There are a myriad of advances now available to help drivers complement safe driving practices. While no commercial vehicle safety technology replaces a skilled, alert driver exercising safe driving techniques and proactive, comprehensive driver training, new safety features now available can augment driver performance without sacrificing driver control. That being said, not all drivers are aware of the facts when it comes to advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and automated driving systems (ADS), and sharing such knowledge is key to getting drivers onboard with ADAS and ADS.

ATA’s Technology & Maintenance Council (TMC), in cooperation with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and other industry partners, has worked to stimulate adoption and deployment of ADAS in the trucking industry through FMCSA’s TechCelerate Now program. The program is focused on accelerating the adoption of ADAS within trucking to reduce fatalities and prevent injuries and crashes. Now in its second phase, TechCelerate Now is updating existing and/or developing new training materials covering various types of ADAS.

ADAS technologies continue to evolve, with new features, parameters, and enhanced sensing and response capabilities that allow better customization to a fleet’s duty cycle and operational needs. Hence, there is a need to review and update a fleet’s resources and method of training drivers to keep pace with these technical advancements through better understanding of the different performance gains to be expected from the various generations of ADAS that will likely be present in many fleets.

As ADAS has evolved, the need for recommended practices (RPs) in this area has also evolved to systematically approach increasing driver awareness of the systems being utilized in the vehicles they operate, improving communications among drivers, technicians, and fleet management, and utilizing data generated from ADAS telematics for coaching drivers to improve their performance. For example, TMC’s RP 1802, Optimization of Driver Training for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), offers guidelines for commercial driver training on automatic emergency braking, lane departure, and other safety systems to optimize driver performance through improved understanding of how these systems work and positive driver behavior modification. RP 430B, Guidelines for Collision Warning Driver Interface and Notifications, provides recommendations for these systems also, and TechCelerate Now has produced a series of safety flyers, guides, and videos to help share this information to drivers as well.

Driver reports of shortcomings are not always unfounded. It's true not all generations of ADAS and ADS are equal in performance, and false alerts and concerns over driver control are real impediments to driver acceptance of some features. But there are materials and recommended practices available to help acclimate drivers to these advances. Attend this session and learn what tools and information are available for fleet managers to help get their drivers onboard with the latest ADAS and ADS technologies.