Emergency Safety Solutions, Inc. (ESS), completed the first phase of installations of its H.E.L.P. DeliverSAFE (Hazard Enhanced Location Protocol) safety feature in Indeca Crude Xpress oil-hauling trucks. This is the first commercial truck application for the intelligent emergency communications solution.

H.E.L.P. is a regulatory-compliant feature that significantly increases the conspicuity of disabled and shouldered commercial trucks and passenger vehicles along the roadside to help prevent crashes that kill and injure thousands each year across the U.S.

H.E.L.P. DeliverSAFE provides two forms of advanced notification to oncoming motorists, giving them considerably more time to react to and safely avoid stationary vehicles and their occupants:

• H.E.L.P. Digital Alerts – Notifications sent to oncoming drivers through their in-vehicle dashboard displays and GPS mapping apps, such as Waze and Apple Maps, providing advance warning that they are approaching a disabled or stationary vehicle, even beyond line of sight.

• H.E.L.P. Lighting Alerts– Dramatically improved, enhanced hazard flash pattern that is scientifically tuned and proven to grab the attention of oncoming drivers and prompt them to slow down and move over a lane.

The initial installation covers about a quarter of Indeca’s oil transport fleet operating in the Permian Basin area in West Texas, with the remainder of installations planned for later this year. H.E.L.P. DeliverSAFE is integrated with the Indeca truck fleet’s existing on-board telematics and lighting systems.

“Indeca is passionate about keeping people safe, especially here in the Permian Basin. The roads and infrastructure here were simply not designed for the current level of use, as reflected by the high crash and fatality rates in this region,” said Steve Williamson, CEO of Indeca Crude Xpress.

“Our trucks are often in vulnerable positions along the road, so we’re constantly looking for the best available solutions and technologies to ensure we maintain our exceptional safety record,” Williamson added. “We believe H.E.L.P. DeliverSAFE will make a tremendous difference in increasing the visibility of our trucks and enhancing the overall safety of our drivers and fleet.”

The Permian Basin has seen an enormous increase in truck traffic in recent years as crude oil is transported to the Gulf Coast refineries in Texas and fracking activities have expanded. The traffic levels have greatly surpassed current infrastructure capacity, leading to increased congestion, road damage and intolerable daily roadway fatalities and injuries.

“We see this as a lifesaving innovation and an ideal solution for increasing roadside safety for transport drivers – who often pull over on the side of the road when they reach hours limits, wait for deliveries or simply have some vehicle trouble,” said David Tucker, CEO of ESS. “H.E.L.P. DeliverSAFE uses visible and digital cues to alert oncoming motorists of stranded or parked trucks along the road ahead  – even beyond their line of sight – so they’re in a far better position to safely steer clear of them.”

The efficacy of H.E.L.P. Lighting Alerts was validated in a spring 2022 on-road study by Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, which examined oncoming driver response to a disabled passenger vehicle with H.E.L.P. Lighting Alerts flashing at 5Hz (approximately 5 times per second) versus the standard hazard flash rate of 1.5Hz. The study found drivers slowed down and moved over much sooner when approaching a vehicle with H.E.L.P.’s higher frequency hazard lighting vs. traditional hazard lighting – which hasn’t changed in 71 years.