U.S. proposals may benefit Qualcomm6 September 2004
The department also is also exploring whether satellite-based systems that track fleets may be used to record driver hours.
The announcements were made in a notice published yesterday in the Federal Register.
The outcomes could be a boon to San Diego-based Qualcomm, which makes on-board computers for trucks as well as satellite-based systems that track trucks' locations.
As it stands, the nation's truckers have been required to keep a log of their hours on the road as a safety measure since 1940.
About 5,000 Americans died last year in truck-related accidents. The Department of Transportation estimates that 15 percent of truck accidents with deaths or injuries involve fatigued truckers.
The department allows drivers to work for up to 14 consecutive hours, 11 of them behind the wheel, followed by 10 hours off. A driver may be cited and a trucking company fined for violating the rules.
Many truckers still keep paper records of their hours.
But with advances in technology, some trucking companies began looking at automated methods in the mid-1980s. Frito-Lay was granted a waiver in 1985 allowing it to record driver hours using on-board computers instead of handwritten logs.
Then in 1988, the Department of Transportation gave the go-ahead for any company to use on-board computers.
Since then, systems using satellites, such as Qualcomm's OmniTRACS, have come into use for tracking truck fleets. The OmniTRACS system is installed on about 500,000 trucks.
Werner Enterprises, a trucking firm that has almost 9,000 trucks with OmniTRACS, became the first in the nation to seek government approval to use a satellite-based system to keep tabs on drivers. Werner devised its own technology that works in conjunction with the OmniTRACS system.
Qualcomm acquired the patents for Werner's technology.
The notice in yesterday's Federal Register opens up the possibility for Qualcomm to sell the system to other trucking companies.
"We view it as a very significant opportunity," said Marc Sands, vice president for Qualcomm's wireless business solutions division. "We think it's a good thing they're looking at updating a rule that's over 16 years old."
Far more controversial is the question of whether electronic devices in general should be mandated in large trucks.
Qualcomm stands to benefit from a mandate because it sells FleetAdvisor, an on-board computer, to go with its OmniTRACS system. The computer can track mileage and driver hours, then send the information to the truck's home base.
About 3,000 trucks are equipped with FleetAdvisor, Sands said.
Even so, the company is not weighing in on the question of whether such devices should be mandatory.
"We don't take positions on mandates," Sands said. "That is between the industry and the regulators. But, in our view, any kind of electronic recording capability is going to be, in the end, a more reliable and cost-efficient system than paper logs."
The American Trucking Associations, a trade group with 3,000 members, opposes a mandate. An overriding concern is the accuracy of the devices.
"If you're going to have enforcement based on electronic data, it had better be a lot better working than my laptop," said Bill Gouse, vice president of engineering for the trade group. "Right now, we'd prefer voluntary use of the devices."
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has been lobbying since 1985 for the government to mandate automated, on-board devices to track drivers' hours. Its requests have been turned down repeatedly.
The institute is concerned that paper logs leave room for cheating or mistakes.
"It's very easy to falsify a written logbook, and there are even stories of drivers having two books, their real book and the book they show if they are inspected," said Anne McCartt, a senior research associate for the institute.
The Department of Transportation will accept public comments on the use of electronic devices on trucks through Nov. 30.
Source: Kathryn Balint
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