Federal Trucking Industry Regulations go High-Tech to Tackle Safety Issues

Most people have probably heard about all the technology that has hit the auto industry in the last 5-10 years: Bluetooth connections for hands-free talk; Automatic safety sensors for backing up or to watch your blind spots; Cars that can automatically parallel-park themselves; And of course, self-driving vehicles. Although the trucking industry is a little behind the curve on developing and implementing this technology, later this year a federal mandate will finally bring a tech boost to the trucking industry in an effort to improve safety.

That mandate, dubbed the Electronic Logging Device (ELD) Rule, states that carriers and operators of commercial trucks must install these ELDs in their trucks by December 18, 2017.

The ELDs themselves are safety devices that automatically link to a truck’s engine and record all movement by the truck, including acceleration, deceleration, and all time that the engine is on to ensure that drivers are accurately tracking the time they spend driving. Keeping logs by paper, as many smaller trucking businesses still do, easily allows for record falsification. This is a big concern of the federal government, as truck drivers are strictly limited on the amount of hours they drive every week due to safety concerns (read more about rules governing trucking safety here).

Another new device in the trucking world is the SmartDrive camera. These cameras are placed in the cab of the truck to record footage facing both backwards towards the driver and forwards towards the road, and record on constant 12-second loops. The idea behind these is two-fold. First, obviously, it records what is going on in front of the truck. If a dispute arises about who is at fault in a wreck, one can consult the footage for evidence.

Second is that the cameras record the drivers. This is especially useful, as allegations of driver inattention or fatigue often arise in trucking accidents. If a driver was falling asleep or checking their phone while behind the wheel, the camera will record this footage. While one may think trucking companies would be hesitant to install devices that could implicate their own drivers (and ultimately the company themselves) in the case of a wreck, in many scenarios the footage has bailed out drivers falsely accused of inattentive driving.

Yet another safety measure (that has been around in passenger vehicles for some time) that has been developed are “collision avoidance systems” that install motion detectors on the bumpers of the trucks to measure the distance between a truck and other objects. They also measure speed and following distance, and if a trucker comes to close to another car or the side of the road, the device sends a signal to the driver.

Another even more significant change is on the horizon: automated, driverless trucks. While driverless trucks may be way down the road, one company already tested its automated truck last year in making a delivery of beer from Colorado Springs to Fort Collins, Colorado without incident (read more about that here). During that trucking haul a driver was still placed in the cab for extra safety, but the drive nevertheless went smoothly. Many companies are understandably hesitant and unsure about the future of this technology, especially as driverless passenger vehicles are still only in their beginning stages of testing. But many anticipate that in 30 years, if not sooner, this technology, if perfected, could begin to take over the industry.