Technology Briefs — May 16 - May 22
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The Latest Headlines:
- Terion Links Trailer-Tracking to Dispatch Data
- Wal-Mart Says Fleet Tech Improvements Ahead of Schedule
- Kentucky Biodiesel Plant on Track for Next Year
- Maine Installs Lasers to Safeguard Highway Overpass
- Wal-Mart Says Fleet Tech Improvements Ahead of Schedule
Terion Links Trailer-Tracking to Dispatch Data
Wireless communications firm Terion said it has integrated its FleetView trailer tracking system with a Web-based dispatch application developed by transportation software developer AddOn Systems Inc.Todd Felker, Terion’s vice president of marketing and product development, said the collaboration will help dispatchers track the availability of trailers based on in-cab information.
Hugh Fish, president of AddOn, Oklahoma City, said many truckload carriers are looking to integrate dispatch data as they move toward wireless trailer tracking systems.Tarun Reddy
Wal-Mart Says Fleet Tech Improvements Ahead of Schedule
Wal-Mart Stores’ efforts to increase the efficiency of its trucking fleet are running ahead of schedule, the Associated Press reported.Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, said in October it planned to boost its fleet's efficiency to as high as 13 miles per gallon from 6.5 mpg, AP said. (Click here for previous coverage.)
Johnnie Dobbs, Wal-Mart’s executive vice president of logistics, estimated that the company’s fleet of 7,100 trucks is on track to become 18% more energy efficient in the next year, AP said.
Wal-Mart is also considering such technologies as lighter truck designs, more efficient engines and transmissions and hybrid technologies that utilize electricity and hydrogen power for future fleet improvements, AP reported.
Wal-Mart is ranked No. 2 on the Transport Topics 100 listing of North American private carriers.
Kentucky Biodiesel Plant on Track for Next Year
Officials hope to have a 50-million gallon per year biodiesel plant in western Kentucky in full operation by mid-2007, the Associated Press reported.The plant will use vegetable oil from soybeans grown in Kentucky and the area for biodiesel production, officials told the AP.
Biodiesel is derived from vegetable oil and animal fats and is primarily used as a blend in standard diesel fuel.
Kentucky produces about 54 million bushels of soybeans annually with 11 pounds of oil processed from each bushel, AP said.
There are currently 53 biodiesel plants in operation across the country with 40 more planned.Transport Topics
Maine Installs Lasers to Safeguard Highway Overpass
The state of Maine is installing a laser-based detection and warning system designed to prevent tall trucks and loads from hitting a highway overpass, the Bangor (Maine) Daily News reported.The system — being set up on Interstate 395 at the I-95 overpass and scheduled to be in place later this summer — uses lasers to detect loads that are too high to travel under the overpass, which has 14 feet, 4 inches of clearance, the paper said.
It will detect the vehicle’s height at a distance of 1,000 feet before reaching the overpass, the paper reported, and trigger a sign at about 750 feet from the overpass warning the driver to stop.
The Maine Department of Transportation estimated that the overpass is struck once a month. The new system’s $180,000 price tag is being funded through state and federal transportation agencies, the Daily News said.
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