Smart Cap Fatigue Monitoring System For The Trucking Industry

Last week we reported about the affects fatigue has on drivers. It is in the top ten factors that cause major accidents in the trucking industry. EdanSafe, an Australian company has invented the SmartCap. The SmartCap is a hat with sensors and a removable electronic card that measures fatigue by monitoring brain wave activity. It then reports it via wireless to an in-cab touchscreen system or to any Bluetooth enabled device. A visual and audible alarms will activate if the levels become unsafe.

The SmartCap has a lot of perks compared to other products. It looks like a baseball cap, so its comfortable to wear and its washable and waterproof. Also, it reads the brain wave (EEG) information through the hair, so no scalp preparation is necessary. The system automatically knows when the cap is off and will update in the system within 15 minutes.

SmartCap was field tested earlier this year and is now available commercially. Do you think this could be useful in same day delivery?

Keep on Truckin'

-Tiffany

Confessions of a Courier: Halloween Edition

The holiday season has finally arrived! I can’t believe Halloween is already next week. Decorating for Halloween is always fun; whether you’re in it for the tricks or the treats. Our office is decked out with spiders, cobwebs and spooky decor.

Last Tuesday started off a little slower, which is a nice break from the fast-paced delivery in Los Angeles our drivers are used to. One of our drivers started with a few orders in the morning and as the day went on, it picked up. At that point, he was just going in and out of buildings dropping off and picking up packages, going with the flow and getting his job done at a steady pace.

 He got an order picking up a package on the lot at a building he had never been before. As he entered he could tell it was an old building going through renovations. He was picking up on the 3^rd floor and he decided to take the stairs.

 As the driver walked up the stairs, he looked at the time and was happy to see he was almost off and this was probably his last run. It had been a long day for him. He made it to the 3^rd floor, dropped off the package and when he turned around he couldn't believe what he saw, it made his whole body shiver. An alien figure about his size was sitting in one of the chairs!

He just stood there for a second when the receptionist asked him, “Are you OK? ” He just smiled and said, “Yeah, I’m fine. But that alien looks real!”  She said “You’re not the first person we've scared today.” 

Happy Halloween everybody!

Keep on Truckin'

-Tiffany

The Facts About Trucker Fatigue

Being a driver for the trucking industry, you spend most of your time on the road. There have been numerous studies over the years to determine whether or not fatigue played a major issue in trucker related accidents. Accidents are a huge issue that costs many lives and its important to look at the facts to work toward lowering those statistics.

While fatigue may be a contributing factor, it is hard to isolate. "We have often been told by self-appointed 'experts' that fatigue is the leading cause of truck-involved crashes, and this report clearly demonstrates that is not true," said Bill Graves, ATA president & CEO. "While every crash on our nation's highways is a tragedy - particularly those that involve serious injuries or fatalities - the first step toward reducing crashes is being honest about what causes them."

By law you are permitted to drive up to 11 hours before having to take a rest. Studies show a steep incline in fatigue after the 11th hour. The report stated that 30-40% of all fatal trucking accidents were due to fatigue. That number is skewed due to the fact that there was always more than one contributing factor. Some other contributing factors are unsafe speeds, aggressive driving, and the use of drugs/alcohol. All of these areas should be addressed and improved on in order to promote safe driving and delivery.

Keep on Truckin'

-Tiffany

Confessions of a Courier: Running on Empty

As a courier company, we have many different clients with different needs. Quick courier service in the Los Angeles entertainment industry is not always easy. Many of our clients have deadlines to meet and need direct service, while other are in no hurry so they use the 4 hour service. We also offer round-trip service. The tricky part is when the client calls near the end of the day with a strict deadline.

One driver told me a story of one of his experiences with round-trip service. It was 2:30 P.M. and the driver got a run sent to him and it was a round trip to pick up some documents to be signed and brought back with a deadline of 4 P.M and a total of 40 miles! It was going to be close, but from where he was at he was pretty sure he could meet the deadline. 

He arrived at the pick-up location and was in and out with the documents in no time. He heads toward the second location and gets stuck in some traffic, which was to be expected anywhere you drive in L.A.

He arrived at the second location, brought in the papers and waited for them to be signed and returned. As he was walking out he realized that it was 3:30 P.M. and he had to hurry if he was going make the 4 P.M. deadline. 

