Telogis’ Kevin Moore to Keynote at NAFA’s International Fleet Academy
There are many aspects of global fleet management that can be daunting for the fleet professional. Perhaps the most difficult is also the most tangible: on an average day, the fleet manager could be thousands of miles away from the vehicles they oversee. Technology is bridging the gap. Opening NAFA’s International Fleet Academy (IFA), keynote speaker Kevin Moore, Vice President Automotive OEM Sales, Telogis, Inc. will discuss how telematics are changing the landscape for fleet.
Moore will detail how cloud-based location intelligence software platforms will have a transformative effect on the way that global businesses optimize their mobile assets and critical data, and will share his insights relating to innovation in developing actionable information for fleet tools including dashboards, managing trends for fuels, safety, driver behavior, and vehicle usage, disaster relief strategies, and more.
For a limited time, attendees who register before September 30 can take advantage of early-bird pricing. More information is available at: www.nafafleetacademy.org
House Dems defend NHTSA: ‘The fault here lies squarely with GM’
Two House Democrats criticized a Republican report that harshly criticized the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for failing to discover defects in General Motors cars linked to at least 19 deaths and 54 crashes.
The 44-page report from the House Energy and Commerce majority staff said the agency suffered a series of failures and made “inexcusable” mistakes in failing to discover the GM problem. It question the agency’s technical competence, use of analytic software, training and focus.
But Henry A. Waxman, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the panel, and Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., who is the ranking member of the subcommittee that oversees NHTSA, took issue with some findings.
Senators Berate NHTSA Leader During Hearing
U.S. Senators took turns lambasting the head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration during a subcommittee hearing for failing to discover sooner the problem with General Motors faulty ignition switch that is cause of 19 deaths and the recall of 2.6 million vehicles.
Senator Claire McCaskill, who chaired Tuesday’s hearing, blasted the agency for not doing more to get to the bottom of the problem by exercising its powers, including subpoenas, to do so.
“That reflects obviously on an agency that is perhaps more interested in singing kumbaya with the manufacturers than being a cop on the beat,” she said.
MIT-Bred Technology Would Let Cars Help Each Other Avoid Traffic Jams
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology used virtual tokens, cellphones and vehicle-to-vehicle wireless LANs to build a system for allocating the limited space available on major thoroughfares. It doesn’t require any physical infrastructure, such as tollbooths, so it could be implemented quickly almost anywhere, they said.
Instead of using cameras or electronic tollbooths by the roadway to detect cars passing a certain point, the MIT system, called RoadRunner, is based on GPS (Global Positioning System) information from the driver’s cellphone in each car. As more cars get connected to the Internet, the system may be able to go into the car itself, according to Jason Gao, a graduate student in electrical engineering and computer science who developed the system with Professor Li-Shiuan Peh.
READ MORE about the new system
Five Technologies That Will Make Future Cars Safer
Pedestrians sometimes wander into traffic. Imagine if their cell phones could alert oncoming drivers. In a system being tested by auto-parts supplier Denso, computer software in the car would receive the phone signal, analyze speed and direction, and instantly determine if the pedestrian will cross the car's path. That cuts down on false warnings. "It even can go as far as applying the brakes for you," said Doua Vang, a Denso engineering manager.
This life saving technology, along with four other life and/or time saving technologies, are being shown this week at the Intelligent Transport Systems World Congress in Detroit.
READ MORE to get the details
