MERX Global adopts E-SMART Active Speed Management technology
INDIANAPOLIS, June 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — MERX Global, a Chicago based transportation company that provides comprehensive transportation solutions to customers throughout the United States, and E-SMART, a leading ADAS/ISA provider, announced today a new partnership to bring E-SMART technology to MERX Global’s fleet of more than 250 trucks. E-SMART’s active, real time speed control decreases speeding events by more than 90%.
MERX Global adopts E-SMART Active Speed Management technology
Merx Global is header quartered in Elk Grove Village, IL.
“Safety has been our number one priority from day one of operation. Utilizing the latest technology that helps our drivers and motorists be safe on the road is key. When we implemented E-SMART, we saw an immediate reduction in the number of speeding events. Less speeding events meant safer drivers, less accidents and better safety scores for the company.”, Pavel Peneff, Vice-President at MERX Global.
E-SMART uses advanced positioning technology to determine vehicle location to actively manage its maximum allowed speed. E-SMART also leverages this technology for low bridge collision avoidance, active geofencing and remote vehicle immobilization. Leading fleets currently using the E-SMART technology report a significant decrease in speed-related accidents, infringements, and a significantly improved CSA scores.
“MERX Global was an early adoptor of E-SMART technology and is now deploying the technology to the full fleet. Initially, Volvo introduced the tech to the Peneff brothers who got very involved in the evaluation of the technology and its efficient deployment. This is a great partnership.”, said Mathieu Boivin, CEO at E-SMART.
ABOUT MERX
Headquartered in Elk Grove Village, IL, Merx Global is a growing asset-based transportation company that provides comprehensive transportation solutions to customers throughout the United States. Our services include full truckload, hazmat, and drop trailer with a dedicated private fleet. We invest substantial resources into our fleet operations, including state of the art tractors, GPS-equipped trailer tracking capabilities, our own fleet maintenance facility, and a secured lot for storage.
E-SMART develops and manufactures innovative ADAS solutions that increase the safety of fleet vehicles. Located in Indianapolis, IN, E-SMART helps set new safety standards with Intelligent Speed Adaptation. This solution determines vehicle location in real time to actively manage the maximum speed the vehicle can attain in the respective posted speed zone. Along with its other safety features, namely, Low Bridge Collision Prevention, Active Geofencing, Remote Vehicle Immobilization, and Telematics Integration, E-SMART leads the way in reducing the number of collisions on our roadways. For more information, please visit: https://www.esmartcontrol.com.
ALBANY — The collision caused the truck to levitate in the air as a piece of equipment attached to it — a $300,000 boom lift — fell off the back, destroyed.
George Gizzi, 57, of Colonie, was living every truck driver’s worst nightmare. The cargo he was towing hit the Sitterly Road Bridge along the Northway in Clifton Park, bringing traffic to a three-hour standstill and necessitating repairs costing millions of dollars. In the ensuing weeks, the shutdown of the damaged bridge would cause gridlock on the local roads it serviced.
The wreck occurred on April 14, 2021, a date that had originally been a cause for celebration: It was Gizzi’s birthday.
But his unlucky mishap was not unique. Last year, trucks and other vehicles smashed into overpass bridges in New York at least 344 times — more than any other year in the previous decade, according to data collected by the state Department of Transportation and the Thruway Authority.
Collisions with bridges have been on the rise since 2016 in New York, which is home to some of the lowest bridges in the country.
“The increased frequency of bridge strikes is likely caused by a variety of factors, including, but not limited to, the growing use of non-commercial GPS systems and changes in traffic flow and driver behavior since the pandemic,” said Joseph Morrissey, spokesman for the New York Department of Transportation. “Increased awareness of the issue has also led to more comprehensive reporting.”
The crashes have caused injuries, chemical spills and traffic jams. Most of the low bridges are owned by the state. The state Department of Transportation has spent $42 million in recent years to repair bridges after strikes and prevent hits. The Thruway Authority has spent a part of its $319 million bridge capital budget addressing crashes.
If repairs are needed for a bridge, then a town, county or state transportation agency may front the costs. In some cases, an insurance company may cover a portion of the repairs, according to Janet Ruiz, director of strategic communications at the Insurance Information Institute. Though she couldn’t provide an example of when that has occurred.
When renovations hit the multi-million dollar mark, it’s more than likely that taxpayers will end up shouldering much of the load. Other costs associated with the crashes can be the expense to send emergency services to the sites, especially in places where the strikes are a constant reoccurrence.
The state set aside nearly $30 million — $25 million from a 2019 initiative started by former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and smaller amounts from the Department of Transportation — to undertake eight projects that officials say will reduce the state’s bridge strike count.
The department has so far completed one of those projects. Nevertheless, the Department said New York’s bridges are safe because they are regularly inspected.
“The New York State Department of Transportation has one of the most comprehensive and rigorous bridge inspection programs in the nation. Bridges are inspected after every reported collision,” Morrissey said. “The state also requires all highway bridges to be inspected at least every two years, if not sooner, and is one of the few states in the nation that requires bridge inspection teams to be headed by licensed professional engineers who have undergone specialized training. Bridges that are deemed unsafe are closed.”
