IRVINGTON, N.Y. — When a big rig encounters a bridge too small to travel under, it’s sometimes too late.
With this danger in mind, GiraffeG4 has developed an app that will alert commercial truck drivers with an audible alarm 100 yards before they are approaching the entrance to a commercial vehicle parkway that doesn’t allow large vehicles.
Along with the alarm, the Giraffe G4 Sentinel Tracking App provides a “Do Not Enter” sign on the screen at the location of the entrance, according to a news release.
Frank Nugent, an experienced tractor-trailer driver from New York, developed and designed the app.
“Collisions with ‘Low Clearance’ overpasses on parkways are a common occurrence causing extensive damage to the overpass and roadways,” the news release states. “Drivers and their companies can be responsible for fines and expensive road and overpass repairs depending on the extent of the damage or delays. Towing charges in New York State can cost as much as $10,000.”
Truck drivers using regular noncommercial navigation apps can be steered onto parkways in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts.
The GiraffeG4 Sentinel System is not a navigation tool. It travels underneath the route the driver is following. When the parkway entrance is 100 yards ahead, the alarm sounds, and the “Do Not Enter” sign appears on the screen. Subsequently, the Sentinel System adds no driver distraction, just a safety distraction when it is needed.
The GiraffeG4 Sentinel System will work with the Fleet Telematics System any fleet utilizes. It follows independently along with the route the truck is taking and creates no interference to existing systems.
The news release notes that GiraffeG4 Sentinel Tracking App has also accurately pre-measured and GPS located the “Low Clearance” hazards in New York City, New Jersey, Boston, Chicago, Milwaukee, Philadelphia and Connecticut, along with areas around those locations.
Born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and raised in East Texas, John Worthen returned to his home state to attend college in 1998 and decided to make his life in The Natural State. Worthen is a 20-year veteran of the journalism industry and has covered just about every topic there is. He has a passion for writing and telling stories. He has worked as a beat reporter and bureau chief for a statewide newspaper and as managing editor of a regional newspaper in Arkansas. Additionally, Worthen has been a prolific freelance journalist for two decades, and has been published in several travel magazines and on travel websites.
