Oct/Nov 2007

Bridge heights, road widths and turning restrictions are among features of new datasets from the leading satnav map developers. But check that you know which roads they cover

Satellite navigation that can find lorry-friendly routes has been a beguiling but elusive aspiration ever since satnav leapt into the public consciousness three or four years ago.

The problem with existing satnav systems is that they are vehicle-agnostic, and in fact were mostly designed with cars in mind. You can't necessarily ask them to find routes without low bridges, tight turns or narrow roads; and that means lorry drivers have always had to treat the routes they propose with a degree of caution.

As recently as this summer, the UK's Freight Transport Association was bemoaning the lack of suitable systems. 'There is a lot more that suppliers can do,' said policy director James Hookham (m.logistics, last issue), citing features such as bridge heights and road widths as key requirements.

 

The lack of truck-specific satnav has really been a combined result of lack of relevant data, and corresponding lack of incentive for satnav developers to produce appropriate products.

Almost overnight, the whole picture has changed. This is the result of moves by several of the key names in digital map data to include truck-specific data in their products. Navteq has been working for several years on its Navteq Transport data, which it launched in the UK this autumn, and Tele Atlas, its main rival, has been building up its Tele Atlas Logistics data. Meanwhile, the UK's Ordnance Survey has been developing what it calls its Integrated Transport Layer.

These products all aspire to map the location of key features of relevance for truck routing - notably bridge heights, road widths and weight restrictions. That means satnav systems will be able to exclude routes that feature such constraints, which usually also include banned turns, speed limits and other relevant information. So the objective is at last realised.

Initially, however, the features have not been implemented universally. Both Navteq and Tele Atlas data currently limit their low bridge information to specified road types. Navteq's UK data, for instance, includes all motorways and what are termed 'national roads', plus 40 per cent of 'low-use' roads. Tele Atlas's monitored routes include 'major road networks'.

This should not necessarily be seen as a serious shortcoming. The suppliers point out that satnav systems can easily be set up to exclude non-monitored routes, and could provide drivers with alerts if they turn on to such routes.

It does, however, mean users need to get the measure of what's really on offer before getting too carried away by it. At the UK launch of Navteq Transport, Marc Dalbard of satnav developer PTV Loxanne recounted how the launch of his company's system in France this spring had raised expectations beyond what the product could initially deliver.

'We stimulated interest through our marketing, which was a good thing, but there is a need to avoid overstating the capabilities of these systems. We are not talking about an automatic pilot here.' He added that expectations were now 'slightly lower', and more in line with the systems' actual abilities.

universal coverage

The two suppliers accept there is a need for more universal coverage, and say they are working towards providing it. Peter Beaumont, the company's enterprise customer marketing director for Europe, says his company plans to add other roads next year.

Ordnance Survey is arguably ahead of the game in this respect. It says its ITN truck attributes database already included height and weight restrictions for major roads by the end of last year, and was then augmented with additional data listing all 110,000 bridges in the UK, including heights and widths. It says it now has 90 per cent accuracy across the whole of the UK, and is very aware of the need for universality of data.

In theory that means OS data should be ideal for use in satnav systems, though in practice the organisation has not built up a strong market presence for itself in this type of application, though it has been a supplier of data to other organisations such as Tele Atlas.

Navteq and Tele Atlas both supply a lot of additional data alongside the key dimensional attributes, including for instance point-of-interest data such as the location of truckstops. They see this as adding value to satnav systems.

A number of satnav developers are known to be working on truck-specific products using the new data. Those using Navteq data include ALK, PTV and Siemens, whose product could be the first to hit the UK market. Tele Atlas's new parent company TomTom is also understood to be developing truck-related systems, and other users of Tele Atlas data are likely to follow suit.

The appetite for truck-related satnav seems amply borne out by Tele Atlas's experience in the United States, where the company rolled out its truck-attribute database back in January 2006. This has attracted 'substantial commercial success', the company says. It provides truck-specific attributes for 2.4 million 'preferred-route' miles throughout North America, including interstate and state highways and local and access roads.

It's hard not to imagine that UK operators and drivers will take up truck-oriented satnav with equal enthusiasm, so long as the suppliers are able to manage expectations in the early days, and make it clear exactly what they are offering.

Once coverage reaches critical mass and extends across the Continent, such systems could become a de facto norm for the industry. And both main suppliers are already working hard to make that coverage a reality.