The Department of Transportation and Thruway Authority collect information on collisions with bridges from a variety of sources and their data may reflect an undercount of incidents in some cases, according to state officials. But their data are the best window available into where bridge collisions are happening most often in the state.
The Times Union analyzed 10 years of data on bridge collisions from the Department of Transportation and the Thruway Authority.
The crashes with low bridges happen most often on the Hutchinson Parkway, followed by the Southern and Northern State Parkways on Long Island, according to the data. Bridges in New York City, Hempstead, New Rochelle, Rye and Oysterbay endure the most collisions.
“The impact of bridge strikes can be significant depending on the road and the time of day,” said Beau Duffy, spokesman for the New York State Police. “Crashes on the downstate parkways where there are heavier traffic volumes, especially during rush hour, may require more manpower to handle lane closures while debris is cleaned and the bridge is inspected.”
In the Capital Region, the bridges struck most often are the Glenridge Road railroad bridge in Glenville and two Thruway overpasses in Guilderland, the data shows.
According to four neighbors who live near the Glenride Road bridge, state data undercounts the number of crashes on their street, which they estimate to be more than 100 in the past several years. Bob and Sue Vielkind, who live just up the street from the bridge, remembered three crashes in one day in 2020, they said. Not every crash is reported to the state.
“It sounds like a big can opener being peeled back times one hundred,” said Connie Cartwright, another neighbor whose home is closest to the bridge. “I’ve got a ringside seat.”
Each crash can close Glenridge Road for about three to four hours to clear the damaged vehicle and any debris. The bridge also must be inspected to ensure the integrity of its structure before the road is reopened.
Drivers that hit bridges in New York are typically not from the state, according to Kendra Hems, president of the Trucking Association of New York. They’ll often use navigation systems like Waze or Google Maps, applications that provide them with the most direct routes but don’t alert them to low bridges or some parkways where commercial vehicles aren’t allowed. The online applications’ shortfalls are not always known to out-of-state truckers.
The State Police said that drivers who hit bridges, fail to obey a traffic control device alerting them to a low bridge or enter parkways where they are not allowed can be hit with a variety of citations depending on the specific situation.
A truck slammed into the New Scotland Road rail trail bridge in Bethlehem’s Slingerlands neighborhood May 22, 2021. It was the second time in two days that a truck hit the low-slung bridge, which once carried trains over New Scotland Road. (Thomas Heffernan Sr., Special to the Times Union)
Most often, collisions with low bridges in New York are caused by tractor-trailers and delivery trucks striking underpasses that are lower than their vehicles or cargo. In some cases, trucks towing excavators, sailboats or even a prefabricated house have slammed into bridges.
Bridges have also been hit by trucks carrying pineapples, watermelons, cabbage, ice cream and plastic garbage cans. The data also revealed two incidents resulting in fuel spills in 2020.
In January 2019, a “runaway cruise ship” collided with two bridges in Albany and Watervliet that span the Hudson River, according to the data. The ship, along with several other vessels, broke loose from moorings amid rising waters and ice jams during a rapid thaw. The vessels were eventually secured by tugboats. The boats caused a few bridges to close to traffic during commuting hours.
Sometimes the strikes can be catastrophic. On a cloudy evening in July 1994, the 23-year-old driver of a propane truck fell asleep at the wheel before hitting a bridge column in White Plains. He was ejected from the vehicle and died of blunt trauma injuries. The propane tank fractured during the crash, starting a fire that engulfed the surrounding neighborhood.
That incident led to roughly 19 residents and four firefighters being injured; three houses were destroyed and eight others were damaged.
Another deadly accident occurred in Syracuse in 2010, when a double-decker bus collided with a low railroad bridge, flipping on its side and killing four people and critically injuring several others.
That was the most recent catastrophic crash, but some worry the next major disaster is just around the corner.
Train bridge over Glenridge Road. The state Department of Transportation has struggled to stem the number of oversized vehicles that hit this bridge.
Lori Van Buren/Times Union
Lawmakers and advocacy groups suggest different solutions to stop the strikes. For some, the issue needs to be taken up at the federal level with legislation forcing drivers to use commercial GPS applications, which warn drivers on routes that avoid low bridges. Others believe replacing the 20th-century bridges is the only viable option.
Locally, Albany County has allocated more than $3 million to replace the Slingerlands Rail Trail Bridge on New Scotland Road after trucks repeatedly slammed into it. In Clifton Park, the state has allocated $6.5 million for an ongoing project to replace the Sitterly Road Bridge, which has been relying on a temporary bridge since it was reopened a year ago after being closed for more than three weeks. Both spots are notorious for crashes.
The most infamous, perhaps, is the Glenridge Road bridge in Glenville. There, officials have spent an estimated $50,000 in the past 18 months responding to truck-related incidents.
“It’s just one of those things now where it’s almost become like comedy,” said Glenville police Chief Stephen V. Janik. “People love to get on social media and post pictures of just another day in Glenville at the bridge.”
Chris Koetzle, the town’s supervisor, understands Janik’s discontent.
“It’s frustrating because so many people think that we’re not doing anything,” he said. “And this has consumed a lot of our time over the years and a lot of our efforts.”
The 10-foot, 11-inch high railroad-owned bridge is one of the most complicated to fix. The rail that sits on top of it belongs to a company that hasn’t pursued raising it because of the potential multimillion-dollar cost, according to Koetzle.
