2
NEWS
Scania’s Angel Call app
Scania says its ‘guardian angel’ app can save livesOver 40 per cent of Russian truck drivers admit to falling asleep at the wheel causing 1550 deaths and 71,000 injuries per year. Since 2009 nearly all Scania trucks have been fitted with Driver Support systems that analyses drivers' behaviour and detects changes that could indicate that they are weary.
A new app has been developed that uses the truck's systems to help save lives. Released by Scania Russia, Angel Call is designed to stop the driver falling asleep at the wheel by alerting his nearest and dearest.
The app combines Scania technology and services with compassion from the driver’s relatives and loved ones to increase road safety and save lives.
The Angel Call app is free to download and can be installed on the driver and his relatives’ mobile phones. The service is connected to Scania’s Fleet Management system (FMS), and monitors how alert or fatigued the driver is on the road. The app uses the driver’s nearest and dearest to act as his or her guardian angels.
The system works by detecting that a driver has exceeded a predetermined time limit for driving, it alerts the nominated angel who then calls the driver and convinces him or her to stop and have some rest.
The idea of the Angel Call app was to make FMS more personalised for drivers, and to promote it to haulage company owners and management. Transforming mechanical, impersonal and sometimes irritating automated messages into a real person who cares was central to the success of the project.
"We believe Angel Call is an unusual and very interesting way to promote our Fleet Management System," says Varvara Astakhova, Head of Marketing at Scania-Rus.
"Here in Russia drivers often perceive FMS as something hostile, used by their employer to control them. So our challenge was to convince them to the contrary – that Scania and the fleet management system can help to take care of them," she said.
Karel Geirnaert, Business Support Director for Scania in Russia, believes Angel Call is a brilliant idea. "We are actually using love and compassion to save lives," he says.
Scania Australia hasn’t said whether the app will become available here but has asserted that it’s a good idea and could save lives.
Share this article
Written byTrucksales Staff
See all articlesStay up to dateBecome a trucksales member and get the latest news, reviews and advice straight to your inbox.
Subscribe todayRelated articles
Disclaimer
Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
Contact
Advertise with us
Local marketplaces
International marketplaces
Consent