Aether Systems Inc., Owings Mills, Md., has announced that U.S. Xpress Enterprises Inc., the nation's fifth-largest truckload fleet, will install the Aether MobileMax wireless communications systems in all the company's 5,500 trucks.

U.S. Xpress, Chattanooga, Tenn., will replace Qualcomm's OmniTRACS mobile communications system throughout its entire fleet.
According to Aether, the move marks a major shift in the long-haul, mobile communications marketplace. U.S. Xpress is the first "premier fleet" and longstanding Qualcomm customer to jump to Aether. (Read about Aether and MobileMax in the January issue of Heavy Duty Trucking magazine.)
The company said U.S. Xpress has been testing Aether's MobileMax system in more than 100 trucks. Aether MobileMax is a multi-mode system, which automatically switches between land-based and satellite communications. OmniTRACS is a satellite-only system. Messaging over land-based systems costs less than satellite.
"The decision to switch from our previous vendor to Aether was made very carefully, following several months of thorough testing," said Max Fuller, co-chairman of U.S. Xpress.