Qualcomm (a research and development company, the name is a scrunched-up version of the phrase “Quality Communications”) has not let news of the impending new federal regulations of truckers across the country (2010’s CSA) go past unnoticed.
Instead, they’ve just announced their new Analytics Manager as a product available to the American trucking industry, taking their forte in wireless communication to give trucking companies somewhat of a big brother connection to their semis on the road.
According to the company’s own site details, their new Analytics Manager gizmo gives the truckers (1) a “critical-event reporting dashboard,” as well as (2) “driver safety reports and scorecards,” and (3) “key industry benchmarking.” There’s even something Qualcomm’s calling a “Driver Scorecard” which means their little wireless device will give the company all sorts of info on HOS (Hours of Service), and what they’re calling “Performance Monitoring services.”
Which all sounds really great, right? Using wireless technology so that these trucking companies can more readily comply with the new federal regulations. Great idea, at first glance.
However, here’s a question: what’s all this about Critical Event Reporting? Does this boil down to the gizmo reporting a major big rig wreck to the company for CYA purposes? Does it mean that insurance adjusters are notified even before EMS or the police? Does it even INCLUDE a function to call for medical assistance in the event of a truck crash?
