U.S. Truck Operators Awaken to Drowsy Driver Crash Risks
A decade after mining trucks started to monitor operators for fatigue, Class 8 truck operators are coming to see opportunities to improve employee safety and mitigate reputational disaster.
Estimates of U.S. truck driver shortages vary, but the American Trucking Association often quotes numbers between 60,000 to 80,000. The “self-driving” truck narrative has collapsed as development costs spiral and promises wither, leaving the trucking industry looking elsewhere for solutions to driver shortages. Industry efforts to recruit drivers cheaply from overseas territories have made sensational headlines, leading U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy to demand changes in industry working practices and installation of safety technologies.
All of these threads are suddenly coming together to bring about significant new opportunities for distraction and drowsiness monitoring in big rigs in the U.S.
Source: Peterbilt
On November 12, Seeing Machines announced an initial order for 1,100 Guardian Gen. 3 aftermarket units across the distribution fleet of a major U.S.-based multinational company. With installation to be completed by December, the customer evidently wants part of its distribution fleet protected ahead of the busy holiday season.
The identity of the customer in unknown, but obvious possibilities include Amazon, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo or Walmart. The actual name doesn’t matter. What matters is that a company with a large truck fleet has undertaken an exhaustive field trial of all suitable solutions and then selected the optimal drowsiness mitigation technology.