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By Dan Leone, Staff Reporter

This story appears in the Aug. 17 print edition of Transport Topics.

Mobile communication providers said they are keeping a close eye on a proposed federal texting ban to make sure that in-cab computers are not inadvertently outlawed if the measure becomes law.

“This bill is really written around a BlackBerry or ‘text-phone’ device,” Jim Angel, product manager for Chaska, Minn.-based PeopleNet, said in an interview. “They’re really not considering a hard-mounted device with the safety features that we and some of our competitors make.”

The bill introduced last month by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) directs states to prohibit all drivers — not just truckers — from sending or receiving text messages or e-mails from a moving vehicle.

States that do not comply would sacrifice a portion of their federal transportation funds.

Motor carriers and the technology providers who supply in-cab communication systems support the ban.

However, executives in both industries were concerned that the bill as written might make features commonly used on truck-mounted computers illegal.

For example, “if we send a message to a driver that goes across this . . . unit, in many instances a message will pop up that he can see, and he can simply hit a button and say ‘I got it,’ ” said Randall Mullett, who is vice president of government relations for less-than-truckload carrier Con-way Inc.

However, even that brief interaction could run afoul of the provisions listed in Schumer’s bill, which would prohibit the manual sending or retrieving of text messages.

“Our only concern is that we continue to work with Congress so that we don’t inadvertently make it so people can’t use onboard communication,” Mullett said.

Rick Roesler, vice president of marketing for Qualcomm Enterprise Systems, told Transport Topics the company “strongly supports” a ban on texting while driving, but, “We will, of course, follow this legislation closely.”

Qualcomm, San Diego, is the largest provider of mobile communication systems to the trucking industry.

While specific features vary, many mobile communication providers incorporate the same basic safety protocols in their devices, several executives told TT.

Systems from Qualcomm Inc., PeopleNet, Xata Corp., and DriverTech can block driver interaction while a truck is moving by linking in-cab hardware with the engine control module. The link-up tells the computer if a truck’s wheels are turning.

However, urgent messages from a carrier’s office to a moving truck’s onboard system sometimes include visible text, to which fleets may want immediate response from drivers.

On certain Qualcomm units, “while you’re moving, there are only certain screens available,” including “a limited message screen,” said Chris Silver, senior manager of product marketing.

Retaining a message screen is largely a response to customer demand, Silver said.

The chief executive officer of DriverTech, Salt Lake City, also said that fleets sometimes prefer text alerts for urgent messages.

“When a message comes that requires driver attention, typically, what [fleets] want is a short, large text notification,” said Mark Haslam, president and CEO of DriverTech.

Qualcomm and DriverTech set their systems to block by default driver interaction in moving trucks.

Systems from Xata, Minneapolis, will broadcast inbound text messages with audio alerts, but a driver cannot respond to a message “unless he stops the vehicle first,” said Angela Shue, director of client management for Xata.

Shue added that while the company’s units can be configured to deliver messages to a moving truck, Xata advises fleets to keep this feature disabled, per the default settings on the unit.

Even if drivers were legally prohibited from interacting with their mobile communication units while driving, vendors said they could compensate with voice-activated units and more text-to-speech capabilities, which convert text messages from dispatch into audio messages “read” aloud by the in-cab unit.

Angel at PeopleNet said that fully voice-based mobile communication might not be far off.

“Will we ever have to go to a voice-only system? Maybe,” Angel said. “If that bill goes to law, depending on what the definitions are in it, I think all the companies might have to react to that.”

Qualcomm, Xata and PeopleNet all said they have some form of text-to-speech capabilities on some of their in-cab units. DriverTech said it is beta-testing text-to-speech.

Voice-activated in-cab communication systems are less common, although vendors said they are exploring the technology.

Voice activation and text-to-speech already are available in off-the-shelf Global Positioning System-based navigation systems and software, including those for the trucking industry.

American Trucking Associations, which supports a nationwide texting ban, also has said it will monitor any federal legislation in order to make sure onboard computer systems are not affected adversely.

“We will work to ensure that the bill does not inadvertently require states to outlaw the use of truck cab fleet management systems that provide limited but necessary cargo-related information to professional drivers,” ATA said in a statement (click here for previous story).