Although the roadway belongs to the state, the government can’t fund the project, he said. A number of solutions have been proposed to quell the strikes — from closing the road to truck traffic to planting overhanging trees with branches that would alert truckers to an approaching low overpass — but nothing that’ll stop the accidents for good.
This summer the state Department of Transportation is scheduled to begin constructing a westbound truck turnaround near the bridge on Glenridge Road. Next year it will install an infrared laser height detection system that will warn drivers of vehicles that are too tall to make it through the tight underpass. The system will trigger a timer and overheight messages if it detects a vehicle that is too large.
Another potential solution is educating drivers, said Hems. “It’s the three E’s: education, enforcement, engineering,” she said.
Enforcement means fining truckers for hitting bridges, Hems added. In Glenville, truckers are usually issued vehicle citations as well as a summons for violating town code.
But the rules can be difficult to enforce, Janik said, especially for drivers that are from another state.
“If somebody is from Ohio and they’re a cross country trucker, I don’t really believe they’re going to be coming to Town Court on their summons at 5:30 on a Tuesday afternoon,” Janik said.
After finding themselves on a dangerous road, truckers might be inclined to call 911 for assistance. But the fear of being fined can make them second-guess that choice, said Sala Harris, 30, Saratoga Springs resident and truck driver.
“It’s like, damn, I don’t know what to do,” he explained. “If I call the cops now, I might get in trouble and get the fine. If I hurry up and get off this road, then I’ll be good.”
Early in his career, Harris found himself assessing that scenario but was able to turn around on his own to avoid striking a bridge. He’s since become a yard jockey, retiring from long-distance trips.
Developers across the globe are producing technologies to curb the accidents, using simulated waterfalls to project deterring messages and computer vision to send personalized alerts to drivers telling them to get off at the nearest exit. Hems said she’d been in discussion with a couple of companies.
One of them is E-SMART, a business that creates innovative software. One of their products automatically immobilizes trucks that come within 750 feet of a bridge through geofencing technology paired with one of their systems.
Jean-Philippe Roberge, the company’s vice president of operations, said he presented his product to Hems and other members of the association but never heard back.
“We didn’t get a lot of calls,” he said. “If people were really serious about fixing this, we have a solution.” The company’s technology is being used in every state except Alaska.
“People think it’s only the Northeast but there’s bridges everywhere,” he said.
Still, that solution could require drivers to turn around, a feat that might prove to be difficult or unsafe on some roads.
A view of the Sitterly Road bridge that goes over Interstate 90, seen here on Wednesday, May 25, 2022, in Clifton Park, N.Y. Repair work is being done on the bridge after it was damaged last year when a truck pulling a boom lift hit the bridge.
Paul Buckowski/Times Union
Before Gizzi smashed into the bridge and lost his job last year, he’d been driving for 25 years across the country, hauling boom lifts hundreds of times.
He said he doesn’t know how it happened. He picked up the equipment in Clifton Park and then drove south on the Northway. The Sitterly Road bridge was marked and he had traveled that route many times and believed his cargo could comfortably pass under the bridge.
But Gizzi also wasn’t aware that the boom’s lift had raised, exceeding height restrictions and leading to the collision that caused widespread detours and travel delays as the southbound Northway lanes had to be closed when the bridge absorbed the hard strike. In the Clifton Park area, the temporary closure of the Sitterly Road bridge caused additional delays for several weeks because it is a busy crossing.
Initially, he thought he’d run something over. After 30 seconds had passed, he realized that the equipment had smashed into the structure, permanently damaging three of the steel girders.
Emergency responders and police rushed to the scene to survey the damage. Officials closed three southbound lanes.
Laborers worked overnight to ensure the bridge was moderately functioning for commuters the following morning, although lane closures remained. Later that week, six temporary beams were erected to support the structure connecting the towns of Halfmoon and Clifton Park.
The permanent bridge, set to be completed this year, will stand 16 feet 7.5 inches, which officials believe will prevent another strike.
Luckily, Gizzi’s trailer didn’t slam into the bridge and he was not seriously injured. Traveling at roughly 65 miles per hour, his injuries could have been severe, he said.
Gizzi noted that no other motorists were injured but he was sorry for the severe traffic delays that it caused.
“I’m sure there’s people who hate me, but they didn’t get hurt,” he said. “And that’s the biggest thing that I cared about.”
Gizzi was ticketed by state troopers for striking an overpass with a commercial vehicle but still hasn’t paid a fine because the matter is pending.
The crash continues to haunt Gizzi. After the incident, a new company that he now works for reached out to him. He continues to transport boom lifts, sometimes with tears in his eyes, he said.
On occasion, when he’s about to go under a bridge, he’ll pull over and triple-check the height of the equipment.
“It’s something you’ll never shake,” he said. “It changes you as a person.”
An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated how much money New York has spent in recent years on repairing and upgrading bridge infrastructure.
Arnold Transportation to implement E-SMART Active Speed Management technology
INDIANAPOLIS, Dec. 13, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Arnold Transportation, a Texas based transportation company, announces new partnership with E-SMART, an ***ADAS/ISA*** provider dedicated to improve vehicle safety. This collaboration signals Arnold Transportation’s focus on heavy-duty vehicle safety innovation. E-SMART will bring benefits to the fleet through its advances in active speed management, low bridge collision prevention, and remote vehicle immobilization.
