Jan 1, 2009 12:00 PM

Teletrac refining Fleet Director capabilities

Teletrac Inc., developer of the Fleet Director GPS-based commercial vehicle tracking and fleet management system, is developing several new options for Fleet Director's automated navigation product.

Real-time, fully automated, voice communicated traffic information will be available to supplement the voice prompt, real-time, speed-calibrated driving instructions. Powered by NAVTEQ Traffic, Fleet Director provides routing information based upon sources such as proprietary and government sensors, proprietary incident data, and probe data. Throughout the trip, the system then monitors traffic conditions and automatically contacts the vehicle if a better route develops due to changing traffic conditions. All route calculations are performed by Teletrac-hosted servers from which the information is downloaded to the vehicle. This configuration allows the most current map data to always be available without requiring any customer involvement.

Within the Fleet Director system, it is also possible to designate whether a vehicle is a Class 8 truck or not. When a Class 8 tractor is assigned a destination, the Fleet Director software then automatically calculates a route taking into account NAVTEQ Transport truck attributes such as height, weight, and width restrictions and preferred designated truck routes.

Access www.teletrac.net for further information.

TruckWeight offers wireless Smart Scale for vehicles with mechanical suspensions

TruckWeight Inc. has applied its Smart Scale wireless onboard scale technology to trucks, tractors, and trailers with mechanical spring suspensions. The scale is ideal for vehicles used in bulk distribution, agriculture, construction, forestry, containerized loads, heavy hauling, and other applications that use equipment with mechanical suspensions.

Smart Scale for mechanical suspensions includes three components: an axle-mounted load sensor, a low-powered radio transmitter, and a small handheld wireless receiver. The load sensor measures subtle changes in the deflection of the axle. It feeds this data to the transmitter, which relays it to the handheld receiver up to 500 feet (155 meters) away. The result is a weight calculation that's accurate to within 1% compared with a certified scale. Benefits for users of equipment with mechanical suspensions include:

• Smart Scale uses AA batteries for power and does not require electricity from a truck or tractor. Fleet managers can deploy their power units where they need them and eliminate the time and inconvenience of hooking up a tractor in order to use a scale.

• One handheld receiver can monitor both mechanical spring and air-ride sensors on the same vehicle or combination. This ability to distinguish unique vehicles is ideal for fleets that interchange equipment with air-ride and mechanical spring suspensions.

• Smart Scale eliminates the installation expense and maintenance associated with hard-wired scales and load cells.

• The axle-load sensor can be used on a range of commercial equipment, including severe-duty trailers and railcars.

• The low-powered RF signal is intrinsically safe, and the wireless feature is especially useful for drivers who load their own vehicle and want to verify and fine-tune distribution of the payload.

More information is available at www.truckweight.com.