Concerns About Onboard Devices Persist

Although many motor carriers have readily embraced onboard computers and electronic onboard recorders — largely because they provide easy communication between trucks and company terminals — they have some concerns about the devices, fleet managers and industry observers said.

“One thing I don’t like about EOBRs is that it forces us to move away from the personal side of the business,” said Billy Cartright, director of safety and driver recruitment for Con-way Truckload, Ann Arbor, Mich. “When it comes to driver communication, there needs to be a balance of electronics and personal conversation. We do a good job of balancing the two.”

And even if some onboard computers come with what many would call all the bells and whistles, there isn’t a model that has every feature or function that all drivers or fleet managers want, said Tom Davis, safety manager for Cox Petroleum Transport, Bakersfield, Calif.

“Some models will have features that some will like better than the others,” he said.

This may be why few drivers express a preference for a particular brand or model.

If a driver never has been exposed to options other than a particular brand already installed in a truck, then that person likely would not have a preference, said Norita Taylor, spokeswoman for the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, Grain Valley, Mo.

And not all fleets use onboard computers.

The owner-operators and contract drivers for Atlanta-based Farnsworth Logistics Inc. use AT&T phones with GPS and TeleNav Track capability, said information technology director Scott Houser.

“We assign a phone and charger to a driver,” he said. “The driver plugs the phone into the power port on the tractor, and we get real-time information on where the driver is and history on where he has been.”

Using tracking software made by Sunnyvale, Calif.-based TeleNav Inc., Farnsworth can access a driver’s position through the Internet, Houser said.

“We can also run a number of reports and set alerts. An added benefit is all AT&T mobile-to-AT&T mobile calls are free, so we can call the drivers and they can call us at no cost,” he said.

“The driver also has an always up-to-date GPS in the phone,” Houser said. “This doesn’t remove the necessity of check calls, but it does dramatically reduce the number of check calls.”

It’s a refrain heard at other motor carriers, said Clem Driscoll, founder, managing partner and a principal at truck technology consulting firm C.J. Driscoll & Associates, Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.

Most users of these products tend to be pretty well-satisfied, and the market is growing, stimulated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Compliance, Safety, Accountability program, he said, adding that he is not seeing as much growth in EOBR sales.

The greatest penetration for telematic products, Driscoll said, continues to be in local fleet markets populated by utilities and heating and air conditioning companies, where growth is estimated at 15% to 20% annually.

“We are addressing a couple of challenges associated with the tracking phones,” Houser said. “First, and by far, the greatest challenge is a social one. Many drivers do not want to be monitored. They find all kinds of ways to disable the phone, from never plugging it in to putting it into a metal box. We tell those drivers that if they will use the phones, they will be called less for check calls and may save on cellphone bills by using our phone.”

Houser said the other challenges are with the phones themselves.

“Only some phones are compatible with the service, and we do run into a few areas of the country that have limited coverage,” he said, “but Farnsworth continues to evaluate both software and hardware vendors to discover other ways to increase the efficiency of our operations and communications.”

And although some fleet managers have been avoiding onboard computers and EOBRs, they are beginning to change their tune — prompted by the FMCSA mandate, which eventually will require all freight-hauling trucks to be equipped with EOBRs.

Patrick Gallagher Trucking Inc., a Monaca, Pa., flatbed carrier, is not one of them. It’s now evaluating products made by PeopleNet Communications Inc. and Xata Inc., said Dean Bowman, PGT’s director of information.

“We’ll be making an investment decision soon as to which solution we are going to deploy.”