PeopleNet Partners with ITI for Advanced Driver Analysis and In-Cab Pro-TREAD Training
October 22, 2007 -- PeopleNet announced today it has partnered with ITI (Instructional Technologies, Inc.) to bring ground-breaking driver training technology to PeopleNet customers via the PeopleNet BLU™ platform. PeopleNet is North America's fastest-growing provider of intelligent GPS, onboard solutions and mobile communications.
Risk-management specialist ITI applies technology developed in advanced pilot training to the trucking industry. ITI's Pro-TREAD and TREAD-1 programs currently provide sophisticated, interactive driver training to some 170 fleets in the U.S. and Canada. These programs will be viewable on the PeopleNet BLU platform which changes the way drivers interact with onboard systems in the cab.
In partnership with PeopleNet, Pro-TREAD will provide preemptive, targeted driver training in the cab in response to real-time performance data collected from trucks on the road. PeopleNet customers can already use this data with PeopleNet's PerformX application to monitor driver behavior and the health of a truck's engine, drive train and other operational systems. Driver-related performance data can include hard-braking, speeding, hours-of-service, tailgating, excessive G-forces, and other recorded events.
"We are very pleased to partner with ITI, a company that offers extraordinary value to fleet customers," said Brian McLaughlin, PeopleNet's executive vice president of marketing, product and sales. "Safety has always been a top priority. This partnership enables PeopleNet customers to actively pursue safety in a new, effective way."
"Like PeopleNet, ITI is client-driven," says E. Bruce Weiss, executive vice president of ITI. "Our clients have asked that we make training available in-cab so we developed a partnership with PeopleNet to intelligently identify at-risk driver behavior and then immediately allow in-cab targeted re-training for that behavior. This new capability will revolutionize safety and risk management for our entire industry."
The PeopleNet/Pro-TREAD partnership differs from other driver training programs in at least two important ways: First, Pro-TREAD does not react blindly to incidents by prescribing training in knee-jerk fashion. Using intelligent algorithms, Pro-TREAD considers all reported events in detail and in context. Pro-TREAD makes smart training recommendations that drivers are far more likely to appreciate than resent, which results in enhanced driving remediation.
Second, using PeopleNet's new BLU onboard platform, Pro-TREAD provides the required training modules directly in-cab. Critical training does not have to wait for drivers to arrive at company locations or to seek Internet connections. Drivers can fulfill training requirements at their convenience during non-driving hours or while waiting for loads. PeopleNet's industry-leading wireless network enables reliable, economical transmission of lesson-completion data to the private database which ITI provides to each client fleet for bullet-proof documentation of training.
PeopleNet BLU onboard platform provides a totally new, intuitive interface for drivers. The 7-inch, sharp, full-color display is easy to read and can impart information quickly. The touch-screen enables graphic menus, full video and audio capabilities, and rapid 3rd party development through an in-cab application platform founded on the Windows CE platform. Using PeopleNet's BLU, drivers will interact easily with Pro-TREAD training programs.
Applications developed by the companies will be commercially available throughout 2008.
About Instructional Technologies, Inc.
ITI, of Vancouver, Wash., provides TREAD-1 and Pro-TREAD interactive, computer-based, truck-driver training - more than 35,000 lessons each month -- to some 170 carriers of from 15 to 40,000 drivers. Driver training records are maintained on a private, secure, on-line database for each client fleet, documentation that can be invaluable in litigation. Drivers can complete lessons at company terminals or anywhere, anytime over the Internet, and soon in-cab via PeopleNet. Among its wide range of lessons are defensive driving, winter driving, backing, accident procedures, hours-of-service and log books as well as the federally-required entry level courses.
About PeopleNet
PeopleNet, based in suburban Minneapolis, is North America's leading provider of Internet-based and integrated onboard computing and mobile communications systems. Its transportation products are used by top truckload, LTL, private, and service fleets in the U.S. and Canada. PeopleNet was the first major technology provider to offer Internet-based communications to the transportation industry 13 years ago and now serves more nearly 1,500customers, including several Fortune 500 companies. PeopleNet is on the web at www.peoplenetonline.com.
For more information contact: Joleen Keenan (952) 227-7245
jkeenan@peoplenetonline.com
