Securing Your Fleet Of Cars, Trucks, Vans Or Ships
With technological advances comes better security with fleet management allowing for over-the-air (OTA) security and control of vehicles. This would entail the security of the immobile vehicle or in operation as well as safely disabling a vehicle while in operation. This comes in handy when trying to recover stolen property or dealing with a rogue vehicle and allows the fleet manager to prevent or handle cargo damage and loss.
Remote Vehicle Disabling SystemsRemote provides authorized users at remote locations the ability to prevent an engine from starting, prevent movement of a vehicle, and to stop or slow an operating vehicle. Remote disabling allows a dispatcher or other authorized personnel to gradually decelerate a vehicle by downshifting, hindering the throttle, or bleeding air from the braking system from a remote location. Some of these systems provide advance notification to the driver that the vehicle disabling is about to occur.
After stopping a vehicle, some systems will lock the vehicle's brakes or will not allow the vehicle's engine to be restarted within a certain timeframe.In an emergency, a driver can send an emergency alert by pressing a panic button on the dashboard, or by using a key-fob panic button if the driver is within close proximity of the truck. Then, the carrier or other approved organization can be remotely alerted to allow a dispatcher or other authorized personnel to evaluate the situation, communicate with the driver, and/or potentially disable the vehicle.
In fact, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration reminds us that "vehicle disabling systems are used to prevent unauthorized users from initially operating a vehicle and to gradually decelerate and stop a vehicle in-transit under certain pre-determined conditions.These systems can be designed to be activated for specific situations, such as comandeering a vehicle without authorization; loss of communication with a driver; security violations; vehicle entry into unauthorized areas; vehicles going off-route; prevention of engine damage due to detected system failures; crisis or emergency situations; and mandatory maintenance needs." There are actually quite a few different ways to disable a vehicle. Some systems use on-board electronics to immobilize the engine or braking system to gradually decelerate a vehicle while moving or prevent it from re-starting. Others remotely use a combination of on-board computers integrated with wireless communications; or non-remotely, utilizing technologies that the driver, operator, or, in some instances, the vehicle itself could take care of on its own. The systems can be activated manually or automatically based on pre-programmed setups.Wireless communications provide the functionality for remote fleet security. They can be integrated with panic buttons and on-board computers requiring user identification and/or password log-ins. For non-remote systems, a keypad or key-fob may be utilized as a part of these systems for arming, disarming, and controlling the security system at the asset itself. Non-remote manual systems can also use of in-cab shut-off devices to other vehicle systems, such as ignitions and brakes.
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