VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, May 2, 2012 – Webtech Wireless Inc. (TSX:WEW), a leading provider of vehicle fleet location-based services (LBS) and telematics technology, today announced the release of Quadrant Manager Mobile for iPhone and iPad. Designed specifically for busy fleet managers who need access to Quadrant Manager while on the go, Quadrant Manager Mobile provides real-time fleet information in an iOS web browser interface. Accessible through our standard Quadrant login web page, the user experience is optimized and sized to maximize the screen size of both the iPad and iPhone. These applications are the first in what Webtech expects to be a number of mobile handheld applications available on a wide range of platforms including Blackberry, Android and Windows Mobile.

As part of the Quadrant 9.5 release, and enabled automatically for existing Quadrant customers, Quadrant Manager Mobile supports Webtech Wireless’ platform agnostic vision. “By leveraging emerging technologies, such as HTML5 and platform adaptive display we’re able to provide a highly interactive user experience. With Quadrant Manager Mobile, fleet managers are never more than a few taps away from all the information they need to manage their fleet remotely. We are launching with iPhone and iPad, but the vision is to expand this offering to other mobile platforms as well,” said Gary Zywiecki, VP Engineering.

“Quadrant Manager Mobile represents the next step in our drive to provide our customers with fleet intelligence anywhere(TM). Delivering decision-ready data out of our Quadrant solution-whether it be to executives, dispatchers or field personnel-extends the reach and effectiveness of Quadrant and enhances our ability to save our customers time and money. Quadrant Manager Mobile improves fleet utilization and further proves the already compelling economics our clients gain by selecting solutions from Webtech Wireless,” said Scott Edmonds, President and CEO of Webtech Wireless.

About Webtech Wireless(R)

Webtech Wireless Inc. (TSX:WEW) is a provider of vehicle fleet location-based services (LBS) and telematics technology. It develops, manufactures and supports end-to-end wireless solutions that improve the productivity, profitability, environmental compliance and safety of vehicle fleets. Its comprehensive suite of products and services include: automatic vehicle location (AVL), mapping, vehicle diagnostics, CO2 reporting, navigation, messaging, and mobile resource management. The Company serves customers of all sizes in the transport, government, service, insurance and OEM markets in over forty-one countries, including Fortune 500 companies. Specialized products include: Quadrant(R) commercial fleet solutions, InterFleet(R) solutions for government, and NextBus(R) real-time passenger information services for transit fleets. For more information, please visit www.webtechwireless.com.

TROY, Mich. (May 16, 2012) – Meritor WABCO Vehicle Control Systems has confirmed that its SmarTrac™ Electronic Stability Control (ESC) product has the technology to help ensure that truck tractors and motorcoaches are able to meet the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)-proposed standard on electronic stability control systems for heavy vehicles.

The system was first introduced by Meritor WABCO in 2005 and combines Roll Stability Control (RSC) and yaw or rotational control. ESC can reduce the risk of vehicle instability while on slippery surfaces or taking evasive action, limiting the likelihood of jack-knife and drift-out conditions. If a potential rollover risk is detected, tractor-trailer speed is reduced through engine control and application of the engine brake, tractor and trailer foundation brakes. Currently, Meritor WABCO has installed more than 150,000 SmarTrac stability control products on commercial vehicles in North America.

“At Meritor WABCO, we take extreme pride in putting safety first and have long been at the forefront of ESC technology in North America,” said Jon Morrison, president and general manager, Meritor WABCO. “We continue to develop leading technology that will help our customers save lives, save property, and make our highways safer. We agree with NHTSA’s recognition of the benefits of ESC technology.”

About Meritor WABCO

Meritor WABCO is a North American joint venture focused on the development and delivery of proven, integrated safety technology and efficiency components.  These include braking systems and controls, active safety systems, and suspension and control systems for commercial vehicles in North America. Two leading global suppliers back Meritor WABCO, each with more than 100-year legacies. Meritor, Inc. (NYSE:MTOR), a supplier of drivetrain, mobility, braking and aftermarket solutions for commercial vehicle and industrial markets, provides the JV the industry’s most extensive service and support network; while WABCO Automotive Control Systems, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of WABCO Holdings, Inc. provides breakthrough technologies and control systems for the safety and efficiency of commercial vehicles.  For more information, visit meritorwabco.com.

(May 15, 20120 — Manitoba lifted spring truck weight restrictions earlier than ever this year.

Road restrictions ended Apr. 30 in the southern part of the province and May 8 in the north. Last year, the load restrictions were in place until May 31, the province announced.
The restrictions were in place only seven weeks this year compared to the normal 10 weeks.

Officials said a new policy which takes into account weather conditions rather than imposing predetermined start and end dates sped up the date for listing the restrictions.

The policy also provides carriers with more notice of the start and end dates.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has formally rescinded its first, limited rule requiring electronic onboard recorders for carriers with significant hours-of-service compliance violations, according to trade media.

The move was in response to an August 2011 Court of Appeals ruling that vacated the rule published in April 2010.

That rule, which would have gone into effect June 1, 2012, would have required carriers with an HOS violation rate of 10 percent or more to install EOBRs on its trucks.

However, an owner-operator group filed a petition to stop the rule on the basis that EOBRs could be uses to “harass” drivers and the court rule din its favour.