“Speeding is one of the leading causes of collisions in this country. The E-SMART program will actively ensure that our trucks are obeying the posted speed limits and leading the way to reducing the number of collisions on our roadways,” said Mike Delbovo, President at Arnold Transportation Services.
The E-SMART solution uses GPS technology to determine vehicle location to actively manage its maximum allowed speed, provide real-time safety alerts, and identify known hazard areas such as low clearance bridges. When a driver approaches an area of concern, the vehicle will be limited to idle. Leading fleets currently using the E-SMART technology report a significant decrease in speed-related infringements and accidents and an extensive savings among toll-related fines
“E-SMART is gaining tremendous momentum in our mission to improve road safety. We are showing the industry that Intelligent Speed Adaptation, an active technology, is the solution to reduce speed-related accidents. We are proud to work with Arnold Transportation, a visionary fleet that prides itself in investing in the latest safety technologies.” said Mathieu Boivin, CEO at E-SMART.
Arnold Transportation fleet is scheduled to be fully deployed by the beginning of 2022.
ABOUT ARNOLD TRANSPORTATION
Arnold Transportation is a full-service truckload carrier headquartered in Grand Prairie, Texas. Arnold’s heritage dates back to the 1930s, when its strong foundation in Regional Service was established. Today the company provides Irregular Route Truckload Service, Dedicated Solutions and Logistics Support. Through these services, Arnold creates a wide range of possibilities to assure customer products are delivered on time. Because its operations are strategically concentrated in the South Central and Midwest states, the company consistently re-creates capacity for its customers in, between and around major markets. Arnold operates in regional markets for customers who need a flexible, performance-driven carrier. http://www.arnoldtrans.com/
ABOUT E-SMART
E-SMART develops and manufactures innovative ADAS solutions that increase the safety of fleet vehicles. Located in Indianapolis, IN, E-SMART helps set new safety standards with Intelligent Speed Adaptation. This solution determines vehicle location in real time to actively manage the maximum speed the vehicle can attain in the respective posted speed zone. Along with its other safety features, namely, Low Bridge Collision Prevention, Active Geofencing, Remote Vehicle Immobilization, and Telematics Integration, E-SMART leads the way in reducing the number of collisions on our roadways. For more information, please visit: https://www.esmartcontrol.com.
E-SMART POWERS SPEED MANAGEMENT FOR TRUCK FLEETS WITH DEEPLITE’S AI OPTIMIZATION
MARKET OVERVIEW
The mass shift to e-commerce has highlighted the critical role of freight trucking within the world economy as the volume of goods delivered daily to businesses and consumers soars. According to estimates from Research and Markets, the global freight trucking market is forecast to reach $5.5 trillion by 2027, with the US alone accounting for roughly 20% of the total market.For companies with large fleets of trucks, managing the safety of their drivers, cargo and bystanders along delivery routes has always been a top priority, but now there is smart technology to enable it automatically.
Based in Indianapolis with operations and customers in the United States, Canada and Mexico, E-SMART develops and manufactures innovative software solutions that offer fleet managers the ability to significantly improve vehicle safety while also reducing fuel consumption.
CHALLENGE
As an industry leader in intelligent speed management solutions, E-SMART faced a critical roadblock in rolling out its latest innovation to customers: a computer vision algorithm that goes beyond existing speed ‘warning’ technologies to actively control a vehicle’s speed.
Using a camera connected to E-SMART’s Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS), the company’s AI model was trained to recognize speed limit signs in real-time and automatically adjust a truck’s speed to below the limit for safety. The new technology would enable drivers and fleet managers to achieve industry-leading safety standards while also improving operational efficiency. It was a high priority for E-SMART and its customers.
“We’re focused on finding innovative ways to respond to our customers’ needs, and proactive safety is a big one. According to the US DOT, 30% of all accidents are speed-related, and 70% of fatal crash accidents happen on non-interstate roads. While basic governors can limit top speeds to 60, 65 or 70, we wanted a proactive system that could recognize and not exceed the speed limit of any road,” said Mathieu Boivin, President & CEO of E-SMART.
The challenge for E-SMART was that computer vision software is typically large and complex, requiring expensive, power-hungry graphics processing units (GPUs) to operate effectively. As a result, it was unclear how the active speed control technology could be deployed in newly-built systems – not to mention the thousands of vehicles already in the field with legacy, resource-constrained CPUs – while maintaining the cost-efficient standards that E-SMART’s customers counted on.
SOLUTION
To avoid the time and expense required to upgrade hardware across customers’ fleets, E-SMART instead looked for ways to maintain the accuracy of its AI model while optimizing it to run on the existing hardware already in its customers’ trucks and turned to Deeplite and its Neutrino™ AI optimization software.
Deeplite’s Neutrino uses AI to make other AI models smaller, faster, and more energy-efficient at the edge and in other resource-constrained environments. E-SMART partnered with Deeplite to dramatically reduce the size of its YOLOv3 PyTorch computer vision model so it could be deployed to existing ADAS systems.
