Forward Air's 850-Truck Owner-Operator Fleet Adopts Qualcomm’s Hours of Service
SAN DIEGO and Greeneville, TN – July 11, 2011 – Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM), a leading provider of integrated wireless systems, applications and services to transportation and logistics companies, and Forward Air Corporation (NASDAQ:FWRD), today announced that its FAF, Inc. 850-truck owner-operator fleet has adopted Qualcomm’s Hours of Service (QHOS) electronic on-board recording (EOBR) application for electronic driver logs. Forward Air has reported a 16 percent improvement in their BASIC Driver Fatigue score since their transition to electronic logs.
A Qualcomm customer for 18 years, Forward Air provides time-definite ground transportation and related logistics services to the air cargo and expedited LTL industry through a network of terminals located on or near major airports in 84 cities in the United States and Canada. The company’s fleet is made up almost entirely of owner-operators.
“With Qualcomm’s Mobile Computing Platform 110 equipped with the Hours of Service feature, we fully expect driver fatigue scores to improve further over the next six months,” said Loretta Miller, vice president of safety for Forward Air. “We have increased our administrative and operational efficiencies, gone green by eliminating paper and assured that our drivers are complying with FMCSA regulations on driving hours. We are especially pleased with our independent contractor’s understanding and acceptance of this transition. Our drivers have found the process eliminates form and manual errors and provides them quick information on their available hours, allowing them to plan their trips more accurately and have audible warning notices when reaching their hours of service limit.”
“Forward Air has embraced Hours of Service and rolled it out fleet-wide to all of its owner- operators, a segment of the market that has been slower to adopt EOBRs, which further illustrates Forward Air’s industry-leading commitment to safety,” said Tom Flies, senior director of product management for Qualcomm Enterprise Services. “Their experience can serve as an example to other fleets of how QHOS not only helps improve safety and regulatory compliance, but also delivers measurable return on investment in just a short period of time.”
QHOS is fully compliant with the hours-of-service rules and regulations of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), and is available for use with the Qualcomm Mobile Computing Platform 100, 110 and 200 (MCP100, MCP110 and MCP200). The application is designed to help fleets maintain regulatory compliance, improve safety and reduce potential inaccuracies and the risk of violations associated with manual logs.
In 2008, in anticipation of possible federal mandates, Forward Air began converting the on-board technology of its fleet from Qualcomm’s pioneering OmniTRACS® mobile information system to Qualcomm’s MCP110, which is specifically engineered to optimize transportation company operations. With the adoption of QHOS on the MCP110, Forward Air took a proactive approach to implementing technology to help improve safety and compliance.
“I never have to worry about my fuel stops matching my driver logs, forgetting to list my manifest or forgetting to turn in logs,” said Mike Rafferty, owner-operator with Forward Air for 11 years. “It accurately reports information, eliminating mistakes and monthly log audit result letters from the Safety Department. It’s so simple – I go to my truck, conduct my pre trip and then get on the road.”
About Forward Air Corporation
Forward Air Corporation operates two business segments, Forward Air, Inc. and Forward Air Solutions, Inc.
Forward Air, Inc. is a high-service-level contractor to the air cargo industry providing time-definite ground transportation services through a network of terminals located on or near major airports in 84 cities in the United States and Canada. It provides these services as a cost-effective alternative to air transportation of cargo that must be delivered at a specific time, but is relatively less time-sensitive than traditional air freight or when air transportation is not economical.
Forward Air Solutions, Inc. is a provider of pool distribution services. Pool distribution involves the consolidation and shipment of several smaller less-than-truckload shipments to a common area or region. Once at the regional destination, the loads are deconsolidated, then grouped with other shipments with common delivery points and delivered in a very precise, time-sensitive manner. The pool distribution network consists of terminals and service locations in 19 cities within the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Midwest and Southwestern United States.
About Qualcomm Enterprise Services
Since 1988, Qualcomm Enterprise Services has provided integrated wireless systems and services to transportation and logistics companies around the world. With more than 1.3 million mobile units shipped to businesses in 39 countries on four continents, Qualcomm Enterprise Services delivers the business insight these companies need in order to operate at peak performance and provide superior customer service. