techwatch
Hey, your GPS is ringing
THE SAME BREAKTHROUGHS IN MOBILE COMMUNIcations technology that have led to an explosion in low-cost
mobile apps for consumers are now carrying over into the world
of commercial trucking. Take vehicle navigation systems, for
instance.
As recently as five years ago, a truck driver who wanted a GPS-enabled routing system was pretty much out of luck. Although
there were a number of navigation systems on the market, they
were designed for motorists, not truckers. While they could calculate a route from point A to point B in a flash, they couldn’t
plot a truck-specific route, one that took into account factors
like low bridges; vehicle length and weight
restrictions; and environmental considerations, like bans on hazardous cargoes.
In the last few years, a number of vendors
have jumped in to fill that gap. Manufacturers
like Garmin, ALK Technologies, and Rand
McNally in the United States and Tom Tom in
Europe have all released versions of their navigation systems aimed at motor carriers.
These commercial versions don’t bear much
resemblance to the compact GPS units familiar to motorists. A trucking navigation system
is a touch-screen device about the size of a
large book that can be mounted on the dashboard in a truck cab. Before a trip, the driver
enters data like the truck’s dimensions, the
destination, and any special requirements into the navigation
unit, which then calculates the optimal route and provides spoken directions.
Of course, all that added functionality comes at a price. The
commercial navigation units typically cost hundreds of dollars,
which has put them largely out of reach for the small, independent trucker.
But now that’s starting to change. In April 2010, ALK released
a voice-guided navigation app for truck drivers that runs on the
iPhone and a range of other GPS-enabled devices, including lap-tops and rugged handhelds. ALK charges $149.99 on the i Tunes
store for the app, CoPilot Live 8 Truck. (The app is also available
for the Android phone and other platforms.)
To plan a trip, a driver enters his rig profile and destination.
The CoPilot software then calculates a route
based on vehicle size and cargo type, taking
into account restrictions such as low bridges;
height, weight, and length limits; and prohibi-
tions against hazardous cargoes. To get spo-
ken directions, the driver simply places the
smart phone in a special mounting unit
affixed to the cab’s dashboard. ALK spokes-
woman Mary Kelly says that if the smart
phone has wireless Internet connectivity, the
“application can also access dynamic info like
real-time traffic, real-time
weather, and real-time fuel
price services.”
In January, Garmin also
jumped in the game, adding
a navigation app to the
iTunes App Store for the
low, low price of $34.99.
The app, called the Garmin
StreetPilot for iPhone, is
designed for motorists,
which means it lacks the
truck-specific features
offered by, say, Garmin’s
higher-end 560LMT GPS
unit. Still, it could be used
by truckers as a low-end solution. As Garmin
spokeswoman Jessica Myers puts it, “Truckers
can use the app and it’ll provide them with
directions. But it doesn’t have the extra bells
and whistles.”
Other makers of truck-specific navigation
systems are likely to follow suit, introducing
low-cost versions of their own technologies
for use on mobile devices. In fact, a Rand
McNally spokesman said the company plans
to release an app for the iPad later this year.
There’s no excuse now for any fleet manager
or truck driver to resort to an old-fashioned
map to plot a delivery route. ;
