Like every other area of our society, the truck transportation industry in general-and professional drivers in particular-continue to use a new generation of information technology as it becomes available.  The purpose of this blog is to introduce some of this new and emerging technology to people who otherwise know very little about the trucking industry and to inform them of how technology is a part of today’s trucking.

Shaws Fleet Management Software is a new tool that modern trucking companies are using to keep up with the ever-changing world of technology.

Today's trucking industry has felt the pinch of the high cost of petroleum products affecting the world today.  When the difference between 6mpg and 7mpg could mean as much as $8000 per year, per unit, it is very important to companies to monitor driver's performance closely.

Shaw Tracking’s Performance Monitoring Service can help you tap into what your drivers are doing so you can maximize their productivity and safety. Not only will you be able to track and manage vehicle and driver behaviour related to fuel consumption, such as speeding, idling, over-revving and hard braking – with Performance Monitoring you will also have access to data to;
-Lower fuel consumption by identifying trends that contribute to excess fuel use
-Compare drivers’ performances and quantify the bottom line financial impact to your fleet
("Performance Monitoring", n.d.).

In our modern electronic classroom setting is where we, as commercial driving instructors, will be presenting this new technology to our students with the aid of powerpoint presentations and actual interaction with the new software.  We will be having the students look at the impact on our fuel usage as they try different driving styles.

The benefit of introducing students to this type of software is to make them aware that in today's modern trucking industry companies do have a lot of tools to help them monitor what their trucks are doing and ways to decrease their bottom line.  Decreasing a companies bottom line will be a benefit that is felt by all employees as well as the general population in the form of less green house emmissions.

n.d.performance monitoring. retrieved from http://shawtracking.ca

Another form of technology being incorporated in to today's trucking industry is the use of electronic daily logs rather than the traditional paper logs.

The Automated Hours-of -Service application is an electronic onboard recording system (EOBR) that provides real-time monitoring of drivers' hours ("Automated Hours of Service", n.d.).

The Automated Hours-of-Service system acts as a web-based software service, with information delivered to the dispatch system via a web interface. It can also be viewed online with an Internet browser("Automated Hours of Service", n.d.).

Here’s a sample driver hours of service chart:

At present time I teach all our students the fundamentals and the practical methods of doing a paper log book in complience with the Department of Transportation's, Hours-of-Service Legislation. With the use of the new electronic logs I will now be extending the length of my classes to demonstrate to the students the ease of completing their log electronically. There will be practical use of the electronic logs as the students log their actual hours behind the wheel.

The benefits of introducing the students to such technology is that it will give them a competative edge over other graduating students who have not beeen introduced to the technology. If company's can hire drivers who have been trained in the new technology then it welll save the company valuable time and money and improve a student's chances to find employment.

n.d.automated hours of service. retrieved from http://shawtracking.ca

The technology I will be introducing now is a GPS based unit which Transportation Companies are now using to communicate with their drivers. "Many major carriers equip their fleets with Qualcomm Mobile Fleet Management System." (Adams,2013,p. 126)

Being an instructor in today's trucking industry it is very important to make sure that all student drivers are trained and are knowledgeable in the most up-to-date technology as it becomes available.  Incorporating the technology of a satelite-based communication system will involve explaining the key concepts available to the new drivers with this sytem. We have purchased the units to be installed in the trucks and will be demonstrating them to the students in the trucks as they learn their many benefits.

A GPS based system has many benefits in today's trucking industry;

   - saves time in communicating information to the driver

   - helps keep costs down by eliminating miscommunication between the driver and dispatcher

   - gives the dispatcher a more accurate estimated time of arrival, which can be passed on to the customer
The only limitations to using such a system to train new drivers is the added cost of purchasing and running the system.