PLANO, Texas — The Georgia Department of Transportation (Georgia DOT) recently announced that it has expanded its deployment of real-time traffic alerts through Drivewyze’s Smart Roadways service.
According to a news release, the expansion provides commercial truck drivers access to heavy congestion and slowdown traffic alerts across 1,400 miles of interstate and state highways in Georgia, nearly tripling the connected roadways in the state since deploying the service in 2022.
Drivewyze Smart Roadways traffic alerts notify truck drivers about hazards, such as where drastic speed changes or heavier than normal congestion is detected, using visual messages such as “sudden slowdown ahead” along with an audible chime. The alerts allow ample time for trucks to slow down or stop.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, nearly a third of all collisions that occur happen on interstates, and many of those are due to secondary incidents, where a vehicle is rear-ended from an initial incident.
“Smart Roadway traffic alerts allow us to effectively inform a large percentage of truck drivers to slow their speeds when approaching unexpected traffic or hazards,” said Ben Lempke, assistant ITS engineer for the Georgia DOT. “The alerts are having a positive impact on driver behavior. We believe they are helping prevent potentially catastrophic collisions involving heavy trucks from happening, which is why we expanded the use of the service.”
According to Lempke, telematics data from a 2020 pilot test in the Atlanta area with more than 500,000 vehicle visits, showed between a 10 and 16% reduction in hard braking events for drivers who received the alert, compared to those who did not.
The congestion and sudden slowdown alerts, part of Drivewyze Smart Roadways, were developed through a partnership between Drivewyze and INRIX.
Leveraging INRIX real-time traffic data allows the Georgia DOT, and other partner states, to send real-time alerts to commercial truck drivers through the Drivewyze software application. This application is embedded in most Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs), as well as on mounted mobile devices. These alerts are provided for free to any fleets subscribed to the Drivewyze PreClear bypass service on their ELDs and are also available for free unlimited use on any Android smartphone (and soon iOS phones) for all truck drivers who download the Drivewyze app — no subscription required.
In addition to Georgia, the alerts are available in six other states — Delaware, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
More states are expected to be added in the near future.
“Drivewyze has spent the last decade building the partnerships and in-cab-infrastructure required for state transportation agencies, like Georgia, to communicate directly with truck drivers,” said Brian Heath, CEO of Drivewyze, “Having demonstrated the success of traffic alerts in Georgia to date, we are pleased to support an expansion of this Smart Roadways service, which will allow Georgia DOT to extend their transportation safety program into commercial motor vehicles state-wide.”
The Trucker News Staff produces engaging content for not only TheTrucker.com, but also The Trucker Newspaper, which has been serving the trucking industry for more than 30 years. With a focus on drivers, the Trucker News Staff aims to provide relevant, objective content pertaining to the trucking segment of the transportation industry. The Trucker News Staff is based in Little Rock, Arkansas.
