interview with David Bradley of the Canadian Trucking Alliance, we looked at surcharges, how new technology will affect trucking, and how the CTA is taking the right steps to recognize drivers, dispatchers and overall heroes in the trucking industry to help increase its profile.

Trucking Associations: Interview with David Bradley of the Canadian Trucking Alliance (Part 1)

2005-12-01T07:15:00.000-05:00

Link to the MP3

I recently spoke with David Bradley of the Canadian Trucking Alliance
about a variety of topics. The interview has been broken into two parts. In this first part, we discuss how speed limiters and onboard recorders can improve both safety and trucking companies on the whole.

Fleet Management Systems: Interview with Chuck Melton

2005-10-27T17:27:00.000-04:00

MTI who is listed on the home page as one of our sponsors, has been in the fleet management software business for over 20 years. So in this interview, I speak with Chuck Melton, the President, about what challenges exist in the world of trucking software.

As always, comments are welcome at truckingtechnology at gmail.com

Interview with Chuck Melton

Just claiming my feed

2005-10-27T10:40:00.000-04:00

Just ensuring this show has been added to Odeo properly.

Thanks

My Odeo Channel (odeo/a2f20d73d84bbf94)

Interview: PeopleNet's Ron Konezny on Mobile Communications

2005-10-25T19:46:00.000-04:00

PeopleNet made some major announcements at the ATA meeting in October, including the fact that they are opening up the G3 device.

What does this mean for trucking technology? Well - one driver said it's impractical to give the drivers Internet Access via a mobile comm device....not any more.

Take a listen to this great interview to see what benefits the PeopleNet system offers companies and drivers.

Kevin Rutherford on Fuel Savings

2005-10-18T10:10:00.000-04:00

If you haven't heard the TruckFlix podcasts, you should check it out. More information is available here but this post by Kevin Rutherford from 8/22 reminded me of a discussion I had with Elly Meister of the Canadian Trucking Alliance and is certainly worth repeating.

In short, drive 5 miles slower - adds 30 minutes to a 6.5 hour trip - but you'll save $20. It also reminds me of what Curtis said in our interview on Driver Black Boxes - it will help ensure you get paid for what you're actually doing - driving.

How do Drivers Feel About Black Boxes?

2005-10-13T17:09:00.000-04:00

I wanted to know how drivers felt about the possibility of replacing their driver logs with black boxes. Here's what one driver had to say.

Interview: Rick Murphy on Fuel Optimization

2005-10-12T16:05:00.000-04:00

Here's our interview with Rick Murphy of IDSC on Fuel Optimization. As he says, there's just no excuse for companies and individual drivers not to take advantage of smart fuel route optimizations.

You can contact Rick at http://www.idscnet.com.

UPDATE: There was an audio glitch around the 4 minute mark that has been cleaned up.

Here's a link to their latest news release that we discussed in their show.

VideoCast: Interview with Four Truckers Eric Clarke

2005-10-10T15:38:00.000-04:00

More of a video presentation on the interview with Eric Clarke of Four Truckers.

What's interesting in this post is the technology that he refers to in the overall process isn't as important as having the right plan and partners to work with. Four Truckers does a lot of bar-coding and inventory management and their use of the Horizon trucking software certainly helps their dispatchers but just as important, note that their drivers often use different technology (their local drivers with Nextel phones and the OTR drivers with PeopleNet). With local routes, as Eric describes, things are made much easier. In putting this piece together, I had to edit a few of the clips so I will be putting the entire interview online as well shortly so you can hear it all from beginning to end.

FourTruckers.wmv (video/x-ms-wmv Object)

Interview with Eric Clarke of Four Truckers

2005-10-07T12:44:00.000-04:00

We're putting together a larger video and interview with Eric Clarke from Four Truckers but I wanted to share a tidbit with you first. Here we talk about the different technologies that Four Truckers has used since its founding in 1978, now with four terminals across the US and what Eric sees as a key aspect for any trucking company looking for technology.

Products discussed:

Qualcomm
PeopleNet
Docubase Imaging
MTI Horizon Fleet Management

So What Mobile Communication Look Like?

2005-08-16T06:52:00.000-04:00

Update: added links to new videos

I recently did a video using the PeopleNet unit I keep in my own car, as a way to show some of the ways companies can utilize the technology.

Some key areas in the video:
- Driver Logs. The PeopleNet system when hooked up to the engine automatically marks driving and on duty hours but also lets drivers switch their duty status fairly quickly. Of particular interest here is how one unit can be used for multiple drivers.

- Messaging. Every mobile communication system has messaging but what's unique in this case is the ability to have forced messages - that is a message that the driver MUST respond to. Included in this is something similar to a filled in form message - where the dispatcher sends a message with some content and then the driver simply confirms the details.

- PACOS. Although it's hard to really show PACOS (Peoplenet Automatated Circle of Service) in action in a regular vehicle, I show how the menu items appear and how drivers can access this information even when their units don't show up.

I'm preparing some additional videos as well from the Dispatch end: Messaging , PACOS and Positioning. These all focus on how the dispatcher accesses these features from within the Horizon trucking software.

Homeland Security

2005-08-15T15:15:00.000-04:00

We need to develop an ROI for purchasing any tracking system. From my experience and research, only projects in this category with an ROI get funded.

Areas of Interest

2005-08-15T13:59:00.000-04:00

I spent some time in Ottawa the past few days and got caught up on a lot of things Andrew MacNeill was doing with blogs and podcasts and we both decided that it was time to do a trucking technology blog and even consider some podcasts in the very near future.

The first area I would like to discuss is equipment tracking as it relates to Homeland Security. We hear a lot of discussion in the media regarding the ports, hazardous materials, tankers and the terrorist threat associated with the trucking industry.

It would be interesting to hear from our customers on what they see the governement requiring of them. I would also like to see some discussion from our mobile communication partners and other technology partners on how they see the industry moving to address this very serious issue.

Welcome

2005-08-13T12:06:00.000-04:00

Welcome to Trucking Technology, a site where we'll be discussing, podcasting, and showing the latest technology for the trucking industry.