A new age of intelligence has dawned. First there was computation, then mobile communication, now AI. Will bots become experts at routing and inventory management? David Priestman attended Samsara’s Beyond event in San Diego to find the answer.
Regular readers will be familiar by now with Samsara’s IoT, AI, dashcam, asset tag and other leading-edge technologies that improve commercial vehicle (CV) fleet safety, driver training and management, as well as enhancing fuel savings, electrification, insurance risk mitigation, truck maintenance and more. The focus now is on adding further applications to the platform to save time and improve operating efficiency for commercial vehicle fleets.
Vehicle inspection checks and reports at the start of a driver’s shift is one such activity that can be streamlined. Via the Samsara App, drivers can now take photos of the truck and dictate any observable issues with it. AI transcribes this and submits the inspection report automatically to the fleet manager who, using the dashboard, receives AI generated fault codes and troubleshooting recommendations. No manual data entry is required. The objective is to provide end-to-end maintenance management via the platform.
Along the Road with Drivers
Route planning is now available directly in the Samsara platform, optimised based on the minimum running cost or for strategic prioritisation. Consumer maps, such as Google Maps and Waze, do not show commercial vehicle restrictions. Drivers want to use just one screen, with turn-by-turn navigation. Samsara’s maps now include height, weight, hazard and road restrictions appropriate to each specific vehicle, with live traffic information and audio instructions.
Bad weather causes one fifth of all traffic accidents, constituting a major hazard. The new ‘weather intelligence’ solution in Samsara informs drivers of public extreme weather alerts such as flood warnings and storms. Dashcam footage from CVs is put to good use. “By using our network of cameras from the Samsara community, which collectively is millions of vehicles, we have the ‘eyes’ to understand hazards. We can tap into it, while preserving privacy and data control, to see where drivers are headed and, if necessary, warn them and their fleet managers of how bad it is based on real footage from other drivers further ahead,” says Kiren Sekar (pictured, below), Chief Product Officer.
For the Deskless
With near real-time visibility like this the platform has ‘street sense’. AI strips out personal information and adds footage to the network. In very wet conditions it can see just how bad conditions are, enabling decisions to be made on alternative routes to keep drivers and cargo safe. A radar view captures alerts which, combined with the collective ‘street sense’, triggers in-cab audio spoken messages to the drivers. Samsara has invested in the start-up Happy Robot for this. The AI used by Happy Robot sounds truly human and provides the voice for logistics companies to advise customers of schedule delays due to unexpected events, rather than needing managers to make lots of customer service calls.
Another development is the ‘AI multi-cam’ set-up. This utilises 4 small, unobtrusive cameras to provide an HD 360-degree view of the whole vehicle. AI alerts the driver to any detected dangers, such as a pedestrian or cyclist close to the truck. AI actually warns the driver of a potential collision. The AI reports the driver’s action taken to the fleet manager, for example a defensive swerve to avoid an accident. This improves the driver’s safety score within the platform.
Not the Safety Police
I analyses all the driver footage. Managers can ask it questions on who is the safest driver and why, or why a safety score has gone up or down. This leads to identification of which driver has the highest risk of an accident, so an intervention can be made. Managers can send compliments, known as ‘kudos’ as well as rewards to good drivers, which helps retain them.
Finally, a new wearable driver safety device has been introduced. Featuring a panic button, audio for SOS events and GPS antennae, the wearable is connected both to the driver’s vehicle and the cloud, with no need for it to ever be re-charged. If the panic button has been pressed (a prolonged press to overrule accidental ones) the fleet manager is notified and can send help immediately, call the emergency services and also see the driver’s camera footage. All this functionality is in the driver’s mobile phone Samsara App. Samsara hardware that requires a license is covered under warranty for the full duration that customers maintain a valid license on that device.
Borderland Vehicle Gateway
To see Samsara’s tech in action I paid a visit to Mex-Cal Truckline in San Diego, a bi-national, cross-border, family-owned third-party logistics (3PL) provider specialising in high-value electronics and medical cargo. Samsung and Foxconn are among its customers. Due to its location, routing and the freight carried, safety is paramount. Real-time information needs to be shared with its customers. Margins are tough, with an annual fuel bill of $40m.
Mex-Cal operates 120 Freightliner trucks and over 700 leased trailers from yards in Tijuana and San Diego. All of them are fitted with Samsara devices and cameras. The 3PL firm uses an in-house TMS and is certified by the ‘Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism’ (CTPAT) voluntary supply chain security programme of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Tariff threats and uncertainty are causing irregular cross-border traffic movements, making it harder to plan and predict driver number requirements and more. The company operates point-to-point transport, with no cross-docking. Stateside destinations are mainly in California but also nationwide to geo-fenced DCs. CTPAT certification means the pre-approved trucks pass through the border in an hour and a half, rather than the three-hour norm.
