Operating big commercial fleet trucks has always been a dangerous proposition, especially when the operator or driver isn’t trained according to the letter of the law. Says the professionals at the Chopin Law Firm, LLC, truck accident lawyers in New Orleans, the commercial trucking industry has long maintained a subpar reputation when it comes to matters of safety.
Because of the requirements that are placed on professional truck operators, many of them are compelled to make unsafe choices such as operating their vehicle for too long without taking necessary rest breaks. This is something that places the passenger vehicles around them at great risk of accidents, many of them serious, some of them lethal.
But in 2023, new tech has emerged which has been engineered to make the operation of commercial fleet trucks safer. According to a recent report by Worktruck, safety is priority number one when it comes to fleet managers. Accidents not only pose a great risk to the public, but they can result in serious legal issues and costly repairs.
But recent advances in fleet truck technology are said to be providing new and improved ways to increase safety while operating on roads of all varieties. The three advances in particular are telematics, artificial intelligence or AI, and advanced driver assistance systems or ADAS.
Here’s how they work and how they are engineered to save lives.
Utilizing Telematics to Tackle Safety Issues
Telematics includes the use of cellular, global positioning systems or GPS, and other onboard diagnostics which involve tracking, monitoring driver behavior, along with the collection of important data on the truck’s overall performance.
The data is then paired with management software. The end result is that it can be examined and used to optimize fleet operations, reduce trucking costs, and improve road safety.
Telematics is not a new technology. It began in the 1990s when GPS became widely available and affordable for the consumer after the Gulf War. Utilized primarily for navigational purposes, GPS tech evolved into a real time tracking tool that could potentially keep truck operators from getting into dangerous or even fatal accidents.
Today, the two main safety features of the telematics GPS tool are engine diagnostics and driver behavior analysis.
AI is Used to Prevent Accidents Before they Happen
Says Worktruck, artificial intelligence might seem like the stuff of science fiction where robots take over mankind, but in the real world it is being used as a safety tool. In a word, it is said to make the trucking industry safer and more efficient.
AI assists commercial truck fleets with reducing the chance of accidents, improving driver safety, and lowering insurance costs. It’s because of this that AI makes trucking businesses run more efficiently, which saves money in the short and long-term.
According to the Director of Sales and Rear View Safety for Safe Fleet, Alex Trkulja, unlike telematics, AI is brand new to the trucking industry. Historically speaking, data would be delivered to a data center for technicians to review and then report to the customer. But Safe Fleet’s AI utilizes decade’s worth of data to determine driver’s behavior. It builds detailed reports for fleet managers which assists them with coaching their truck operators.
New AI products such as dual dash cams that detect and alert for drowsiness, sleeping, distracted driving, lack of seatbelt compliance, plus dangerous cell phone usage not only prevents accidents, but they send data to the cloud.
Road-facing cameras are said to record real-time data.
ADAS Reduces Road Risks
ADAS is said to be engineered to assist operators with avoiding collisions and to improve overall road safety. By utilizing radar, cameras, sensors, and other high tech, ADAS can collect data and provide analysis regarding the truck’s surroundings, operator behavior, plus road conditions.
When integrated with commercial truck fleets, ADAS tech is said to help prevent accidents and ultimately save lives in the following ways:
Lane departure warnings: This is a tool that alerts drivers when they begin to drift out of their lane. It assists by preventing collisions that are the direct result of lane departures.
Collision avoidance: Forward collision warning and automatic emergency braking systems help operators avoid crashes with other obstacles and vehicles on the road.
Detecting blind spots: This ADAS technology will alert operators when a vehicle is driving in its blind spot which can reduce the risk of collisions when making lane changes.
Driver monitoring: ADAS tech is also said to be assisting fleet managers with monitoring operator behavior. It detects drowsiness, sleeping, and distractions such as cell phone use and eating while at the wheel.
Operating a commercial fleet truck is a major responsibility. The new tech that’s being utilized to collect data not only on road conditions but on the operators themselves, is engineered to prevent collisions, save lives, and to save money.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
