Fit safety systems in the factory

As an operator it’s frustrating to purchase new trucks and still have to fit additional safety features, now often mandated to work in the city centre construction sector, which are not currently available to be installed or supported by the manufacturer.

New trucks have wiring looms cut into, additional cables run down the chassis and into the cab, dash panels removed and facia panels drilled to have additional safety systems installed.

Additional cameras, side scan sensors, turn warning, vulnerable road user detection systems and data recording systems have been fitted and supported for maintenance and repairs by third party suppliers for many years.

Some manufacturers are now offering basic camera systems, but progress is slow. We need more options for equipment to be fitted at factory build, such as additional plug and play safety systems for cameras and sensors covering blind spots, reversing and recording camera footage around the vehicle, linked into vehicle data, telematics and black box recording systems – all accessed via a central onboard system for over air data transfer and vehicle tracking. These systems would be more robust when fitted as standard and supported by the dealer networks or third-party agents.

These systems are invaluable in protecting vulnerable road users. The recorded film footage and vehicle data provides unique forensic and insurance data, protects drivers in incidents and supports coaching and training. I cannot imagine running trucks without them.

New and progressive safety systems are coming on to the market with more advanced automatic emergency braking systems – these warn the driver and also enable the truck to react autonomously to avoid a collision. These are unlikely to be retrofittable, so must be offered at the point of factory build, and not by third-party suppliers.

Carl Milton, regional supply chain and logistics manager – aggregate and asphalt – north, Cemex UK

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