Duty Status Logging

Hello,

I'm a university student from Michigan, and I've been assigned a project that requires me to develop a product for any type of market. I'm currently researching the viability of automatic duty status logging software for truck drivers.

My idea is to develop software for GPS enabled phones that will allow drivers the ability to keep track of their status changes with very little effort... like pushing one of four buttons for each of the options, while the software does everything else such as grabbing the locations from GPS and calculating hours while comparing them to regulations.

The idea is to do something similar to the Qualcomm systems that are out there, but making it really cheap by removing all the proprietary hardware. Since it'll be connected to the cell phone network, it'll also be easy to archive past logs and monitor routes, etc.


I'm really just investigating the feasibility of this project right now, and I'd love to have any types of comments/criticism (good or bad) about the project. I'm specifically curious to know if drivers would be willing to use this sort of thing, if anything like it exists, or if there are better ideas. I figure drivers can give me much better information than business people who have no idea what they're talking about.

Thanks!

-brc

 

I really appreciate everyone's responses here so far. They're extremely insightful and will be very helpful in shaping the project's final concept.

ssbowles makes a very good point about the system being similar to Werner's Paperless Logs. Werner's and systems like it are exactly what I'm trying to emulate, only cheaply as possible. The idea is to provide truckers with all the functionality of these systems without any of the hardware costs... a system like the one mentioned could be implemented in software for next to nothing.

ssbowles also mentions that most truckers wouldn't voluntarily use such a service... If the price point were cheap enough, would truckers be more willing to purchase such a device then? If so, what would that price have to be? We've also been looking into an ad-supported model, for example, that would be free for truckers, but they'll be subject to location-based ads... What are your thoughts on that?

rikdev50s also makes a really good point about "automatic" devices not always being so automatic. I've had some other truckers indicate that they have problems with a device constantly tracking them, too. The software will for sure have to be open to manual trucker input... like turning the tracking off for certain periods and having it always subject to each trucker's input overrides. Ease of use is the primary concearn but technology is never perfect. We'll definitely keep that in mind when developing the idea futher.

Now, what I've really been interested in is RickG's comment about Quality Carriers using a similar system implemented on the Blackberry. What are your thoughts on the those? How are they comparable to the Qualcomm and old fashioned paper, for example? Also, what prompted the switch from the existing qualcomm to the Blackberry? With the Blackberries, how do you deal with DOT checks?

I really want to thank all of you for your honest input. I don't think I can find a better source than the people who have to deal with this kind of thing every day. Thanks!

-brc