DTNA to Sell Telematics Tablet for Cascadia
DETROIT — Daimler Trucks North America announced it will begin selling an integrated computer tablet for its Freightliner Cascadia tractors in January to combine its data and voice offerings into a single, factory-installed device.
Officials said the tablet will be the first factory-installed offering for trucking fleets.
At the same time, during a press briefing Sept. 18 at its Detroit Diesel Corp. subsidiary here, DTNA officials announced a new suite of telematics programs that will be offered over the new tablet, including hours-of-service logs, navigation and text-to-voice communication; the package is part of the Visibility fleet software package. DTNA already offers Virtual Technician, a diagnostics service that will be incorporated into the tablet.
The tablet “is an intuitive tool that will help our customers and their drivers maximize operations while ensuring compliance with the new” HOS regulations created by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, said Joe Saccio, manager of sales and marketing for Detroit Connect, a brand the company has created to consolidate its telematics offerings.
DTNA will continue to test the tablet, which it developed in conjunction with Zonar Systems Inc., before offering it for sale next year.
