Trucking Technology Alert - Oct. 18
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Both the online report and e-mail are sponsored by @Track Communications, a supplier of wireless communications and dispatch services.
Today's Technology Headlines:
- Cell Phones Set to Track Call Locations
- Global Text Messages Reach 1 Billion Per Day
- @Track Expands TrackWare Coverage
- La-Z-Boy Not Sitting Still
- Wireless Users to Reach 191 Million by 2005
Cell Phones Set to Track Call Locations
In the United States and elsewhere around the world, location-sensing technology is set to become an integral part of cell phones.In America, the development is being driven by a government mandate that would make the tracking of wireless 911 calls easier to achieve. The wireless 911 effort, which is aimed at saving lives, has also opened commercial possibilities that businesses are flocking to exploit. U.S. cell phone carriers and cell phone manufacturers have already started embedding tracking technologies in their phones that would enable users to locate the nearest gas station, restaurant or bank machine. It is expected that such simple but useful services will become commonplace in the near future, together with specialty services that can provide customized weather or traffic information based on the user's location.
Global Text Messages Reach 1 Billion Per Day
The number of text messages sent to wireless phones globally has reached 1 billion a day, the GSM Association reports.The group estimates that the total number of sent messages will be 250 billion for the full year, up from the earlier estimate of 200 billion. Increasingly, text messages are being sent from Internet terminals and computers, and often by businesses and telecom firms. Text messaging could generate $18.9 billion worldwide in 2001, Ovum predicts. Microsoft has just announced a new service that lets European users of its Hotmail service forward email to mobile phones. Reuters (10/17/01)
@Track Expands TrackWare Coverage
@Track Communications Inc., a provider of wireless-based vehicle fleet management and intelligent mobile-asset tracking solutions, reports that it has signed a new agreement that significantly expands the potential market for its TrackWare solution by expanding service to customers operating in Mexico and Canada.The agreement between @Track and Cellemetry LLC, a subsidiary of Numerex Corp., extends @Track's Cellemetry Data Service coverage and enables @Track to offer trucking companies that haul freight into Mexico and Canada the ability to track their trailer fleets, even if those trailers are handed off to other carriers at the U.S. border. @Track Communications News Release (10/17/01)
La-Z-Boy Not Sitting Still
Michigan-based La-Z-Boy has been able to turn its firm into a $2.2 billion operation with worldwide facilities and as a result, the company now has a more complex distribution system.For instance, a Tennessee manufacturer of La-Z-Boy's chairs and sofas features 150 owned trucks that transports about 200 truckloads of furniture out of the plant weekly. The fleet is equipped with the Intouch G2X Fleet Management system, which combines cellular communications, Global Positioning System, and the Internet.
The system -- developed by PeopleNet Communications -- provides clients with fleet locating, two-way data and voice communications, as well as Web services. In addition, La-Z-Boy Logistics has also created an interface between the G2X system and McLeod Software's LoadMaster transportation management system. The combination allows the company to automatically dispatch a new load to a driver once the officials notifies dispatch that all deliveries were completed. Commercial Carrier Journal (10/01) Vol. 158, No. 10, P. 52; Desmond, Parry
Wireless Users to Reach 191 Million by 2005
The number of wireless subscribers in the United States increased to 119.4 million by the end of the second quarter of this year, according to a recent study from Infotech, which expects that number to reach 191 million by 2005.Sprint PCS led the growth among cellular network operators, adding 843,000 new subscribers during the second quarter of 2001. It was followed by Verizon Wireless, which added over 800,000 subscribers during that period, and AT&T Wireless, which added 668,000 new subscribers. The study found that the biggest challenge currently facing the wireless industry is the lack of airwaves for third-generation and other new services. Infotech says the caps on the amount of spectrum each carrier can own will probably be lifted. This is expected to lead to consolidation in the market, as companies take over their competitors to obtain badly needed spectrum. Newsbytes (10/17/01); Creed, Adam
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