Last month, the Salt Lake City, Utah-based DriverTech company announced the launch of the DT4000 Rev 7, a new mobile communications device platform that comes with Electronic Logging Device (ELD) capabilities and a front-facing dash camera to capture critical event video. Price: $799 plus a monthly subscription fee.
That price point puts the DT4000 Rev 7 in the middle tier of the market for dedicated-unit logging devices in terms of cost. Examples of products in this tier include the Rand McNally TND760.
“We’ve created our most powerful system ever,” says Mark Haslam, DriverTech CEO. “It’s packed with new capabilities such as 100 percent more computing capacity.” The unit can install in fewer than 20 minutes by simply mounting the hardware to the dash and connecting a single cable to the vehicle diagnostics port, he adds.
“We see fleets looking at a wide range of ELD and video capture technology as an additive, but not very cohesive, solution – we chose to merge these into a single platform,” says Steve Sanderson, director of sales for DriverTech.
DriverTech entered the trucking market in 2005 after being a development partner with the US Army for mobile computing from 1997 through 2004. The company manufactures the DT4000 Rev 7 and all of its hardware and software products from its headquarters in Salt Lake City. More than 500 fleets currently use DriverTech’s software and its Tier 1 Network Operating Center — which has gone 11 years without a system outage — to keep their trucks and drivers in communications with fleet managers, the company said. Roehl Transport and U.S. Xpress are some of the DriverTech’s first and longest-lasting fleet customers.
In 2010, the company entered into an agreement to power the mobile communications products of Rand McNally. With the release of the DT4000 Rev 7, DriverTech has restarted direct sales in the trucking industry.
Beyond the new hardware, DriverTech has made recent additions to its software, including:
- Video capture of critical events, such as hard braking,
- WorkFlow integrations with transportation management software providers,
- A smartphone app to link business processes to drivers outside of the cab,
- Fleet-managed Truck Safe Navigation.
- Interface capability with Cummins Connected Diagnostics and MTIS (Meritor Tire Inflation System) products
The DT4000 was designed with stability and safety, Haslam notes. The design team put a special emphasis on distracted driving and has carefully followed the SAE J2571 standard for “Mode Control,” which sets standards for Truck and Bus user interfaces and stipulates that certain functions are restricted while driving.