Trimble, Pulsar Informatics Announce Driver Fatigue Monitoring System

Trimble and Pulsar Informatics announced a collaboration to deliver a new fatigue monitoring and risk management solution for the transportation industry, available as part of Trimble's Safety Analytics dashboard. The fatigue risk management solution helps fleets understand how fatigue is affecting individual driver behavior, and provides information about driver fatigue levels as well as historical data to coach and prevent potential fatigue risks in the future.

According to the companies' announcement during the American Trucking Associations' annual meeting in Austin, Texas, driver fatigue is among the top causes of large truck crashes, with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration estimating that driver fatigue may be an associated factor in 13% of accidents involving a commercial truck. While trucking companies carry insurance coverage, if a fatigued driver causes an accident in the course of employment, the carrier can be held responsible. Similarly, carriers may also be held accountable if a fatigued driver does not follow federal regulations on rest breaks.

“Driver fatigue is a top concern for fleets, and by collaborating with Pulsar to integrate fatigue monitoring into our Safety Analytics dashboard, carriers will receive data to help improve driver coaching and potentially protect fleets from liability,” said Jim Angel, vice president of Video Intelligence Solutions for Trimble Transportation Mobility. “Our Safety Analytics dashboard is designed to make risk management decisions easier for fleets by sampling data that’s already being collected and is not intrusive to drivers.”

Trimble’s Safety Analytics dashboard aggregates driver data across an entire fleet to highlight drivers in need of coaching. With the integration of Pulsar’s Trucking Fatigue Meter technology, the dashboard will use Hours of Service and Trimble’s Onboard Event Recording data to identify driver sleep and fatigue risk patterns that lead to degraded performance. By providing a clear representation of this information, fleet managers and safety managers have an enhanced ability to coach the driver and assess the situation to potentially prevent a safety incident.

Pulsar’s ifatigue monitoring solutions have been developed with funding from the U.S. Navy, the FMCSA, NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Department of Defense, and other government organizations. Pulsar has commercial products serving the aviation, petrochemical, and trucking industries.

“Pulsar Informatics is excited to combine our deep expertise in fatigue risk management with Trimble’s unmatched knowledge of the transportation industry,” said Daniel Mollicone, CEO of Pulsar Informatics. “Together, we can provide fleets with a unique solution to help managers identify and mitigate risks that can protect drivers and carriers while also improving safety on the road for everyone.”