Technology

The popularity of the Android platform with consumer mobile devices has spread to industrial mobile computing.

California took another step Oct. 11 toward permitting testing of self-driving vehicles without a human driver, continuing a shift away from previous policies that companies criticized as being overly restrictive.

The immense popularity of Android and Apple smartphones and tablets has led many truckload carriers to deploy mobile applications that drivers can run on those consumer devices.

If you don’t measure it, you can’t improve it. That old business adage may not apply in all cases, but it does capture the essense of a growing movement toward data-driven decision-­making in trucking.

Truck platooning — also known by the more precise but less compelling term “cooperative adaptive cruise control” — will soon become available to trucking fleets interested in testing the latest in fuel-saving technology.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Trucking technology supplier PeopleNet envisions a future when truck drivers might wear virtual-reality goggles to perform data-enhanced vehicle inspections while dispatchers monitor their fleets in a 3D context rather than simply viewing dots on a computer screen.

Longhaul trucking can be a difficult and isolating job, but some fleets have turned to electronic in-cab entertainment to keep drivers connected and boost their job satisfaction. And when drivers are satisfied, better retention and recruiting numbers often follow.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced that it is granting the Truck Renting and Leasing Association a five-year exemption from a federal requirement that all trucks be equipped with electronic logging devices to record drivers’ hours of service.

Volkswagen AG is flanking its push into electric cars with plans to roll out battery-powered commercial vehicles targeted at urban areas as growing public concerns about air quality boost demand.