Trends In MobileComm
Evan Lockridge
Contributing Editor
Mobile communications in trucking is evolving at warp speed. Every time you pick up a magazine, there are new developments, all with one goal in mind – delivering as much information to the fleet as possible about a truck and trailer, quicker, cheaper, and with an eye on the bottom line.
So what are the biggest trends in mobile communications? For some answers we went to some of the nation's mobile communications service providers.
More Terrestrial Coverage
In the past, mobile communications and trucking likely brought to mind satellite communications or analog cellular service. That's changed significantly in the past couple of years. Terrestrial communications that use digital cellular phone networks are coming on strong. The benefit? Sending lots of data at a lower cost.
"You can now communicate much more frequently with drivers, and they can provide position updates and hours of service information or capture engine information much more frequently than you used to be able to do," says Brian McLaughlin, vice president of marketing and product planning at PeopleNet. He says such advances have even opened the door to delivering streaming video to a driver on the road via an in-cab or handheld display, or delivering large dispatches along with geo-fences (user-defined boundaries).
Even Qualcomm, a pioneer of satellite mobile communications, has gotten into the act, moving numerous products to terrestrial, according to Norm Ellis, Qualcomm vice president and general manager. It's not a case of satellite not being able to handle information required by customers, he says. It's just cheaper.
Does that mean satellite is dead? Not at all, Ellis says. Satellite can provide ubiquitous coast-to-coast coverage. "Even the best terrestrial networks – because of events like hurricanes and other things – you're at risk because [terrestrial] towers get blown down or can lose power."
Also, he notes, terrestrial coverage in remote areas may be spotty. Some providers tackle this problem by switching between terrestrial and satellite communications.
At the same time, PeopleNet's McLaughlin says digital cellular networks have increased as much as 50 percent in the past year in terms of geographic coverage, and that is expected to continue.
Software Installs And Updates Made Easy
At one time, installing or upgrading software on mobile communications systems meant pulling the truck off the road. Not any more.
"With the higher bandwidth digital cellular networks, we are able to transmit over the network and provide software updates seamlessly and transparently to customers, whether it's a patch or software that enables new functions on the mobile unit," says John Lewis, president and CEO of GeoLogic Solutions.
Such updates also can be done with satellite systems, says Qualcomm's Ellis. However, he notes that making over-the-air software updates and installs isn't as critical for tractors as it is trailers. "Fleets bring tractors in for active preventative maintenance, and there are more opportunities to touch it, whereas you may hardly ever see trailers." That, he says, makes such updates critical when it comes to an area that's also seen a lot of growth – untethered trailer tracking.
Trailer 54, Where Are You?
Trailer tracking allows fleets to keep track of assets they may rarely see, even though they're the lifeblood of their business. Untethered trailer tracking allows fleets to know not only where a trailer is located, but also whether the trailer's doors are open or closed and if it's loaded or empty. And it's a rapidly growing area of mobile communications.
Ellis says Qualcomm has put out 75,000 untethered trailer tracking units in less than 18 months. Even mobile communications companies that don't offer such systems are working with providers to meet customer demand.
"There is beginning to be some convergence where trailer systems and mobile communications systems can talk to one another," says GeoLogic's Lewis.
In fact, a recent study by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has given high marks to untethered trailer tracking, saying it improves trucking security and efficiency for carriers.
MobileComm For The Little Guy
At one time, mobile communications was limited to large trucking companies. That's because such systems were initially tied to expensive mainframe computer platforms. That has started to change. Internet-based systems are becoming common, allowing smaller trucking operations to play with the same toys as the big boys.
"This enables very scalable pricing, so on a per-truck basis the little guys are paying pretty much what the big guys have been paying," says GeoLogic's Lewis. "All of a sudden you can have 10 trucks on a system. Five years ago it would have been inconceivable because of the host system required to manage those 10 trucks."
These systems allow smaller companies to install a mobile communications system, then log onto a secure website to access the same information big carriers have had access to for years through their mainframe systems.
Ellis says 85 percent to 90 percent of the new customers Qualcomm secures are using web-based products. However, he believes it will still be some time before the mobile communications industry will go entirely to such systems.
"We can keep our servers up 99.999 percent of the time," Ellis says. But he believes the Internet service provider – the company that the customer ultimately signs into for the final connection – might not be as reliable as more traditional dedicated connections.
That reliability is better than ever, he says, adding once ISP reliability improves, we should see more transitioning to the web.
Future Developments
More and more information will become available through mobile communications in the future.
"Through partnering, we will be able to monitor tire pressure, weight, what type of cargo is on board, etc.," says PeopleNet's McLaughlin. "In a tethered environment, it will go much beyond the cab."
Likewise, Qualcomm's Ellis sees big advancements brought about by more capable mobile hardware with increasingly more affordable price points, greater processing powers and better color displays.
"These mobile communication systems started out with just messaging and location and advanced into vehicle diagnostics and geo-fencing. Down the road it's mapping and video, and those applications that are much higher bandwidth and more helpful for drivers will be so affordable."
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