If you are thinking about opening your own haulage company, you might think that you only need the trucks, the drivers and the customers and then you are ready to go. However, you need a lot more than that.
With advances in technology, you can do a lot more with your trucks and technology can actually help the way that your drivers do their jobs. They don’t have to sit there planning their route out on a map for hours before they can start their journey.
If you are on the verge of opening a haulage company, you should read on for more information about how technology can improve the driving experience.
Sensors
Firstly, lets look at the outside of the vehicle. With the vehicle being so large it might be hard for the driver to see when they are backing up into a parking space, or a loading bay. The vehicles are equipped with mirrors, but sometimes with oversized vehicles, it is hard to see where the back of the vehicle begins.
Therefore, you could have camera sensors on the back and sides of the vehicles which either makes a noise when the vehicle is so close or you could have screens in the vehicle which actually shows the back of the vehicle in real time.
A lot of cabs and passenger vehicles have these cameras and some drivers don’t even turn their heads to see behind them anymore. They just look at the screen in their dashboard. There is no reason why you can’t have these cameras in your trucks. They might even prevent some accidents.
GPS
You should seriously consider having GPS either built into the dashboard, or as a handheld handset. Some people have the portable ones so that they can take it in and out of their truck.
Having GPS inside the vehicle will save your drivers a lot of time. They won’t have to plan their route with a map and you could actually have a lot of routes preset so that you can control the route that they take.
It will also save a lot of time if their original route is blocked. They will just be able to take another road and wait for the GPS to recalculate the fastest route to get to their destination. They won’t have to pull over and look at a map, which could take vital time. Time is of the essence for some truck drivers.
Height Sensors
Having mentioned that drivers have set routes that they must adhere to, there are times when they have to go off route. You might think that is no big deal, but routes are chosen for a reason.
One of the main reasons is not approaching low hazards. For example, on the original routes, there might not be any low bridges, but on the new route, there will be.
It is impossible for drivers to know the height of the bridge until they are approaching it and then it might be too late. Therefore you should have hazard sensors on your vehicles.
The sensor will tell the driver if they are approaching a low bridge, a shop awning or even low hanging signs. This will give the driver the extra chance to turn around and find a new route without approaching a dangerous situation.
The height sensor will also help the driver with their fueling because some fueling stations have low umbrellas and they are not suitable for large vehicles. The height sensors will save the driver from guessing if they can refuel or not.