However, the move does not affect the FMCSA’s plans to publish a separate, “broader” rule mandating that all large trucks required to keep a logbook be equipped with EOBRs. The agency plans to address the court’s concerns in that new rulemaking.

There is also a parallel effort to include an EOBR requirement in the transportation bill that the House and Senate is currently trying to work on.

As a growing number of fleets spec aerodynamic devices such as fairings and side skirts to save fuel and cut GHG emissions, some of their shops are paying closer attention to the durability and potential maintenance costs associated with such equipment.

In a report by Fleet Owner magazine, Chuck Cole, manager of technical sales and product training for Utility Trailer Manufacturing, said the still-unknown long-term costs with annual maintenance for trailer aerodynamic devices is a growing concern within the trucking industry.

Side skirts, for example, are located in an abusive environment and are subject to impact damage from the highway. Some of the dozens of models in the market are tested to withstand severe impacts, but the durability and effectiveness  of other models is unknown, he said.

“We have had a lot of new companies jump into this space without fully understanding that key requirement,” says Cole.

Marty Fletcher, of aerodynamic device maker Aerofficient, says that while price was initially the most important factor for manufacturers he believes the “evolution” of such products will focus more intensely on durability and maintenance in the near-term and designs will be better integrated with the footprint of the trailer itself.

Fletcher agrees that some of these devices are challenged by the extreme work environments.

“Temperature extremes are causing warping and eventual cracking or de-lamination,” he explained. “Ground contact – most commonly in drop-down docks – is causing breakage while support struts are failing due to fatigue. Thus the design evolution must be to strengthen [trailer] fairings.”

The suppliers recommend that fleets do their homework when spec’ing aerodynamic devices oo adding on aftermarket parts.

Truck safety devices may have taken a backseat to emissions reduction technology over the last decade, but the market is poised for major growth.

That’s the verdict from global business research & consulting firm Frost & Sullivan, which says a tighter regulatory environment in the trucking industry, introduction of integrated safety systems (ISS) and availability of telematics-based safety applications are propelling the commercial vehicle upward over the next five to seven years.

To date, the continuing problem of too many class 4-8 truck safety technologies chasing too few consumer dollars has also stalled their market penetration, according to a report titled, Strategic Analysis of North American Class 4-8 Truck Safety Systems Market.

However, the report finds that market earnings of $196.4 million in 2010 will increase to $609.8 million in 2017 for such technologies, which includes stability control systems, tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) and lane departure warning systems.

After a state of flux due to their responsibility in meeting EPA emissions regulations, trucking original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) “focusing on soft technologies and system integration will stoke higher adoption rates because of the compliance, safety, accountability (CSA) regulation, possible upcoming legislative support and energy-price volatility,” the report states.

“The development of ISS focused on collision mitigation, rising accident coverage costs and shortage of skilled drivers in the industry, point towards the need of advanced safety technologies for trucks.”

To date, though, “the lack of quantifiable research, demonstrable cost saving potential of the technology and skepticism regarding false alarms” has restrained the market, but that will change as the industry begins to receive “improved legislative support,” a clear return on investment in terms of accident mitigation and lower insurance costs, as well as better driver acceptance.

Meanwhile, with the market’s evolution, truck OEMs and system suppliers must work more closely with each other as well as with new market groups such as telematics service providers.

A coalition of carriers, drivers and safety interest groups have banded together to press lawmakers to include an electronic onboard recorder (EOBR) mandate in the highway bill they are drafting.

In a letter to leaders of the House-Senate conference committee, the groups strongly urged that the mandate in the bill be kept intact.

The letter was signed by Bill Graves, president and CEO of American Trucking Associations, as well as leaders for Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, the Teamsters union, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance and the Truckload Carriers Association, among others.

The EOBR mandate is included in the Senate’s two-year, $109 billion highway bill.

Concurrently, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is working on technical standards for performance and certification on its own EOBR proposal.

While the bill is not required for the FMCSA to implement an EOBR mandate, it’s believed the law would give the agency further direction and perhaps strengthen the case for EOBRs in the likely event that the mandate is challenged in court, notes Heavy Duty Trucking magazine.

The American Transportation Research Institute released findings from the first phase of a three-part research effort aimed at identifying patterns in large truck rollovers and mitigating the frequency of such events.

The first phase produced a database of locations with the highest frequency of large truck rollovers in the U.S. using records from a nine-year period.

The database, which covers 31 states, provides valuable insight into the location of high frequency rollover locations to both public transportation officials and the trucking industry, says ATRI.

“This research is not only important to the trucking industry, as it informs drivers of potentially dangerous locations, but it should also jumpstart the dialogue between industry and government to work together to improve safety at these sites,” said Steve Niswander, VP of Safety Policy and Regulatory Relations for Groendyke Transport.

The rollover locations are identified through an online interactive map (click here).

ATRI will continue investigating the identified locations further to better understand rollover causal factors. Subsequent phases will focus on rollover mitigation strategies, such as a real-time in-cab notification system and outreach to public sector officials who have the ability to address potential problems related to roadway design and signage.

ACT is the worldwide leading publisher of new and used commercial vehicle (CV)
industry data, market analysis and forecasting services for the North American market, as well as the U.S. tractor-trailer market and the China CV market. ACT’s CV services are used by all major North American truck and trailer manufacturers and their suppliers, as well as worldwide banking and investors. For more information on ACT, please visit   http://www.actresearch.net.