Inter City hi-tech trials
Page 16
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• A UK haulier is one of six European transport firms taking part in a £5m trial to measure the benefits of the latest mobile communication technology to small and medium-size haulage companies.
From October, Hythe, Kentbased Inter City Trucks, and haulage firms in Greece, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium, will begin the threeyear project.
Each company will fit Inmarsat-C satellite and GPS positioning equipment to up to eight of its vehicles. A similar number will operate without the technology. Transport experts from the Polytechnic of Central London will monitor the service levels of the trucks.
Inter City managing director John Faulkner says the EC funded project is a "wonderful chance" for his company to make its first move into satellite communications. "If the equipment proves the success we expect it to be, we will fit our whole fleet of 30 trucks," he says.
Most of the firms will use the technology to alert customers when there are traffic hold-ups. More advanced equipment, such as automatic electronic links with customers for ordering and billing, could be introduced in 1993.
The other hauliers involved are; Almatrans and Makios (Greece); Van Heezik (Netherlands); Interferry (Luxembourg); and Mondia (Belgium).