The American Trucking Associations’ Technology & Maintenance Council Annual Meeting for 2020 has concluded. But the equipment, technology and strategies shared and debated over on the show floor, at manufacturers' press conferences and during fleet open discussions have only just begun making their presence felt.
The Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta was bursting with game-changing technology, such as Stoneridge's MirrorEye camera monitor system, which won the 2020 Jim Winsor Memorial Technical Achievement Award for illuminating truck blind spots and making their job safer, eliminating the need for conventional mirrors.
The data streaming out of nearly session was just as impactful, such as the stat "that nearly 80% of fleets do not use any trailer telematics that could help reduce downtime related to their pain points,” revealed by Pat Kealy, trailer sales leader, WABCO North America.
FleetNet America also shared that unplanned roadside maintenance costs increased by 26% in Q4 of 2019 and that roadside repairs now exceed $400 per event.
Put it all together and the picture of what the next decade will look like starts to take shape. Success will be defined by who can leverage data, minimize maintenance and deploy burgeoning tech at the right time—not too early that it isn't cost-effective and not too late that it's old news.
It will take more than a few days to understand how to best do that, but click the slideshow to at least get a rough outline of the road ahead.
