CCJ

February 2018

Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal

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48 commercial carrier journal | february 2018 The latest tech simplifies the task of managing driving behaviors BY AARON HUFF U ntil fully autonomous trucks are powering loads, mo- tor carriers will continue to invest in new technologies to evaluate and improve driver performance. Advancements in those technologies have nearly eliminated the gap between the o ce and the cab. Mobile apps, video event recorders, telematics and other technologies make it possible to capture information instantly from any location. However, unless the information can be digested and put into action quickly, the opportunities for positive change and safety improvements are lost. Mobile apps Mobile apps have become a common strategy to give driv- ers instant access to data they can understand and apply easily to improve both their own capabilities and the eet's overall performance. LinkeDrive's web-based driver performance management system uses the PedalCoach mobile app and a wired connection to the vehicle's electronic control module to make sense of driver performance data instantly. Data from the ECM feeds proprietary algorithms that determine the optimal amount of fuel at any given moment. e app also captures a wide spectrum of data for further analysis online. e PedalCoach app gives drivers instant feedback on throttle input. e user interface has a gauge with a needle that rep- resents the fuel's ow rate. e bottom third of the gauge's arc is the fuel target – a green zone – followed by the yellow and red zones that indicate improvements are possible. Drivers learn to keep the needle in the green by applying the throttle and shi ing judiciously. e fuel target also accounts for factors that drivers do not control, such as engine size, load weight and topography. LinkeDrive also has been developing new applications for eets to automate a broader spectrum of driver performance management. e company recently added a new driver scorecard feature with a Fitbit-style user interface and gami- cation elements. Presenting drivers with daily performance statistics can be counterproductive, says J.D. Doyle, chief information o cer of LinkeDrive. A driver might achieve a high mpg one day and see below-average results the next. When drivers see variability in a scorecard, they tend to lose in- terest and "come out average," Doyle says. To help counter this trend, LinkeDrive's new user interface for its mobile app gives drivers daily construc- tive feedback. Rather than simply showing a daily fuel score, the app also provides speci c recommendations to improve results. A driver might receive a message that says "Yesterday you took it out of cruise too early." e driver will be able to drill down to see more details, such as where and when he should have used cruise control to achieve LinkeDrive's web-based system uses the PedalCoach mobile app and a wired connection to the vehicle's ECM to make sense of driver performance data instantly.

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