The new AXS SmartOBM unit marks a substantial improvement in functionality, but with the new system, new look OBM, Airtec are also starting to look and work smarter, in a much smaller package. The read out is surrounded by an illuminated ring on which blue will indicate the vehicle is underweight, green for within legal weight, and then red for overweight.
“Because the screen is smaller, the system needs a simple indication for the truck drivers when loading,” says David Hewett, Airtec Corporation Director. “We’ve got the TruckOBM phone app reading from the sensors, but you’ve got to be pretty close to the gauge. The driver can see the weights in their hand, there’s still applications where people want to load and see their feed live.
“So we decided to still have a visual user interface model. As the original equipment manufacturer market volumes increase, it’s not needed, we can take that out and have just a smart sensor on a vehicle. This will probably happen as the market matures, and people get more confidence in the data.”
Currently truck and trailer manufacturers do not necessarily run compatible systems, unless there is new EBS on the running gear across all of the combination. There are different manufacturers and suppliers, but David expects to see the emergence of a universal solution.
“Each sector is different and unique,” says David.. “We’ve got a product there for the truck on the farms that carry grain, where they load from a distance. It’s wireless, they can do it in the cab.
“Containers go over weigh-bridges and have a manifest so they sort of need it, but don’t need it. They need it for regulatory compliance. But they’ve already got processes in place, it’s just been policy. I treat each of those applications slightly differently.
“We’re not just one product, and the thing is people don’t realise it’s not one product. We do a lot of customisations for different people. The refrigeration market is not easy, but the government is putting policy in to make them conform. In the long term our aim is to make it a product that doesn’t need human intervention.”
The ultimate aim is to have a weighing system which sends the data off in the background. he data needed to comply with the Telematics Monitoring Application (TMA) requirements is now being used increasingly in the Eastern states.
“The main driver for operators right now is to make sure they’re compliant,” says David. “My philosophy for any business operator is to take away the government side of things. Look at the product to invest in for a commercial business reason. Getting loading right the first time, making it work for your business before considering the regulatory side of things.
“The regulatory authorities use it to oversee and it ticks boxes. But, don’t go and buy it just for the regulatory side of things, because you need to use the product and get your drivers to understand weights and loads, and it should also be easy for them to connect.”
As the use of OBM systems has increased David feels there needs to be more education about the different systems and telematics which are approved for the roadside enforcement officers. This field is fast moving and changes all of the time, and Airtec has never been approached to provide training for roadside officers on its equipment.
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