Trucking Technology Likely to Be Affected by Wireless Capacity Crunch, Official Warns

By Seth Clevenger, Staff Reporter

This story appears in the Aug. 27 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.

MINNEAPOLIS — Trucking companies that rely on wireless technology to improve their operations soon could feel the effects of a looming “capacity crunch” facing the nation’s wireless carriers, an industry leader told truckers.

“We are fast approaching a serious capacity crunch, and when that happens, the great innovation and service you’ve come to expect could be challenged,” Steve Largent, president of CTIA, a trade group representing the wireless communications industry, said Aug. 13 here.

“We simply need more spectrum, more highways to handle the traffic that we know is coming,” he said.

The former Republican U.S. congressman from Oklahoma urged attendees to contact their elected officials and ask them to open up more spectrum for the wireless industry.

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Fleets Turn to New Technology, Natural Gas to Reduce Expenses During Slow Growth

By Rip Watson, Senior Reporter

This story appears in the Aug. 20 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.

BOCA RATON, Fla. — Executives with both for-hire and private fleets said they increasingly are turning to cost-saving technologies and natural gas to reduce expenses in a slow-growth economy.

Speaking Aug. 7 at the PeopleNet User Conference here, officials with five trucking companies that utilize PeopleNet products outlined a broad range of financial and operational benefits from new technology and fuel options.

“There is a proven return on investment for technology,” said Charlie Campagnaro, mobile communications manager for the van division of Laidlaw Carriers, Stratford, Ontario. The carrier, he said, has cut costs by about 90% by using in-cab scanners to transmit shipping documents instead of faxing them from truck stops.

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DOT Helps Launch Road Test of Crash-Avoidance Technology System

The Department of Transportation Tuesday helped launch a road test of new technology system designed to help avoid crashes.

Conducted by University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute, the Safety Pilot system is the first-of-its-kind test connected vehicle technology in the real world, DOT said.

“Today is a big moment for automotive safety,” Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement. “This cutting-edge technology offers real promise for improving both the safety and efficiency of our roads.”

LaHood joined elected officials and industry and community leaders at the Michigan campus to launch the second phase of the program, under which cars, trucks and buses — most of which have been supplied by volunteer participants — are equipped with vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication devices to gather data about system operability and the effectiveness at reducing crashes.

DOT awarded the university $14.9 million to conduct the test, and the school equipped more than 73 lane miles of roadway as well as 2,850 vehicles, including cars, buses and commercial trucks, Bloomberg reported.

Nearly 3,000 cars, trucks and buses equipped with Wi-Fi technology connected to vehicles and infrastructure to “talk” to each other in real time to help avoid crashes and improve traffic flow.

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Volvo launches I-See 'autopilot' fuel-saving technology in Europe

GOTHENBURG, Sweden -- Volvo Trucks in Sweden has developed a new I-See feature that uses a truck’s kinetic energy to reduce fuel consumption by as much as 5%.

The system operates like an autopilot, using the transmission’s tilt sensor to determine topography and then uses the truck’s momentum to save fuel. It can: accelerate before an incline begins; avoid changing gears near the brow of a hill; avoid accelerate when approaching a descent; freewheel down downhill portions; brake before a downhill slope ends but release the brakes at the end of the slope to pick up speed ahead of a new ascent.

“If kinetic energy can be exploited to a greater extent, it may help cut fuel consumption. This will benefit both the environment and the industry’s economy, something that is very important today as fuel costs are becoming an increasingly heavy burden on many haulage firms,” relates Anders Eriksson, product developer at Volvo Trucks.

I-See can recall about 4,000 gradients, Volvo says.

“I-See is an autopilot linked to the truck’s cruise control, taking over and handling gear changes, throttle and brakes on gradients, ensuring they all operate in the most fuel-efficient way possible. I-See freewheels as much as possible – so on certain stretches of road no fuel is used at all,” explains Hayder Wokil, product manager at Volvo Trucks.

“In this way fuel consumption can be cut by up to 5%. This figure is based on the results of simulations and tests on public roads. I-See requires use of the cruise control, and we know that on average drivers use cruise control about half the time. For a truck in normal operation, covering 140,000 kilometres a year, the saving will be about 1,000 litres of fuel annually. This makes a big difference to the haulage firm’s profitability.”

The greatest fuel savings, Volvo says, come where there are an abundance of small hills.

“I-See works best in undulating terrain. With moderately long and steep slopes, I-See ensures that you can freewheel for long distances without using the engine,” explains Eriksson. “It is this freewheeling capability that makes the system special. When the truck rolls freely, virtually no fuel is used. But in order to freewheel, a whole lot of data is required.”

He said I-See also saves on brake and tire wear.

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