Does Technology help or hurt trucking industy?

Technology, we don't need no stinking technology.....

I see the rantings about GPS systems on the TTR forum that go back years. From school grads that use GPS to help them navigate from Dallas, TX to Portland, OR. to the the old timers who don't need a map to drive from Downtown Atlanta and deliver it somewhere in Elk Grove Village, IL the next day.

First let's define the word....Technology according to a respected online source.

Technology (from Greek τέχνη, techne, "art, skill, cunning of hand";and -λογία, -logia[SUP][1][/SUP])is the making, modification, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems, and methods of organization, in order to solve a problem, improve a pre-existing solution to a problem, achieve a goal, handle an applied input/output relation or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, including machinery, modifications, arrangements and procedures. Technologies significantly affect human as well as other animal species' ability to control and adapt to their natural environments.

Philosophical debates have arisen over the present and future use of technology in society, with disagreements over whether technology improves the human condition or worsens it. Neo-Luddism, anarchic-primitivism, and similar movements criticize the pervasiveness of technology in the modern world, opining that it harms the environment and alienates people; proponents of ideologies such as transhumanism and techno-progressivism view continued technological progress as beneficial to society and the human condition. Indeed, until recently, it was believed that the development of technology was restricted only to human beings, but recent scientific studies indicate that other primates and certain dolphin communities have developed simple tools and learned to pass their knowledge to other generations. (en.wikipedia.org)

Perhaps the time has come for us to realize that we are just managing information with the use of technology. If you know how to execute a plan without needing to gather information, then you are utilizing your brains ability to retrieve data from your memory. However, with time, things change. sometimes for the better sometimes not. But one thing is true, If you don't know where you are going, any road will take you there. And when you are a professional, you must plan your work and work your plan if you want to succeed. Shooting from the hip, is great when you're a self-proclaimed outlaw with thirty-years on the road. But what about these new kids on the block and their fancy gadgets that keep within an arms reach every waking hour? Can they too learn to let-go of the safety and comforts of being tethered to Big Brother for a hour, a day or more.

I met a driver sitting in a watering-hole off I-70 the other day having dinner. We started talking and he told me he doesn't have a laptop or GPS, the only thing he has is a cellular phone without data transfer. I found myself asking the obvious question, Why?

His response, to paraphrase, " I've lived in a truck for thirty-years and never had the need to...". I'm ok with that, I'm thinking how many thousands of truckers have been there and done that? Millions over the years dating back to the 40's when my pop drove a truck up and down highway 51 from Memphis to New Orleans every week...Back then there were no Condo Cruisers and Cell phones, Just a 2-60 AC, 2 vent windows and 60 miles an hour...

Of course we can always go back to driving like our fathers and grandfathers, but who would want to when we have the feature and benefits of modern Technology at our disposal.

GPS is for all practicality a map, and it displays where you are in real time. It provides Information, That's all, It's up to the users to decide what to do with that info. The routing is merely a suggestion, The final decision is always left to the driver. As Drivers, we are the ones responsible for the safe operation of our CMV. I see this technology as a tool that is designed to help me make rational and logical judgement when confronted with things that would normally force us to stop and pick up an Atlas and find an alternative to a road-closure due to an accident. Meanwhile, not having one could cost me up to an hour while emergency crews scrap the wreckage off the limited access road. Thanks to other technology, accidents and road construction and traffic are being updated in real time and displayed over terrestrial communications to our vehicles. Now we don't need a CB to know their is a closure due to storms or accidents.

Technology.... be it a wooden spoon to eat with, or a Space-Shuttle to lift heavy objects into orbit, It is what it is....a tool to help working men and women do their job more efficiently.

Satellite Communications
Electronic Navigation
Smart-phones
Laptops
CB's



What's your thoughts on all this technology being used in the trucking industry, good or bad?