After training E-SMART’s Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) to the acceptable level of performance (mAP) to recognize speed limit signs from the LISA data set and the ability to run on various hardware to maximize deployment flexibility, Deeplite delivered the following optimization benefits:
RESULTS
Through state-of-the-art optimization techniques, Deeplite achieved exceptional results while maintaining E-SMART’s desired level of accuracy.
FUTURE PLAN
With the ability to optimize large, complex AI models and computer vision solutions to run on its existing ADAS hardware, E-SMART plans to work closely with Deeplite to create innovative new solutions that expand the capabilities of its ADAS platform to create further value for fleet managers.
Added Boivin, “As the transportation market accelerates toward smart, tech-assisted and eventually autonomous vehicles, partnering with Deeplite will turn our vision of proactive speed control and other new technologies into a reality for fleet managers. With Deeplite, we are delivering cutting-edge tech to our customers at a price point that is highly accessible. It’s a win for everyone.”
By Daniel Patterson, Director of Safety, Western Express Inc.
Technology shapes every industry in the United States. Trucking is no exception. Over the last 10 years, there have been many trucking industry uses of technology in the back office, from fuel and route optimization software to load and truck planning software. Today, the vehicles themselves have also made huge strides in on-board safety technology. Collision mitigation, roll stability braking and critical event reporting were once all expensive aftermarket upgrades. Today, collision mitigation and the like are part of the standard on-board brake system shipped direct from the manufacturer. Intelligent speed limiters are another of the latest technologies and can easily be added on aftermarket.
Paul Wieck, CEO at Western Express Inc., has been a big proponent of adopting technology to help the company improve the safety of its drivers and the motoring public. Over the last several years, Western Express has implemented several safety technology advancements to its equipment. These technologies are aimed to help improve and influence driver behavior. In 2019, Western Express began testing an innovative technology that provides intelligent speed adaptation, which is active, real-time speed control of any vehicle in any posted speed zone or geofenced area. This means that the truck’s speed adapts to the posted speed based on the speed zone the truck is actively in and can even impact speed at high-accident areas, customer yards and other customized zones.
Western Express is seeing great results due to the implementation of this product in its fleet. Throughout the later part of 2020 and the first quarter of 2021, the company has seen a drastic reduction in both frequency and severity of speeding events. In the last few months, when compared to previous years, Western Express has reduced speeding frequency by 53% and severity by 50%. The speeding violations that are currently seen primarily occur when the truck is coasting downhill because the driver has not maintained their speed.
When asked about the impact this product has had and the future of where it could go, Wieck said: “We are convinced, as a company, that the future will bring better safety through technology. That is why we have embraced this innovative technology. The reductions in speeding violations have been significant. Additionally, we have been able to geofence low bridges and this has all but eliminated bridge hits. At the beginning of March 2021, we implemented geofencing for all weigh stations and provided a verbal command to our drivers to enter the weigh station which will help us to reduce our ‘failure to obey’ violations.”
The overall results Western Express has seen from reducing speeding violations and the ability of this vendor to think outside the box to help us improve multiple areas, makes the company very excited for what the future holds.
If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to Western Express headquartersat 800-316-7160. n
WEL Companies adopts E-SMART Active Speed Management technology
INDIANAPOLIS, June 9, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — WEL Companies, an industry leader in transportation solutions, and E-SMART, a leading ADAS/ISA provider, announced today a new partnership to bring E-SMART technology to WEL’s fleet of more than 450 trucks. E-SMART’s active, real time speed control decreases speeding events by more than 90%.
“The implementation of E-SMART has made an immediate, measurable, impact on our fleet. It has resulted in fewer speed violations and already aided in low bridge avoidance.” Gerry Pitt, IT Director at WEL Companies
WEL Companies
E-SMART uses advanced positioning technology to determine vehicle location to actively manage its maximum allowed speed. E-SMART also leverages this technology for low bridge collision avoidance, active geofencing and remote vehicle immobilization. Leading fleets currently using the E-SMART technology report a significant decrease in speed-related accidents, infringements, and a significantly improved CSA scores.
“We are proud to partner with WEL Companies. The management is a remarkably involved and passionate. WEL’s focus on safety through emerging technology makes this partnership a perfect fit. The E-SMART solution will help them accomplish their goals of zero accident.” said Mathieu Boivin, CEO at E-SMART.
The WEL fleet is scheduled to be fully deployed by August 2022.
ABOUT WEL COMPANIES
Founded in 1975, WEL Companies is headquartered in Wisconsin and is an industry-leading refrigerated transportation and warehousing business. WEL provides service to some of the largest companies in the food, beverage, and dairy industries. https://www.welcompanies.com/
ABOUT E-SMART
E-SMART develops and manufactures innovative ADAS solutions for fleet vehicles. Located in Indianapolis, IN, E-SMART sets new safety standards with Intelligent Speed Adaptation. Along with its other safety features, namely, Low Bridge Collision Prevention, Active Geofencing, Remote Vehicle Immobilization, and Telematics Integration, E-SMART leads the way in reducing the number of collisions on our roadways. For more information, please visit: https://www.esmartcontrol.com.
Wisconsin-based refrigerated fleet adopts E-SMART’s active speed management technology.
Wisconsin-based WEL Companies recently partnered with E-SMART to deploy the provider’s advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) and Intelligent Speed Adaption (ISA) technologies in WEL’s fleet of more than 450 trucks.
