There has been much attention paid to autonomous cars and trucks recently. In a world where more and more things, e.g. trucks, are connected, technology constantly pushes the boundaries. What seemed like science fiction yesterday is now literally waiting around the corner. From a professional driver’s perspective, there are other concerns: Will autonomous trucks be a threat to my job? Actually, truck autonomy could really improve the working conditions for drivers.
In the following interview, Ron Rosenbalm, a 25 year veteran of Onspot of North America explains some of the engineering philosophies that have driven our product development. As an Application Specialist, Ron has spent his career optimizing everything from mounting systems to the basic form and function of individual components.
Several companies are involved in projects with unmanned aerial vehicles, also called drones. How will the use of drones impact the global transportation industry? Here are a few pros and cons.
Probably, many of us consider an invention as a ground-breaking achievement, while an innovation is ‘just’ an improvement of something existing. But, if you really think about it, what makes your working day safer and more convenient? Is it the ground-breaking inventions or the small innovations?
Why response time must be reduced
For rescue operations ‘response time’ is one of the measures for effectiveness. In emergency situations response time should be as short as possible as this could be crucial for saving lives or properties at danger. Accordingly, much effort is put into reducing response times. But actually, what is response time?
Well, you probably know that this is to keep the bearings in good order. But, why do they stay in good condition when they’re rolling? Wouldn’t it be less wear if they’re not engaged and then stay in better condition? Although it may seem contradictory, they should be rolling. Let’s dive into the world of bearings and their lubrication to understand why!
Spring is finally here. Although the start of spring in the US officially began on March 20th the winter season would not go quietly. On the East coast, for example, a wintry mix of snow and ice started off the month of April. Now, however, the colder weather truly seems to be behind us as streets are swept clean, motorcycles take to the roads and classic cars come out of storage. During this time of the year there is also a focus by many towns and cities to start spring maintenance on their equipment and vehicles.
Some products are so functional and effective that there is little potential to improve them. The violin, for example, was designed by the Italian master violin-makers in the 17th century. Countless efforts have been made to challenge its basic construction in order to improve it, but in vain. The violin is so close to perfect that no one has come up with a fundamental improvement during the last 350 years.
"...You don’t even have to stop your truck. Flip the switch, overtake the others and steadily drive up the slope... And in the end the road was mine – at least for a while…". Karsten Glaschick (KaSaTrans e.K.)
Is finding new truck drivers an impossible task? At least it seems like that if we look at reports from many countries – all concluding that carrier companies have a hard time finding qualified truck drivers to hire. But, what’s the reason for this shortage of drivers? Of course, there is not a single answer to that, and besides, reasons differ from country to country and from region to region. However, I think that the solution to the problem is most certainly many-sided.