Big Rigs Go High Tech

pottercw writes "Trucking may not seem like a high-tech industry to the casual observer, but major carriers are starting to adopt an array of emerging technologies to combat rising fuel costs, tighter regulation and fierce competition. The technologies include systems that monitor and communicate vehicle conditions and performance, enhanced GPSs that keep tabs on tractors and trailers, and safety systems which issue warnings or even take action to help drivers avoid an accident — all working in real time. Computerworld has a cool mouseover diagram highlighting some of the gadgets we're beginning to see on high-tech trucks."

Comments

Re:fuel costs still not high enough priority

[turing_m]

Probably the biggest bang for buck is driver education, training and incentives. Truck drivers are better than the average person, but they still are pathetic as far as driving to save fuel. The biggest things truck drivers can do to save fuel are:
1. Slow down - go minimum legal speed on the highway. (This lowers air resistance, and the energy expended to combat air resistance is proportional to speed squared.
2. Anticipate to avoid braking at all costs.

The amount of energy wasted in stopping a truck is phenomenal. And I see avoidable stops all the time when I am driving. Worst is when there is a red light at the bottom of a hill, and the truck is accelerating towards it. If the truck driver were to bide his time, hopefully the light will have changed to green by the time he gets there, if not, he at least hasn't wasted energy in accelerating only to have to brake. If you see stopped cars up ahead lay off the gas! If the light has been green far ahead and you can see it - lay off the gas, it's going to turn red.

We have to realize that the biggest, most efficient batteries on the roads are the hills (gravitational potential energy). Every time you get to the top of a hill, you have charged up that battery. If you don't have to brake at the bottom or on the way down the hill, you have successfully used that stored energy. If you have to brake, you have wasted that energy. If you accelerated on the way down, or started with too much speed at the crest, you have just wasted even more energy.

It would be dead simple to track fuel volume/distance per driver. At the end of the month, rank the drivers. Pay a bonus on a sliding scale for saving more fuel, give the best trucker a small prize, and also require the rest of the drivers under a certain rank to drive with the best drivers for training.

Once you get your truck drivers to have a clue and paid accordingly, you will also get more buy-in when it comes to things like aerodynamic improvements that involve some work from the driver.

But really, this is only a stop-gap measure to trains, localized production for everything bar high $/kg items, reduced consumption, etc.