E-SMART’s active, real-time speed control helps decrease speeding events by more than 90%, according to E-SMART.
WEL’s refrigerated fleet is scheduled to be fully deployed by August, the companies said.
“The implementation of E-SMART has made an immediate, measurable, impact on our fleet,” said Gerry Pitt, IT director at WEL Companies. “It has resulted in fewer speed violations and already aided in low bridge avoidance.”
E-SMART uses advanced positioning technology to determine vehicle location to actively manage its maximum allowed speed. E-SMART also leverages this technology for low-bridge collision avoidance, active geofencing, and remote vehicle immobilization. Fleets currently using the E-SMART technology report a significant decrease in speed-related accidents, infringements, and a significantly improved CSA scores, E-SMART said.
“We are proud to partner with WEL Companies,” said Mathieu Boivin, CEO at E-SMART. “The management is a remarkably involved and passionate. WEL’s focus on safety through emerging technology makes this partnership a perfect fit. The E-SMART solution will help them accomplish their goals of zero accidents.”
The importance of having alert and engaged drivers is indisputable as drivers are essential to the success of any fleet. However, at times they may find themselves requiring assistance when navigating factors such as vehicle size, varying speed limits, environmental conditions or even fatigue. With the aid of technology, the industry can ensure that roads remain safe by equipping drivers to properly mitigate these safety hindrances. Many technologies currently exist to assist a driver with respect to field of view, braking, and even steering functions, but few technologies can actively control a vehicle’s speed limit and alert the driver of approaching low clearance barriers.
ATA presents the first webinar of ATA’s Thought Leadership Series, “DRIVING SAFETY TECHNOLOGY – Commercial Vehicle Speeding & Low Bridge Hit Prevention,” in assembling transportation stakeholders to provide a concentrated look at these issues, the solutions available, and the role government is currently playing in influencing research and policy development. Attendees will gain a thorough understanding of:
How managing speed and a vehicle’s heading can safely be achieved through available intelligent technologies;
The impact this technology has on both accident occurrence and severity; and
How other countries have mandated applicable technologies for their safety goals.
About the Panelists:
George Bassily, Vice President of Strategy, E-SMART
George Bassily is the Vice-President of Strategy at E-SMART and provides direction to the executive committee and board of directors in strategic planning. Since joining E-SMART, he has worked on the development of the Advanced Driver Assistance Systems from conception to commercial launch and spearheaded partnerships across telematics providers. George has used his in-depth industry knowledge and extended customers relationships to drive product innovations and integration of custom solutions for fleets including Coca Cola, Western Express and Covenant amongst others. He is a member of the Future Truck and Trailer committee with TMC, and specializes in optimizing fuel consumption, road safety and connected devices in the transportation industry. He received an Engineering degree from Concordia University, and is actively pursuing an Executive MBA at McGill University.
Kendra Hems, President, Trucking Association of New York
Kendra Hems has been serving as President of the Trucking Association of New York since 2008. Ms. Hems served as National Chair of the Trucking Association Executive Council in 2017 and previously served as a Regional Chair of the Council in 2012. She served as a member of the American Transportation Research Institute’s Advisory Committee from 2011-2013, and from 2004-2007 served as President of the board of the North American Pre-Clearance System (NORPASS), a partnership of state and provincial agencies and trucking industry representatives who work together to promote commercial vehicle safety, efficiency and effectiveness throughout North America.
In November of 2010, Ms. Hems was named to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s transition team on transportation and infrastructure. In 2012, she was added to Governor Cuomo’s Chairman’s Committee to help identify ways to reduce burdens on New York business. In May of 2020, Ms. Hems was appointed to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Surface Transportation Council to advise on transportation issues related to COVID-19.
Ms. Hems was recognized by her peers in 2014 with the Trucking Association Executive Council Leadership Award. In 2018 she was recognized by City & State with a Rebuilding New York Award for her work to improve efficient freight delivery in New York City. The Truck Renting and Leasing Association presented Ms. Hems with their State Trucking Award in 2019. Ms. Hems also received the Responsible 100 Award from City & State in 2019, which shines a light on an elite group of leaders who are setting new standards of excellence, dedication and leadership in improving their communities and making transformative change.
Demel Gaillard, Safety Coordinator for Freight Mobility, Transportation Planning & Management, New York City Department of Transportation
Demel Gaillard, serves as the Safety Coordinator for the Freight Mobility unit within the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT). Demel has over 13 years of professional experience within the transportation industry, most of which has been focused on community outreach and stakeholder engagement. He has been involved in coordinating and overseeing a number of initiatives associated with New York City’s Vision Zero public safety initiative, helping to improve and enhance the safe travel for residents citywide. Within his role at NYCDOT, Demel leads the agency’s Truck’s Eye View safety outreach program which educates vulnerable roadway users about the dangers of the large, obstructed views located around trucks and other large vehicles. Under his leadership the program has expanded, reaching communities citywide, while educating nearly 10,000 residents since 2016. Demel also leads the Interagency Bridge Strike Reduction Task Force, a regional working group of tri-state transportation authorities and jurisdictions, tasked with the mitigation of bridge strikes citywide and in neighboring regions. The task force’s focus is to create key educational, safety, and enforcement initiatives and programs focused on reducing regional issues regarding negative truck impacts to elevated infrastructure. Demel’s educational background is in Economics, where he received his Bachelor’s degree from Baruch College in New York City.
