PeopleNet Will Add Android, Launch Video Safety System

This story appears in the Aug. 25 print edition of Transport Topics.

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — PeopleNet said it will soon add Android mobile devices and unveiled plans to launch a video-based safety system as it expands its onboard fleet-management capabilities.

The company also is preparing a new “mobile gateway” to accelerate the transfer of data and serve as a more efficient hub for an ever-growing list of connected devices in and around the truck, executives said here Aug. 19 during PeopleNet’s annual user conference.

Taken together, those developments constitute what PeopleNet is calling its “Connected Fleet Platform.”

President Brian McLaughlin said the company will soon begin certifying a variety of Android devices — predominantly rugged, commercial-grade tablets — for its customers to use as display options for its onboard platform. Those devices would serve as an alternative to the company’s existing Windows-based, fixed-mount displays.

McLaughlin said the growth of connectivity and data is “transforming the trucking industry.”

“We’re seeing an explosion of things talking to each other,” he said. “We have to enable that.”

PeopleNet’s mobile gateway, which will utilize 4G LTE wireless service, will provide connectivity to a variety of systems, such as mobile devices, tire-pressure monitoring, stability control and refrigerated-trailer monitoring, Chief Technology Officer Mark Botticelli said.

PeopleNet also is developing its own devices to be part of that onboard ecosystem.

The company showcased its plans to provide drivers with “surround vision” through a series of cameras around the tractor and trailer.

PeopleNet also is shifting to cloud-based data storage and moving to a publish-and-subscribe approach to data management that will make it easier for fleets to integrate additional connected devices, Botticelli said.

The greater connection among drivers, vehicles and the devices around them “will change the landscape of what’s possible in our industry,” he said.

Mike Nalepka, vice president of business development, said the initial release of PeopleNet’s onboard video technology will start with a forward-facing camera that will save recordings 10 seconds before and after hard-braking and other driving events.

That video could serve as a coaching tool or potentially exonerate a driver in the event of a crash, he said.

PeopleNet also plans to offer side cameras to assist drivers while they’re turning and rearview cameras that would help them back into a dock.

Cameras on the back of the trailer also could resolve questions about whether all of a shipper’s freight was delivered, Nalepka said.

“Imagine the time and money and expense you’re going to be able to save as we move into this brave new world of video and load surveillance,” he said.

McLaughlin said the video-based system is entering testing with a handful of customers.

Bridget Wahlstrom, director of project management, said PeopleNet’s Android platform will offer the same applications as the Windows offerings, but the system will provide a “cleaner, more modern” user interface with more advanced touch-screen capabilities.

She said customers will purchase the Android tablets directly from PeopleNet, and they will come preloaded with PeopleNet software.

Wahlstrom said that approach enables a “corporately owned, personally enabled” strategy, where trucking companies own the devices but can allow their drivers to download applications for personal use, such as entertainment apps.

“Rather than purchasing an Android device with a PeopleNet app, think of it as purchasing a PeopleNet device running on Android with the flexibility to download other apps,” Wahlstrom said.

McLaughlin added that PeopleNet could offer the Android operating system on its latest fixed display, the PD4, which the company launched earlier this year as the successor to its Blu.2 product. PeopleNet also offers its applications on rugged handhelds from Intermec and Motorola Solutions.

Tom Dorazio, director of product management, said the PeopleNet mobile gateway’s high-speed connection will enable new types of applications, including real-time remote customer support, as well as high-bandwidth applications such as Netflix.

He also said the product’s smaller size will make it easier to install.

“The end result is a system installation time of under 30 minutes, getting your fleet out of the shop and back on the road,” Dorazio said.

When the new mobile gateway hits the market, customers will choose between that product and PeopleNet’s current 3G onboard computer, McLaughlin said.

PeopleNet is part of Trimble Navigation Ltd.’s transportation and logistics division.