Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/782964
56 commercial carrier journal | february 2017 New technologies help fleets, drivers make the most of their downtime BY AARON HUFF T he time that drivers waste searching for truck parking spots is not captured by electronic logging devices, telematics systems or other mobile technologies that record driving hours. To understand the productivity impacts of parking short- ages, the American Transportation Research Institute asked truck drivers to complete parking diaries. Between June and September 2016, ATRI collected 148 diaries; each contained a 14-day record of parking activities at locations nationwide. Researchers discovered that truckers lost 56 minutes per day, on average, to search for parking to spend their required hours-of-service breaks and for other reasons. Parking ser- vices have become a hot commodity. e study found drivers predominantly use websites and smartphone applications (55.5 percent) to find parking. Near- ly half said they have used parking reservation systems, and 15 percent said the fees are covered by their carriers. Truckstop reservations All major truckstop chains have mobile driver apps. One of the most recently added functions is real-time parking infor- mation and reservations. Travel Centers of America provides available parking counts for TA and Petro locations through its free TruckSmart driver app. e counts show a location's "total parking spaces" and "available parking spaces," and the information is refreshed every two hours. A "Reserve-It!" parking program enables drivers to reserve parking spots. Travel Centers of America plans to add similar function- ality to its website to allow fleet personnel to order and pay for spots, says Tom Liutkus, senior vice president of mar- keting and public relations. e cost of parking reservations at TA-Petro locations currently averages around $12 to $13, Liutkus says. Pilot Flying J's MyPilot mobile app enables cardless fuel transactions. More than 36,000 fuel cards now are registered in the app that drivers use to conduct more than 3,000 daily fuel transactions. Parking availability and reservations soon will be available in the app, says Ken Parent, Pilot Flying J president. e com- pany has installed parking sensors in 28 locations to provide accurate real-time parking availability information. Entertainment options Searching for parking is not the only type of unproductive driving activity. Some factors unrelated to parking shortages may cause drivers to stop too frequently or extend their stays. Perhaps it could be local attractions or amenities of certain parking locations, or the opportunity to watch a fa- vorite TV show or NFL game in the sleeper bunk. EpicVue's DirecTV service for fleets is offered in contracts of three or five years with a flat monthly fee per truck. e EpicVue subscription is full service and includes equipment and maintenance for the mobile antennas, 24-inch televisions, DVR receivers and more than 100 channels with HBO, Show- time and NFL Sunday Ticket. In the beginning, fleet owners were receptive to this offering but concerned they would lose productivity, says Lance Platt, EpicVue chief executive officer. "ere was a real concern in the beginning that drivers would watch too much TV or be drowsy," Platt says. "We have yet to hear a single Comdata's Hotel Network allows drivers to use a mobile app to search for hotels by location, make a reservation and upon check-in, present their fleet-issued Comdata card to pay. TA-Petro's TruckSmart driver app shows parking information for locations. Soon, fleets will be able to reserve spots online.