For instance, the Interplant division of Shaw Industries (www.shawfloors.com), a $4 billion carpet manufacturing, is using an electronic onboard recorder (EOBR) to review driver performance as well as to reconstruct driver behavior during accidents. Shaw operates its private fleet, one of the biggest in the U.S., on a round-the-clock basis.
"We began by collecting data on sudden stops and sudden accelerations," says Wes Moore, Interplant's operations manager.
"If we could see who was starting and stopping too fast, we then could work with that particular driver to provide the necessary training to prevent behavior that ultimately may result in a crash."
Should an accident happen, the EOBR, developed by PeopleNet (www.peoplenetonline.com), can deliver data indicating the time it occurred, the odometer reading at the time, vehicle speed, engine speed in RPMs, the truck's location (captured via a global positioning system) and direction of travel. The EOBR records events for 170 seconds before an accident or other event and for 30 seconds afterwards. It also provides instant wireless notification.
