Current News
Smart Phone Apps for Trucking
February 21, 2012
Transport Topics
“In October 2010, there were 410 transportation apps available for Android; [now] there are 7,044 transportation apps on everything from finding cheap fuel to finding the closest bus or how to find a taxi,” said Christian Schenk, vice president for product marketing at Xata Corp., Eden Prairie, Minn. “Then, there are apps from companies like ours having to do with compliance, dispatching, EOBRs and fleet management.” Schenk said that 86% of drivers already are carrying some type of mobile communication device, and 44% of those are smart phones.
Xata running Twitter campaign to benefit St. Christopher Fund for Truckers
February 7, 2012
FleetOwner
Xata Corp. is pledging to donate $1 for every new follower (up to $1,000) on Twitter from Feb. 7-28, 2012. You can follow Xata at @XataNation. The contest will benefit the St. Christopher Fund for Truckers, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping drivers who are struggling with medical bills and unemployment due to illness or injury.
Touch & go
February 1, 2012
Fleet Owner
Tablet computers and smartphones, their smaller technological cousins, are getting a much closer look as highly practical portable communication devices for truck drivers to supplement in-cab communication devices, replace bulkier laptops, or both. “If you look at the processing power of a Samsung Galaxy 10.1 tablet, for instance, it has 10 times the computing power of an onboard computer,” advises Christian Schenk, vice president-product marketing for Xata. “Is there life [left] for onboard computers? Yes, but it's short-lived.” He sees the shift to tablets and smartphones, too, being driven by drivers; 86% of whom he says now carry “personal mobility devices.”
Data Shows Speeding and Log Violations are Main CSA Culprits; Technology Can Help
January 20, 2012
TruckingInfo.com, the web site of Heavy Duty Trucking magazine
When the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration rolled out its Compliance, Safety, Accountability program in late 2010, a number of carriers were surprised to find a poorer safety rating than they enjoyed under the old SafeStat. Fortunately, for many fleets, the areas where their safety ratings have taken the biggest hit are also areas that are among the easiest to fix, and a variety of technology vendors offer products to help.
Trends to Watch in 2012
January 3, 2012
World Trade 100
“The use of M2M (mobile-to-mobile) technology is exploding,” says Christian Schenk, VP of product marketing, Xata. “Even better, an increasing number of software providers are certifying the use of their solutions for off-the-shelf consumer and ruggedized devices, giving end-users an application-specific choice of hardware at a reasonable cost. The prevalence of the Android operating system is also growing exponentially, as the ease of use is great for both developers and end users.”
Fleets, Vendors Back Hands-Free Devices But Blast NTSB’s Call for Total Cellphone Ban
January 9, 2012
Transport Topics
Tom Cuthbertson, vice president for XataNet development at Xata Corp., Eden Prairie, Minn., said the company’s product lines comply with distracted driving regulation, either by product design or through the use of third-party software. Xata, which makes EOBR products that require cellphone use, uses ZoomSafer’s cellphone shutoff software, he said.
Making the latest technology developments work for your fleet
January 4, 2012
Commercial Carrier Journal
Xata recently added reports that summarize fault code information at different levels over time. A fleet summary report can highlight trends for fault code types, while a vehicle summary can help identify vehicles with chronic issues, says Charlie Mohn, director of product management.
Truckers put foot down over new electronic log books
Dec. 2, 2011
Nashville Ledger
Hellbent on making deliveries at an ungodly pace. Willing to barrel over any vehicles, police or inspection stations that get in their way. Alone and in control at all times, they fudge log books and indulge in all-night benders. These are the myths that surround commercial truck drivers. Problem is, they’re just not true anymore.
Mandating the inevitable?
Dec. 1, 2011
CCJ
A lot of industry speculation ended Jan. 31, 2011, when the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration revised its previous April 2010 rule proposal, section 395.16, to mandate electronic onboard recorders for all carriers. Scheduled to become effective June 2012, the new rule was to be enforced starting in 2015. For now, the immediate future of 395.16 is uncertain.
Monitoring driver behavior can improve safety, reduce costs
Nov. 28, 2011
Truckinginfo.com
Driver monitoring has evolved tremendously in recent years. Some carriers still rely on reports from a 1-800 "how's my driving" number to find out when a driver is driving poorly, but many more are putting technology to work to take advantage of near-real-time reporting on driver performance. Today's technologies allow fleets to keep track of not only where their trucks are at any moment, but also how the trucks are being operated.
Trucking Must-Knows: Top 5 EOBR Myths
Nov. 16, 2011
SupplyChainBrain
As a mandate is being considered for industry-wide electronic onboard recording devices, we often hear drivers talk about how these EOBRs will ruin their business. From what we've seen, there are a lot of myths surrounding EOBRs and the go
The writing is on the tablet
Nov. 1, 2011
FleetOwner
The future has arrived, and trucking fleets best get onboard lest they, and their drivers, be left stranded on the side of the Information Superhighway. Tablet computers are not only prized possessions of the general population, but they are fast becoming the preferred method of drivers to communicate with their managers, their loved ones, and to ease the time spent away from home. One reason for that increasing preference of tablets, according to some experts, is the enhanced power of these devices.
