SALT LAKE CITY —inthinc Technology Solutions Inc., a global company centered on telematics, fleet solutions and driving safety, announced that Carleton Watkins, vice president of research and development at inthinc, has joined the American Trucking Association (ATA) Technical Maintenance Council’s On-Board Vehicle Electronics Study Group.‟ The Technical Maintenance Council develops industry best practices for onboard vehicle technologies.

“Part of our mission is to promote advanced technology and interoperability of trucking equipment,” said Carl Kirk, executive director of the Technical Maintenance Council. “Having an engineering-minded industry veteran like Mr. Watkins will be a valuable asset to our working group.”

Watkins joined the committee to contribute his experience gained over the past decade in developing the electronic on-board recorder (EOBR) functionality for inthinc solutions. EOBR technology allows commercial fleets to automatically track the hours drivers spent behind the wheel through hours-of-service (HOS) logs. In an effort to cut down on fatigued driving among commercial drivers, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is in the process of delivering regulations mandating the use of these EOBRs.

Reducing fatigued driving via electronic HOS logs is also heavily emphasized in the FMCSA’s CSA initiative—a program that measures commercial fleets on a variety of safe driving criteria. Fatigued driving is one of the seven BASICs (Behavior Analysis Safety Improvement Categories) the FMCSA uses to evaluate companies' fleet operations and ensure organizations are in compliance with the CSA safety standards.

“The ATA has served the interests of the trucking industry for more than 75 years and inthinc’s focus on driver safety parallels their values—it’s a great match,” said Watkins.” I am excited to work with this respected organization to help promote highway safety and positively influence federal programs regarding commercial drivers.