Five years ago Mex-Cal invested in Samsara and are renewing now for a further three years. “Customers asked us for it,” stated Director General Yvette Guillen (pictured below, driving). The AI dashcams and engine immobiliser features have been especially helpful. Driver phone usage plummeted, hijackings are reduced and crashes are down too. “We use Samsara to measure the time of loading and unloading and the miles driven for accurate billing,” Gullien added. “We can see every stop that a driver makes to ensure he hasn’t been given any packages, to prevent drug trafficking.” Trip history is stored indefinitely by the Samsara API, if the fleet managers ever need to look back and check.
Diagnostics & Tracking
Maintenance of trailers and service schedules are managed by the platform, including tyre replacement. Drivers carry out a 21-point check of their truck at the start of every shift, with full inspections every ninety days. “Each accident cost lots of dollars,” Guillen points out. “If you have crashes you get Department of Transport visits to check records, so having cameras solved that.” 70% of problems are caused by phone usage. “We were using What’s App to message drivers, so we stopped that!” The driver self-training modules have helped, especially with the incidences of speeding. California’s HGV speed limit is 55 m.p.h., but 60 with cruise control so usage of that is encouraged.
Mex-Cal’s cargo is valuable, but not heavy and all full truck loads. Customers are responsible for filling the trailers, with a 2-3 day turnaround before re-collection. Just two members of staff are now needed to manage all the physical assets. “Samsara is easy to use and helpful,” Guillen continues. “The driver monitoring team is there to remind drivers if the self-coaching isn’t sufficient. There’s usually no need to look at the footage as the alerts do this for the managers.”
Virtual Coaching
If a Mex-Cal truck stops for more than 30 seconds near the border that looks suspicious. The company will then request that US Customs scan the vehicle. “We’re responsible for these rogue employees,” she points out. “Cartels can copy license plates to pass a vehicle off as a legitimate haulier but via Samsara we can prove which vehicles are ours.” The company also utilises a heatmap showing jamming detectors in troublesome areas.
The ’Vehicle Gateway’ is the main ‘brain’ of Samsara devices. Discreetly situated under the skin of the truck it pings 4 times per second to the platform, providing constant updates. Using dual sim-cards (AT&T and Vodafone) and an accelerometer, the Gateway is wired to the transmission to enable engine immobilization. The engine can be shut-down via the platform, providing the truck is not moving, of course. Dual-facing dash cameras are wired to the Gateway, checking for drowsiness, phone usage and much more. The AI in the camera can recognise objects (a phone, as opposed to a drink) and what a sleepy face looks like (rather than someone singing). It has a speaker for audio communication and a panic button. The driver can press ‘auto-record’ for 30 seconds. If there is an accident managers can ‘live stream’ the footage to check on the driver. All very reassuring.
Driver Engagement
To get a user perspective from the other side of the pond I met with British food supply chain Delifresh’s Transport Shift Manager, Andrew Sharp. His business, with 400 staff including 150 drivers, takes inbound raw food ingredients into five hub facilities, with Bradford being the headquarters. Delifresh does all the kitchen preparation, before delivering ready-to-cook products to restaurants, hotels, schools, arenas and other catering venues that typically need four or five deliveries per week.
Sharp manages 1500 delivery drops per day, a mixture of close proximity routes and longer distance drives. He is an ex-HGV driver himself and so completely understands the role and the challenges of night-driving. The fully refrigerated fleet combines 3.5t Mercedes Sprinter vans, 7.5t trucks and 4t HGV lorries for trunk routes. The company commits to rectifying any order mistakes the same day, which is crucial for restaurants needing everything for their lunch and evening dining customers. “At proof-of-delivery, if there are issues with missing or damaged products, we now have live intelligence on what’s been delivered to check for mistakes,” Sharp tells me.
Delifresh is not only committed to food compliance but dedicated to its drivers too. Shifts start between 3 a.m. and 6a.m. for nine hours on the road. Since adopting Samsara aggregate mileage has fallen by 15000 p.a., with a 54% reduction in unnecessary miles, which also lowers risks. “We’ve haven’t lost any drivers since using Samsara, other than retirees,” Sharp points out. “I joined a user group and saw the benefits and potential. We’re not just scratching the surface, we’re intrigued to understand more, such as the ‘Connected Training’ modules.” Sharp asked his drivers how they wanted to work. The answer was to have self-awareness and to save lives. “They like working but are not alone. Samsara’s nudges and supports are like a co-pilot for them.”
How’s Your Driving
With all this road safety assistance is there any need for suitably equipped vehicles to still have ‘how’s my driving?’ stickers on the trailer or rear? Feedback from other road users is unnecessary as the platform self-manages driver behaviour. From my experience the worst CV driving is by unmarked vans and trucks – those without corporate livery and no reputation to maintain. Strong leadership on fleet management creates a safety culture, which leads to appropriate systems being adopted to improve behaviour and get better results. Samsara’s technology nudges its users to drive safety ever further. Amen.