Michael Lasko, Manager of Safety and Quality, Boyle Transportation
Michael Lasko has been working in transportation for over 19 years. He began his career as a professional driver before moving into operations and safety management. Michael joined Boyle Transportation as the Manager of Safety and Quality in August of 2015. Michael led Boyle’s safety program to national recognition in 2017 by winning the Truckload Carriers Association’s Fleet Safety Grand Prize. In 2018 Michael was the winner of the Heavy Duty Trucking Magazine Safety and Compliance Award. In 2020, Boyle Transportation won “Best Fleet Overall” in the 2020 Best Fleet to Drive For contest. He graduated Summa Cum Laude from Bristol College and also attended Bryant University
Dan Horvath, Vice President of Safety Policy, American Trucking Associations
Dan Horvath is the Vice President of Safety Policy at the American Trucking Associations. Dan came to ATA in March of 2018 as Director of Safety Policy after more than five years as Director of Compliance and Safety at TransForce Inc. Prior to that role, Dan was a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration auditor, examining new commercial carriers for regulatory compliance. Before his time at FMCSA, Dan spent several years in the operations and safety department at Mlaker [MA-LACK-ER] Transportation Inc., a Pennsylvania-based motor coach and student transportation company. In September 2018, Dan was promoted to ATA’s Vice President of Safety Policy. In this role, he represents ATA and its safety agenda before federal and state government regulators and various non-governmental organization. Dan oversees the association’s Safety Policy and Hazardous Materials committees which formulate the official safety policy agenda on behalf of ATA’s broader membership. Dan, a proud CDL holder, is a 2017 graduate of the LEAD ATA program, a board member of the Professional Truck Driver Institute, a long-time volunteer at the National Truck Driving Championships, and serves on multiple committees with the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance.
THIS WEBINAR IS SPONSORED BY E-SMART
E-SMART is a technology company located in Indianapolis and operating across North America. The E-SMART mission is to bring Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA) software to transportation. Through active speed management, the E-SMART system significantly improves both fleet safety and operational efficiency by offering fleets the capacity to mitigate speeding, reduce accident occurrence and optimize fuel consumption. As an industry leader in the innovation and adoption of road safety technology, E-SMART is helping fleets across the board set new safety standards with its innovative Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS).
Improving ROAD SAFETY by better managing vehicle speed has never been so important!
Tune in below to E36 (22:10) of RoadSigns Podcast :”How can Fleets get a better handle on Speeding?” hosted by Seth Clevenger from Transport Topics to listen to E-SMART President & CEO Mathieu Boivin discuss how E-SMART active speed management technology significantly improves fleet safety and efficiency.
Seth Clevenger: We’re here in Atlanta at the TMC 2020 annual meeting. And I’m pleased to welcome Mathieu Boivin, CEO of Transtex and E-Smart. Back to RoadSigns. Thanks for joining us.
Mathieu Boivin: Thanks for having me.
Seth Clevenger: So when we spoke on this podcast a year ago, we discussed the latest advances in trailer aerodynamics, but this time to talk about a very different topic, and that’s driver safety.
One very important factor in safely operating a vehicle of any kind is speed. And, you know, lots of fleets, of course, use speed governors to cap the maximum speed of their trucks. But of course, the appropriate speed varies based on the location and the posted speed limit. And E-Smart has an interesting approach to this. You know, your system provides intelligent speed adaptation by using GPS to actively manage the maximum speed based on the truck’s location. So just tell us a little bit more about how that works and why you think it’s important to go beyond the basic speed, and have a more adaptive, intelligent approach to speed management.
Mathieu Boivin: So we’re very proud of the success of E-Smart, so hard works. Using GPS technology will limit the speed of the truck per speed zone. So compared to basic governors where you only limit the truck at the top speed, 60, 65 or 70, E-Smart allows the vehicle not to exceed lower speed limits. So it’s an active speed limiter. We do this at all speed zones. So a new also limit the speed in a risk area and danger zone.
Seth Clevenger: Let’s say just how much of a difference can speed management make for overall fleet safety? You know, in terms of preventing the frequency and severity of crashes, know, of course, we think about speeding tickets. But how much of a difference does this really make in practice for safety?
Mathieu Boivin: So there’s multiple studies that clearly say that actively manage and the speed increase, increase the safety. So, you know, according to DOT, 30% of all accidents are speed related and 70% of the fatal crash accidents happens on non-interstates, highway or roads. So managing the speed at lower speed makes a big difference. You know, the stats in mind, we design a solution on being active rather than being passive. And what’s makes all the difference in, let’s say, the performance of improving the safety record of the fleet.
Seth Clevenger: Sure. And your speed is also an important factor in fuel efficiency. So do you have fully customers that are using the product not only to improve safety, but also to reduce fuel consumption?
Mathieu Boivin: Yes. Even if your focus is on safety, we do have a feature called Low Base Power Management. That feature allows fleet to save fuel. We reduce the power of the truck depending on the load it’s carrying. We have a sensor on the fifth wheel of the truck. This enables the truck to save fuel when they have less load.
