SmartDrive launches new platform, SR4 hardware
How to Prevent Truck Driver Fatigue
While fleets and truck drivers try to stay compliant are they actually doing anything to address driver fatigue? Photo: iStockphoto.com/shotbydave
">While fatigue and hours of service are frequently used in the same sentence, there's often just a very tenuous connection between the two. Drivers and fleets work hard to comply with the rules, but are they actually doing anything to address driver fatigue? It's being tired that puts truck drivers at risk, not running 10 minutes past the deadline for their 30-minute break.
“You're not going to turn into a pumpkin as the eighth hour ticks over,” says Ron Knipling, noted fatigue and truck safety researcher and author of the truck-safety textbook, Safety for the Long Haul. “The way to approach fatigue management is in terms of health, diet, exercise, lifestyle and conscientious self-management; not externally imposed rules.”
One problem fleets and drivers face with fatigue is that compliance with the hours of service rules is not optional — but fatigue management education is. So money, effort, and time for proper fatigue management education for drivers may take a back seat to compliance training — how to manage hours, how to work the electronic logging device, how to cope with the parking shortage. That can leave drivers in the dark on how to manage the real problem: fatigue.
Research from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health shows that over 30% of American workers aged 30-64 are short of sleep. The National Sleep Foundation recommends that healthy adults sleep seven to nine hours per day, but a recent survey found that 30% of civilian-employed adults (approximately 40.6 million workers) reported average sleep duration of six hours or less per day. It's not known precisely where the truck driver population sits in terms actual hours of sleep per day, but it's probably statistically similar, ...Read the rest of this story
SmartDrive Launches Video Safety Platform With New Hardware
The SmartDrive Transportation Intelligence Platform was presented to fleets late last year and adopted by companies like Oakley Transport. Photo: SmartDrive
">SmartDrive Systems launched the SmartDrive Transportation Intelligence Platform and SR4 hardware for fleets, offering a comprehensive video- and sensor-based intelligence platform for fleets looking to improve driver habits and safety.
Using what SmartDrive calls single-box architecture, the new platform allows for the convergence of data, devices (including third-party devices) and network connectivity, allowing a fleet to view all of its data in a single location. The SR4 hardware can now support up to nine cameras, including four SmartDrive cameras, four third-party cameras, and integration with Wabco's OnLane lane departure system and road-facing camera.
The system was designed to anticipate new challenges for fleet safety, including increased automation, more driver distractions, and new security threats to data and privacy. The platform will support data from many sources, such as third-party telematics software and hardware. It uses this data to give fleets better analytics and risk assessment capabilities. Updated sensors and software enable more precise triggering for non-collision events.
"We architected this platform to enable the future of intelligent transportation while delivering fleets significant value today," said Steve Mitgang, SmartDrive's CEO. "It will help our customers solve a long-standing business challenge — disparate, siloed information stemming from a myriad of disconnected on-board devices that increase operational costs without delivering commensurate value."
<img src="http://www.automotive-fleet.com/fc_images/news/m-sr4-camera-1.jpg" border="0" alt="
SmartDrive's SR4 hardware is more than 50% smaller than previous iterations to reduce the distraction to the driver, especially for dash- and windshield-mounted equipment. Photo: SmartDrive
">Smaller, More Capable Hardware
SmartDrive's SR4 hardware has been redesigned from previous generations, including smaller HD video cameras, a separate sensor bar, a controller device to tie all systems together, and new algorithms and advanced driver assistance capabilities. The SR4 hardware is more than 50% smaller than previous iterations to reduce ...Read the rest of this story
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SmartDrive Launches Video-Based Intelligence Platform and New Hardware
The SmarDrive Transportation Intelligence Platform was presented to fleets late last year and adopted by companies like Oakley Transport who's vehicle is pictured here. Photos: SmartDrive
">SmartDrive Systems has launched the SmartDrive Transportation Intelligence Platform and SR4 hardware for fleets, offering a comprehensive video- and sensor-based intelligence platform for fleets looking to improve driver habits and safety.
Using what SmartDrive calls single box architecture the new platform allows for the convergence of data, devices including third-party devices — and network connectivity, allowing fleets view all of its data in a single location. The SR4 hardware can now support up to nine cameras, including four SmartDrive cameras, four third-party cameras, and integration with Wabco's OnLane lane departure system and road-facing camera.
The system was designed to anticipate new challenges for fleet safety including increased automation, more driver distractions, and new security threats to data and privacy. The platform will support data from many sources such as third-party telematics software and hardware. It combines it to give fleets better analytics and risk assessment capabilities. Updated sensors and software enable more precise triggering for non-collision events.
"We architected this platform to enable the future of intelligent transportation while delivering fleets significant value today," said Steve Mitgang, SmartDrive's CEO. "It will help our customers solve a long-standing business challenge — disparate, siloed information stemming from a myriad of disconnected on-board devices that increase operational costs without delivering commensurate value."
<img src="http://www.automotive-fleet.com/fc_images/news/m-sr4-camera-1.jpg" border="0" alt="
SR4 hardware is more than 50% smaller than previous iterations to reduce the distraction to the driver, especially for dash and windshield mounted equipment.
">Smaller, More Capable Hardware
SmartDrive's SR4 hardware has been redesigned from previous generations including smaller HD video cameras, a separate sensor bar, a controller device to tie all systems together, and new algorithms and advanced driver assistance capabilities. The SR4 hardware is more than 50% smaller ...Read the rest of this story
Pass My Physical Streamlines DOT Medical Exam Process
Technology company Pass My Physical has launched a new platform aimed at streamlining the U.S Department of Transportation's medical examination process for drivers.
The platform consists of a mobile app for commercial vehicle drivers and a web application for carriers that work together to help CMV drivers comply with FMCSA medical exam requirement. Once a driver's information is added to the mobile app, it populates the exam form, which can be printed off at any time.
The Pass My Physical platform helps drivers to understand what they need for their exam and provides them with regular reminders as well as solutions such as personalized medical clearance letters to ensure they have everything ready prior to the exam.
Through the web application, carriers can track the exam status for all of their drivers and receive notifications when drivers update their certification status; when a Medical Examiner (ME) certificate is about to expire; and whenever changes in medical regulation or guidance occur.
"The nature of DOT physical exams has historically led to delays in medical certification due to exam complexity and ambiguity," said Dr. David Thorpe, president of PMP. "By streamlining the exam process, the platform eliminates most delays and helps: keep freight moving with more medically qualified drivers; ensure new hires arrive at a terminal prepared to take the medical exam; and reduce medical certification costs by eliminating the need to retake the exam."
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