NavStar Technologies, has signed an agreement with Trinity Noble to add cell-phone usage detection while driving to its portfolio of electronic onboard recorder (EOBR) hardware and services.

NavStar chairman & CEO N. Douglas Pritt said the recent ban on handheld cell phones by commercial drivers is a boon to the company’s EOBR product.

“The ability to provide this feature in 2012 will give us a significant competitive advantage,” said Pritt.

NavStar Technologies produces products and services for tracking/monitoring and reporting on the location and condition of high value cargo and other assets,

“Every time a commercial truck or bus driver takes his or her eyes off the road to use a cell phone, even for a few seconds, the driver places everyone around them at risk,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

FMCSA added that its research shows that reaching for a hand-held cell phone while driving makes a commercial truck three times more likely to be involved in a crash, and dialing a hand-held cell phone while driving increases risk of a crash by six times.

Field trials of the cell phone detection services are planned for the second quarter of 2012.