Freight safety product provides hijack alert mechanism

IN A bid to stay ahead
of the rapidly evolving
hijacking syndicates,
Barloworld Logistics’
Dedicated Transport
Services (DTS) division
is investigating two new
freight safety products:
tanker load pressure
sensors and an infrared
fatigue monitor.
A load pressure
monitor is one way of
alerting the company’s
tracking systems to
any potential losses or
unexplained changes
in loads. The monitor
alerts the control room
when the tanker is under
pressure and indicates its
exact location.
In this way they can
determine when a vehicle
is offloading and also
ensure that a tanker never
operates on the open
road when the tanker is
pressurised.
Driver fatigue is one
of the chief causes of
accidents on long distance
hauls. The fatigue monitor
currently being tested
measures perclos – that is
the rate at which the eye
blinks and the duration of
each blink.
According to DTS GM
Heath Dormer: “In times
of great fatigue a driver’s
eyes are intermittently
closed for 37% of every
minute. The monitor uses
non-distracting infrared
beams to measure the
perclos and will send
an alarm to the control
centre. The control centre
can then direct the driver
to the closest secure
rest stop, so minimising
fatigue-related road
accidents.”