Less than 5 miles away, he realizes his tank is on empty and he has no idea how long he has been on empty. He only has 10 minutes to get there so he doesn’t have time to stop for gas if he wants to be on time. A few blocks away the car starts to slow down and by luck he makes it there with a few minutes to spare running out of gas right in front of the destination. He ran in to deliver the package and came back out to call AAA. He got lucky but learned his lesson to check his gas before he leaves and not to risk driving on an empty tank. 

Farewell to The American Driver

Today we want to pay our respects to Fred Schaffner, known from his work with The American Driver. He was always a part of the politics surrounding the trucking industry. In 2008, he was a part of the group of drivers who went to protest high prices of diesel gas in Washington, D.C. Fred was a part of the team who brought on the Energy Producting Act of 2008.

Fred was well known  as a a true "driver advocate" and a prominent voice through social media. He started off as the Administrator of the "True Patriots Stand Together" Facebook page to buying a radio network in Texas to speak out as an advocate for the American driver. 

Fred at the first annual Truck Driver Social Media convention. 

"Fred Schaffner believed in drivers' rights and standing together to make positive changes to the industry." - The Examiner

One of Fred's infamous sayings was "Stand up, speak out or accept what comes."

Join us here to join in the conversation: Facebook
Keep on Truckin'

-Tiffany

I Want it Now!

Hello and Happy Friday to you. It's a little rainy and chilly here in Southern California. I was reading through the news today and found something I want to share.

Same-Day delivery will now be offered by stores such as WalMart and Amazon. They have been beta testing this for a while and have made it available to their customers in some markets, with a few restrictions.
Amazon was the first to come out with this service back in 2009 and offers same-day delivery for $8.99 plus 99 cents per item. The order has to be placed before 10 A.M.( or 1 P.M. depending on the city).

WalMart launched their same-day delivery service this week. With their service you pay online and your order ships directly from the store, except for clothes and shoes, for a $10 flat fee and no minimum purchase. The order must be placed before noon and be for items carried in stores.

Both stores have their advantages and disadvantages. WalMart has an advantage because they have over 4,000 locations world-wide to ship from. If they do this right, they could become the leading same-day delivery service for that market. Amazon's advantage is cost. They ship from warehouses instead of stores so the business is much more profitable for them.

Quick courier service is great for people who don't want to wait the 3-5 days for their product to arrive. Do you think this is a valuable service? Tell us what you think: Join the conversation.

Keep on Truckin'

-Tiffany

Confessions of a Courier: Whats New Pussy Cat?

A courier service is not all about envelopes and packages. Sometimes we get requests that are out of the ordinary. Here is one of them.

It was Monday afternoon, a pretty busy time for a Los Angeles messenger since it’s right around lunch time. Drivers are ready to be busy for a good 2 hours or so. When one of our drivers was asked to go to a pet groomers, he expected to pick up a package or something of that sort, but the dispatcher gave him a call and said he would be picking up a cat in its cage. He thought for a second, a cat? He was more of a dog kind of guy, but he thought to himself, “If it’s in a cage what harm can it do?” 

He soon arrived at the groomers but had to go drive around twice before he found parking. Frustrated, he finally found parking a block away and just hoped the cat wasn’t heavy to carry. He walked in and asked for the cat by its name and showed his I.D to validate he was from 247 Delivers. He waited for a minute or two and then the groomer came back with a cage bigger than he had expected. 

He went on his way but hardly looked at the cat since he wasn’t really a cat person, but as he placed the cat in the back seat of his car he noticed a strange smell coming out of the cage. He didn’t think anything of the smell at the time, he just assumed it was how cats smelled. He started to drive, looking back every now and then when the light was red to see if the cat was safe. The cat was very well behaved for the ride, which was about 30 minutes. 

When he arrived at his destination, he opened his back door and smelled something awful. He pulled out the cage and it was leaking some sort of liquid. He quickly brought the cat to the door and told the owner that the cat may need another bath soon. He had another order on his 2-way phone so he had to be on his way right away and had to wait until he was off later to get his car washed so his car smelled like cat pee for the rest of the day. 

Even after getting his car washed inside and out, the car still smelled like cat for the next week or so. The driver still isn’t too fond of cats to this day.

Keep on Truckin'

-Tiffany 

The MPSE 4th Annual Golf Tournament was a hole in one!

The 4th Annual Motion Picture Sound Editors charity golf tournament was a huge success. We are happy we could be a part of this event in sponsoring the beverage cart. We would like to send a special "Thank You" to Sandra Varela for asking us to participate! We would love to be a part of this event again next year. Check out the photos from the event: MPSE 4th Annual Golf Tourney

Keep on Truckin'

-Tiffany Michaels