Trucking Goes High Tech

Trucking companies are adopting technologies that track vehicles, monitor trucks’ condition and drivers’ actions, and even act automatically to stop accidents, reports ComputerWorld. The systems help companies meet regulations and contract obligations. Take the company that delivered the final Harry Potter book nationwide within a three-hour window and achieved its goal that “Harry Potter must not escape” with advanced tracking.

The technology includes GPSs that give drivers directions and tell headquarters exactly where trucks are, allowing the most efficient possible routing and assigning of drivers. Safety systems alert drivers and sometimes managers when they’re driving dangerously, and can intervene to stop accidents. And vehicle condition monitoring predicts breakdowns, while automatic tracking watches how many hours drivers have worked. (More truckers stories.)