The CFR 3.9515-compliant Automatic On-Board Recording Device BigRoad promised this summer, notes BigRoad COO Terry Frey. The unit is an update beyond BigRoad’s software-only logging and management apps most drivers will be familiar with today. The company worked with an Indiana-based manufacturer to produce the link to the engine’s ECM that you see in the picture above.
That small unit, which plugs into the truck’s data portal (in many, it’s on the driver’s side at various points under the dash), communicates via a Bluetooth connection with software that has a look and feel similar to BigRoad’s current applications, installed on operators’ Android- or iOS-powered smartphones or tablets.
The “DashLink” software you can think of as an upgrade to what the company currently offers, and it comes with attendant versions manageable from the back office, where such is needed. The entire package is currently operating under a rental model, at $10 a month for the plugin hardware, $15 for the software, of a piece with BigRoad’s continued goal to be the “most affordable” among ELDs/EOBRs/AOBRDs on the market. In future, Frey said, fleets that already own their own engine-connected devices that communicate via Bluetooth will be able to transition to BigRoad with custom company certification of the connection.
To read the full article, click here.