Trucking Technology Report - July 31
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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:
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Food And Packaging Firms Form Online Exchange
Twelve food and packaging companies have allied to create an online exchange for consumer packaged goods that aims to cut down on empty backhauls and improve load planning by letting member companies share capacity on trucks.
General Mills core carrier DART Transit is hoping to get a larger dedicated fleet and an expanded network of shippers as a result of the exchange. Shippers will be able to get up-to-date information through the exchange from satellite-tracking systems on many of DART's trucks.
The operating system is being built by Nistevo.com, which is also looking into building similar systems for other industries; one possible customer is Shipchem.com, oriented toward the chemical industry. Traffic World (07/31/00) Vol. 263, No. 5, P. 15; Cottrill, Ken
Exchanges: Friends or Foes? - Distributors Weigh Their Long-Term Impact
Companies are facing new decisions concerning Internet exchanges and how to handle potential alliances and competition. Tech Data has established a group to consider these issues and, ultimately, bring down costs and increase value.Bob Brooks of GE Global Exchange Services says that exchanges should cut down on costs, time, and inventory within the supply chain. GE Global Exchange Services has created its own network to handle supply chains for various other companies.
Ingram Micro, which is not involved with exchanges, has built IM-Logistics to work for electronic companies whose businesses are not in the field of information technology. Now, Ingram-Micro competes with GE Global Exchange Services and others.
Despite what others say, Tech Data's vice president of business development, Tim Lowe, believes that distributors will always be a benefit to the process of providing products. Computer Reseller News (07/31/00); Cruz, Mike
GPS Receviers and Laser Range Finders Add Functionality
A neighborhood heavily shaded by oak trees presented a unique challenge to global positioning system users. After 28 visits, researchers from the Houston Advanced Research Center found a reading accurate to within 3 meters only 23% of the time. The situation offered an opportunity to test the accuracy of several GPS systems that relied on PDA mobile computers.The test connected three GPS systems the Lowrance GlobalMap 100m, the Trimble AgGPS 122, and the Leica GS50 to a Palm Pilot V. Although the government's ending of Selective Availability has already improved accuracy for GPS users worldwide, the Trimble and Leica systems used differential corrections to improve their GPS readings even further. The test also used Laser Technology's Impulse laser range finder with a Mapstar AE angle encoder module to measure the distances. The tests' results were encouraging for prospective users of GPS/PDA systems.
The three receivers, mounted to a car roof, each had three opportunities in the tree-covered neighborhood. The Lowrance GlobalMap 100, which did not use corrected GPS data, registered within the desired range once and had an average reading 11.25 m from the target. The Trimble AgGPS performed well, missing only once, with an average reading within .925 m. The Leica GS50 had the best results, nailing an accurate reading all three times. On average, it was .88 m away from the location. GEOWorld (07/00) Vol. 13, No. 7, P. 32
Glenayre's Three-Pronged Goal
The top management of Glenayre Technologies wants to transform the company from a traditional provider of paging services into the most prominent supplier of diverse wireless services in North America.With the decline in demand for paging services, the company began a restructuring plan roughly a year ago to consolidate its enhanced phone services, advanced messaging, infrastructure, and network management into one operation. As a result, the company is developing new products such as @ctiveLink, which attaches to Handspring's Visor handheld. The product is the first accessory provided for the Visor product and alerts the user to incoming e-mail. The module can also allow the user to send and receive e-mail and receive Web-based information.
The company will also be developing wireless enabling solutions by combining the module and MobileSys MX, a scalable server that can function with any wireless protocol or service provider. Much of the company's plans are oriented to providing two-way messaging.
Glenayre is already working extensively in partnership with Loc8net to deliver location-based services for users of ReFLEX 25 networks. Both companies are also creating a two-way pager that can transmit a user's location to medical and law enforcement authorities in event of a medical emergency.
The firm's senior vice president and chief marketing officer, James Kelly, says messages transmitted over the ReFLEX protocol will not be blocked by buildings, unlike those transmitted using other technologies. The company also claimed it was the first to transmit one-way and two-way paging transmissions over the same network. It has since introduced advanced two-way paging systems in China and Latin America for the first time. Glenayre is currently constructing ReFLEX
etworks in Japan and China and plans to expand the system to the United States. Wireless Week (07/24/00) Vol. 6, No. 30, P. 26; Mendez-Wilson, Deborah
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