f e a t u r e  s t o r y

THE FUTURE IS NOW

Cutting-edge technology settles into the trucking mainstream.

John Bendel
Senior Editor

Like a successful showbiz act outgrowing the fancy nightclub circuit, advanced communications are headed for much larger venues. The snob appeal may disappear, but the tickets will be a lot cheaper. Those dazzling electronic systems that have been part of big-time trucking for a while are rapidly becoming affordable across the board — even down to the single truck operator.
The primary reason is the downward pressure of competition on computer and electronic component prices. Microprocessors and computer memory, for example, are produced in greater quantities, and their power increases even as prices continue to decline. Indeed, recent Asian currency troubles could make many components even cheaper.

IT'S A LEO THING
The cost of wireless communication could come under further downward pressure from low-earth-orbit satellites, which circle about 400 miles from earth compared to 23,000 miles for global positioning satellites. LEO satellites require little more than an FM antenna and a five-watt transmitter to reach earthbound receivers.
LEO offerings are severely limited at the moment. But according to Orbcomm, a Dulles, VA-based company with two satellites in orbit, another two are set for launch on a Taurus rocket from California this month. Eight more will be dropped from an L-1011 cargo plane on a Pegasus rocket over the East Coast by year’s end. That will give the company 12 of the suitcase-sized satellites — enough for more commercial uses to become practical.

BACK AT THE `NET
Meanwhile, the Internet is allowing advanced communications providers to put critical information on virtually any computer screen. The World Wide Web and browsers such as Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer provide a common interface for data from virtually all platforms and formats.
Central service providers outfitted for sophisticated wireless communications are the middleman, making data on your trucks, for example, available to you on a web site. All you need to access that data is a computer, a modem and your choice of web browser software. And the Microsoft browser is free.
Unlike LEO satellites, the Internet is here now and its uses in trucking communications are exploding. Here are a few examples:
• PeopleNet Communications Corp., based in Chasta, MN, has announced its Intouch Fleet Management system, which offers real-time tracking through a global positioning system linked to the customer via an Internet web page. System options range from voice links to paging to a fax/printer/scanner interface, depending on the carrier’s needs — and pocketbook. The on-board GPS unit will cost $795 and the basic messaging display $179, keeping the per-vehicle cost under $1,000.
• Fort Lauderdale, FL-based SPS Technologies will offer a new version of its MIRAS 4.0 Fleet Management software called MIRAS Lite. MIRAS stands for Mobile Interactive Remote Activated Solutions. In the full version, MIRAS offers GPS tracking and wireless remote monitoring of truck functions such as refrigeration. It can control access to doors and even the vehicle’s starter. MIRAS Lite offers just GPS tracking — which includes vehicle speed — available to the customer via the Internet. According to SPS, MIRAS Lite will be available early in 1998 at a modest price, though the price has not yet been announced.
• Industry pioneer Qualcomm Inc., of San Diego, has been busy making innovative use of the Internet. The CabCARD Personal Communications system, introduced last year, is a prepaid service that allows drivers to keep in touch with home from truck cabs. One of its features, P/E Mail, allows pre-programmed e-mail messages to be sent immediately to the driver from any touch-tone phone without using a personal computer. Initially, enabling CabCARD software was available only for companies with AS/400 computer systems, but now it is available for other platforms as well.
• The Internet plays a critical role in another Qualcomm system set for introduction in the second quarter of 1998. OmniTRACS Online is an Internet-based load- tracking system that can be used by carriers, shippers and third-party logistics providers. The system will allow carrier customers to enter a web site for up-to-the-minute load information gleaned from the carrier’s OmniTRACS system. The universal accessibility of the World Wide Web will link that information to virtually anyone the carrier chooses. Customers benefit from quick, accurate information, and carriers enjoy not having to perform the middleman duty of relaying information from driver to customer by phone. According to Qualcomm, encryption and tight security will protect live OmniTRACS data from unauthorized users or even authorized ones who might otherwise stray from their own approved areas.
• Atlanta-based TranSettlements brings electronic data interchange to the Internet with a service called TransForms. Using it, even the smallest customer can deal with a carrier or logistics company electronically. All they need is a PC with a modem. Using web browser software such as Netscape Navigator or Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, they can access TranSettlement’s web site and enter information on easy-to-understand forms. TransForms translates the data for EDI protocol and then relays it to the carrier’s computer. TranSettlements can also set up private intranets for carriers and their customers, large or small.