Averitt Express Further Enhances Fleet Safety With Leading-Edge Bendix Technologies
ELYRIA, OH… Technologies from Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems LLC continue to serve a growing number of commercial fleets committed to improving highway safety across North America. Averitt Express is equipping its new Volvo and Freightliner units with a suite of Bendix systems that include full stability, collision mitigation, lane departure warning, and side object detection.
Averitt Express, one of the nation’s leading freight transportation and supply chain management providers, runs Volvo and Freightliner tractors. In 2015, Averitt ordered and received 85 new Volvos equipped with the Bendix® ESP® Electronic Stability Program full-stability system, Bendix® Wingman® Advanced™ – A Collision Mitigation Technology, AutoVue® Lane Departure Warning (LDW) System from Bendix CVS, and Bendix™ BlindSpotter® Side Object Detection System. The company’s 340 new Freightliners will be equipped with AutoVue and BlindSpotter, joining the 47 AutoVue systems on other units in a pilot program. Both makes will also include SafetyDirect® from Bendix CVS, a Web portal that connects with onboard safety technologies to provide fleet operators with a comprehensive view of their fleet and each driver.
Averitt is making the Bendix technologies its new standard for incoming Volvo and Freightliner tractors.
Bendix is the North American leader in the development and manufacture of active safety and braking system technologies for commercial vehicles.
Headquartered in Cookeville, Tennessee, and established in 1971, Averitt Express provides international reach to more than 100 countries. The company operates a fleet of more than 4,000 tractors and over 12,000 trailers, with 143-plus locations throughout the United States.
“We are committed to ensuring the safety of our customers, our associates, and the driving public, and Bendix technologies help us put safety first,” said Rhonda Otto, Averitt’s loss prevention coordinator. “For example, we began spec’ing the Bendix® ESP® full-stability system a few years ago on our sleeper units. Our data showed it to be particularly effective in safely slowing our equipment in snow and heavy rain – especially amid changes in road surface, such as from a bridge to highway pavement. Also, during a pilot program, our drivers gave Bendix® Wingman® Advanced™ positive feedback, saying they would like to see this collision mitigation technology in our new trucks.”
“Bendix is proud to be part of Averitt’s ongoing effort to provide safe vehicles for their drivers and improve highway safety for everyone,” said Scott Burkhart, Bendix vice president – sales, marketing, and business development.
Built on the foundation of Bendix ESP, Bendix Wingman Advanced delivers active cruise control with braking features, along with collision mitigation technology. Using a radar sensor mounted to the front of the vehicle, Wingman Advanced delivers both warnings and active interventions to help drivers potentially avoid rear-end collisions or, at least, help reduce their severity.
Whether or not cruise control is engaged, Bendix Wingman Advanced aids the driver by providing impact alerts, following distance alerts, and stationary object alerts. In addition, the system’s collision mitigation feature provides additional braking interventions, delivering up to two-thirds of the vehicle braking power through the steer, drive, and trailer brakes. This assists drivers through an alert and an automatic application of the brakes to help decelerate the vehicle when the system determines a rear-end collision may be imminent. The driver still maintains control of the vehicle at all times and can add additional braking or steering inputs to help avoid or minimize the collision situation.
Full stability typically assesses situations quicker than roll-only stability systems – thanks to additional sensors that measure driver intent and vehicle direction – and then delivers automatic brake interventions involving the steer, drive, and trailer axles. Bendix full stability helps slow the vehicle quickly to help mitigate rollovers faster, while slowing and redirecting can help the driver maneuver in loss-of-control situations.
AutoVue® Lane Departure Warning (LDW) System from Bendix CVS is a vision-based system that detects when a commercial vehicle begins to drift toward an unintended lane change and alerts the driver. Bendix™ BlindSpotter® Side Object Detection System is a side-radar system designed to alert drivers to vehicles or objects in adjacent lanes.
Bendix’s user-friendly Web portal, SafetyDirect®, is among the tools Averitt Express uses to help shape its driver training and safety reinforcement. Linked to onboard safety technologies, the system wirelessly and automatically transmits real-time
driver performance data and event-based information – including video – to the fleet’s back office for analysis by fleet safety personnel. The resulting reports can help a fleet develop more targeted reward and training programs.
“We have used SafetyDirect’s data and videos to show drivers how they can improve their driving skills – similar to the way athletes use film study,” said Otto. “It reveals coachable opportunities, as well as situations in which our drivers are rewarded for crash prevention when other vehicles are at fault. Integrating this technology into our current telematics systems strengthens our ability to make more informed safety decisions.”
Bendix and Averitt emphasize that safety technologies do not replace the need for safe drivers. Responsibility for the safe operation of the vehicle remains with the driver at all times. No commercial vehicle safety technology replaces the most important safety components of all – a skilled, alert professional driver exercising safe driving habits, as well as continuous, comprehensive driver training.
Bendix’s suite of safety technologies is part of the company’s ever-growing portfolio of technology developments that delivers on safety, plus other areas critical to fleets’ success. By improving vehicle performance and efficiency, and providing unparalleled post-sales support, Bendix aims to help fleets and drivers lower total cost of vehicle ownership and strengthen return on investment in equipment and technology.
For more information about Bendix safety systems and technologies, visit www.safertrucks.com, www.bendix.com, or call 1-800-AIR-BRAKE (1-800-247-2725).