The Human Element, First and Foremost

Properly deployed, technolgy should make our lives easier and more productive. Photo: Mercedes-Benz

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With 2017 about to go into the books, it seems likely it will be remembered as a turning point in the history of trucking and transportation– the year when “the future” stopped becoming something we all read about, talked about, and wondered about and instead became a reality to be carefully considered and prepared for.

In the course of the past year, give or a take a few months, every single Class 8 truck manufacturer serving the North American market has unveiled a new, or significantly upgraded truck. And all of these new models not only feature the latest technological breakthroughs, but are designed with the next 10 to 15 years’ worth of technology in mind.

For the first time ever, fleets have the option of buying “upgradable” trucks – vehicles that will only increase in productivity and efficiency as new technologies come on line and can be uploaded into the truck’s onboard computer system.

And yet, for all the futuristic tech designed into these new trucks, it is striking to note that the majority of it has been engineered with the needs of drivers and fleet managers foremost in mind. We’re seeing this again and again now as OEMs and suppliers alike bring new systems online. Everything from advanced cruise control systems to active and passive collision avoidance systems to telematics “war rooms” manned by knowledgeable, friendly event managers who are there to make sure a “human touch” is present during the entire repair process.

And that’s what technology is supposed to do. From the time oneof our early ancestors first picked up a sharp stone to help skin an animal he or she had just killed, tools and technologies have developed over the ages to make our lives …Read the rest of this story

Source:: http://www.truckinginfo.com/blog/truck-tech/story/2017/10/the-human-element-first-and-foremost.aspx