
Following advancements in practical technology, the latest offerings in the area of truck equipment trend toward driver comfort and accessibility. These efforts reflect and attempt to solve ongoing problems with driver retention and a marked shortage of available drivers in general. The idea is that improving conditions for the drivers will help fight high driver turnover rates.
Key Takeaways:
- While integration and connectivity trends continue to grow, it was driver-focused offerings from new cab creature comforts to evolved technology solutions that bubbled to the surface as the most talked about aspect of the latest equipment.
- Fleets and OEMs alike can mostly agree that today’s trucks are, overall, excellent equipment solutions, but the latest efficiency boosting equipment doesn’t help improve a fleet’s business if the drivers don’t know how to operate the technology or, in the worst case scenario, there aren’t any drivers to operate the equipment in the first place.
- The latest driver data from the American Trucking Associations (ATA) is encouraging, as the turnover rate at smaller truckload fleets fell nine points to 79%, its lowest point since the third quarter of 2015.
“While integration and connectivity trends continue to grow, it was driver-focused offerings from new cab creature comforts to evolved technology solutions that bubbled to the surface as the most talked about aspect of the latest equipment.”
http://www.fleetequipmentmag.com/2016-truck-equipment-trend-year/