Intelligent Transportation System/Commercial Vehicle Operations (ITS/CVO) fleet management technologies are used by transportation companies to improve their operational efficiency. This is becoming increasingly more important because of decreasing profit margins and increasing competition in the motor carrier industry. The main goal of this study was to examine the effects of using these technologies in commercial vehicle operations by studying an actual application of ITS/CVO technologies at a Turkish transportation company. Operational data of the company six months before and six months after the application of an ITS/CVO system, which consisted of a mobile communication and an automatic vehicle location system, has been used in the analyses. The selected mobile communication system was a mobile satellite type, which offered a two-way direct communication between dispatchers and drivers. The automatic vehicle location system used was a geo stationary satellite system. Various fleet performance parameters such as trip frequencies, trip times, kilometers, and accidents have been statistically compared and an economic analysis has been performed to study the operational effects before and after the installation of ITS/CVO systems. The used system improved operations in all the performance parameters in a statistically significant manner and had very positive effects on the economics of the operation. However, there has been a slight increase in the number of accidents after the installation of the system. The company is now considering monitoring the condition of drivers by an onboard computer system to improve the operational safety as well.
Abstract