Graves Says Truck Suppliers Improving Safety Systems

ollowing a week of safety demonstrations in Germany and Sweden, Bill Graves, president of American Trucking Associations, said the truck supply industry was making major strides in developing technologies to reduce the number and severity of accidents.

Graves, who led an ATA delegation’s visits to DaimlerChrysler AG, Siemens VDO and AB Volvo, said the systems — designed to slow or stop trucks approaching standing traffic, alert drivers when they are steering outside traffic lanes and warn drivers that they are getting drowsy — “offer great opportunities to make our highways safer for truckers and the motoring public.”

Company officials said some of the safety systems were currently available on models sold in the United States, and more would be offered in the future.