It’s All in the Cab Dec 2006 | Commercial Carrier Journal U.S. Xpress has a reputation for being a pacesetter with new technology.  The Chattanooga, Tenn.-based fleet was an early adopter of automated transmissions and anti-collision and anti-rollover systems.  Once again, U.S. Xpress is setting a new technology trend—this time for driver satisfaction.  In October 2006, U.S. Xpress announced that it will deploy ALK’s CoPilot Truck GPS navigation system across its entire fleet of more than 5000 power units.  The system resides on the truck’s onboard devices and provides drivers with spoken, truck-specific, turn-by-turn directions. A big part of the decision for adding GPS navigation to its cabs was to retain and attract drivers, says Jeff Seibenhener, vice president of information technology for U.S Xpress.  Overall operational efficiency was another factor, he says, as the fleet anticipates that drivers no longer will waste time and fuel searching for addresses.  “We interviewed drivers, ex-drivers and driver liaisons and found that directions were among the tip three issues they had,” Seibenhener says.  CoPilot Truck will run on the DriverTech DT4000 Truck-PC, an in-cab system that runs on Windows XP. U.S. Xpress announced in October that it will roll out Driver Tech across a significant part of its fleet to replace existing onboard systems.  The Carrier has designed a driver portal that will allow drivers to see real-time information, communicate with one another, receive training content remotely, and enable in-cab education in the DriverTech Truck-PC through Transmarket’s In-Cab University.  U.S. Xpress also will utilize Tread-1 computer based driver training modules enabled by In-Cab U.  “We’re particularly excited about expanding services to our drivers and making their jobs easier to perform,” Seibenhener says.  “The more connected our drivers are in the cab, the better our fleet performs.” Technology vendors also are trumpeting their latest features as a must-have to improve driver satisfaction. Some of the latest developments were announced at the American Trucking Associations Management Conference and Exhibition in Dallas in late October. Maptuit—a provider of truck routing, vehicle tracking and traffic services announced that mobile communication and onboard computing providers Cadec, DriverTech, GeoLogic and PeopleNet all will offer its NaviGo touch-screen-operated navigation system on their latest generation displays.  NaviGo offers audible truck-specific, real-time, turn-by-turn directions.  Also, at ATA, Qualcomm announced the commercial availability of the new OmniVision system for the Transportation, its next-generation wireless enterprise system for the transportation and logistics industry.  One of the main features of OmniVision is advanced text-to-speech capability, which allows drivers to listen to and replay messages, eliminating the need to stop the vehicle and pull over to read a text message.  The platform also features an integrated, color touchscreen and remote control device, providing drivers quick access to messages read by the text-to-speech feature. Meanwhile, PeopleNet announced development of new driver-friendly displays for its g3 onboard communications and fleet management solution; the new displays will be available starting in 2007.  A tethered, 7-inch Enhanced Driver Display will run on the Windows CE .Net platform and in part of PeopleNet’s continued drive toward “open platform” standards embraced by the g3 platform, says Brian McLaughlin, vice president of product planning.  The new platform will allow for third-party applications—including in-cab navigation as well as audio and video programs—to be developed and run in conjunction with the core PeopleNet applications. The latest technology in onboard computers would appear to make a driver’s job easier.  But improving driver satisfaction actually may depend on whether or not they can use these modern tools to earn more money be becoming more efficient. Ultimately, more money is likely the only tangible benefit that will keep drivers in the seat.