CCJ does an excellent job of reporting on fleet innovators.
Most of us love the concept of innovation, but implementing change – the real innovation – now, that is the rub.
I have been involved in many trucking industry innovations – water filters to extend cooling system life, turbochargers when 90% of engines were naturally aspirated, fan clutches, and air ride seats. All great ideas, but each took a sales and marketing team to sell them. Unfortunately, the world still does not beat a path to your door unless you are Apple.
CCJ just featured Regional Express Carriers as an Innovator. It is an excellent article, and should be read by every fleet manager in the U.S., but the thing about innovation is that it is always on the cutting edge. If the innovation can be patented, then it might be kept a secret to prevent unscrupulous people from filing for a patent before the original inventor files his patent claim.
As an industry advisor to Auburn University’s Transportation Institute, I am on the cutting edge of what is aptly described in the article as: “…intelligence-driven, real-time supply chain visibility and risk-management technology provider…” The CCJ article just primed the information pump for what is coming down the road in the way of innovation, and Auburn University is right in the middle of the future.
We are using an Artificial Intelligence (AI) platform that is built exclusively for vehicles. The hardware uses edge computing technology, has its own hard drive with extensive storage and can interface with any camera system on the market. The software comes with built-in driver scoring, risk management, GPS and ELD. The system reads everything on the CAN bus and uses AI and machine learning to analyze vehicle and driver data to provide management with actionable intelligence on the entire system.
After I learned about the Tangerine product, my first thought was to approach Auburn on using the platform as a basis for developing a new model for fuel economy testing for their fleet of trucks. We currently have a grad student reviewing the SAE/TMC Type II, Type III and Type IV fuel economy protocols to develop a Type V system that uses the current fleet’s duty cycle. In other words, inexpensive fuel economy testing comparing a control truck to a test truck should be available to the trucking industry by next year at PaveTrack.com.