Seth Clevenger: Another hot topic in the transportation industry is insurance costs. I mean, insurance for motor carriers has been on the rise. How much potential do you see for this type of technology to help fleets lower the premiums?
Mathieu Boivin: Absolutely. We’ve been contacted by some insurance company to for them to see if our data set is good enough for them to see if there is an evolution or improvement in the safety record of a fleet. So we are in the process. Definitely this will result in lower premium for fleets.
Seth Clevenger: And of course, if you’re going to deploy onboard technology, it is important for the drivers to accept it. So how do drivers react to technology like this that limits their top speed? And, you know, what can fleets do to make that case to their drivers? This helps them be safer, prevents crashes and is something that they should be supportive of.
Mathieu Boivin: Yeah, it’s very important and it’s a priority for Transtex to have the onboarding of the driver. Driver is very important. You don’t want a driver that is against that technology. So a lot of fleets have you know, we do training and have trade in reality, a little bit of more leeway on high speed for more control and lower speed. And driver looks very happy about this. They can, you know, attain a long distance, get better time on long distance while being safer on lower speed limits.
Seth Clevenger: Let’s also talk about some of the newer features you’re adding to E-Smart you know, you’re looking at things like weather and traffic conditions, construction zone, school zones, mapping of high risk speeding zones. Just tell us a little bit more about how that’s going to evolve.
Mathieu Boivin: E-Smart is always innovating and working with our customer. We come with the base platform technology and then customer asking us for features which answer better their needs. Some of them want alerts on a truck stop on the highway, a very specific geofencing for improving their safety. As you know, we limit speed differently, cheaper states in the States and the U.S. So this is all feature that we usually worked on with our customers. What’s coming now is we’re working with yields telematics so that we have a driver identification, when the driver logs on the ELD so we can now push to the truck per driver configurations. Also, we send voice message to the driver. If there’s no dangerous incidents or so that we need to connect with a driver, we can communicate with the ELD and send voice commands.
Seth Clevenger: OK. And, you know, we’ve also added low-bridge collision prevention to the platform. And of course, nobody wants to be the next driver to wind up on a viral YouTube video or something on Twitter that shows a truck striking a low overpass. So tell us how that low-bridge collision prevention feature works.
Mathieu Boivin: So low-bridge collision prevention is a feature that is active in a lot of our fleet. There’s about 4,000 low bridges in the northeast of the USA and trucks hit them often. So what we do is 750 feet before hitting the bridge. We will reduce the speed of the truck to 1 mph so we never apply brakes. But the truck will close down 1 mph hour and an alert will inform the fleet manager that one of his trucks is in the alert position. So the manager will remotely reactivate the truck to get it out of that difficult position.
Seth Clevenger: Yeah, and they can certainly, you know, save a, you know, a big, costly accident and obviously some bad press and bad attention on the company.
Mathieu Boivin: There’s a big, big ROI on that.
Seth Clevenger: And, you know, E-Smart as an aftermarket product. But I also want to ask you if you’re interested in partnering with truck OEMs, truck manufacturers to potentially have this technology installed at the factory level?
Mathieu Boivin: Absolutely. We want to make it the integrations synchronize. So any partnership that can help customer to achieve that, we’re all for this. So we believe that it will help the OEM to just work together with them, to have eventually factory install.
Seth Clevenger: And what do you think the future holds for intelligent speed management? I mean, do you see the industry moving away from, you know, what we have today with your basic speed governors and moving more and more toward this more dynamic adaptive speed management speed control in the future?
Mathieu Boivin: As we know, autonomous vehicles are coming later than we thought. So that creates a big space where ADAS will have a lot of opportunity. E-Smart is one of them. That definitely will be, I believe, a big one coming. So I believe in the next few years, most of the fleet will have to rely on ASM for their fleet. So we’re very positive on that.
Seth Clevenger: Got it. Well, hey, this has been a great conversation, but I think we’ve reached a good stopping point. Thanks again for joining us, Mathieu.
Mathieu Boivin: Thanks.
Seth Clevenger: Let’s take a moment to revisit our original question. How can fleet managers utilize technology to get a better handle on vehicle speed and improve the safety culture of their companies? As we’ve heard from our guests, speeding is a major factor in the frequency and severity of crashes. So fleets can’t afford to ignore it and to manage vehicle speed. You have to measure it. Speed monitoring can help fleet managers track the safety performance of their drivers and provide additional coaching to the ones who need it most before it’s too late. This information can also enable recognition and performance based bonuses to reward your safest drivers, while at the same time helping them mitigate rising insurance costs. Meanwhile, adaptive speed management provides a way for fleets to take an even more hands on approach by actively limiting vehicle speed based on geography and the posted speed limit at the end of the day. The foundation of a fleet safety culture is built on training company policies and making it clear to drivers and dispatchers that safety is always the No. 1 priority. But speed management technology is a key tool that fleets can use to reinforce that culture and take safety performance to the next level.
If you’ve enjoyed this episode of RoadSigns, please let others know, and review us on Apple podcasts and Spotify. If my questions have sparked questions of your own, share them with me and the RoadSigns team. You can email us at [email protected]. We read them and respond daily. And of course, we’ll be back in two weeks with a fresh episode of RoadSigns.
Until then, I’m Seth Clevenger. Thank you for listening.
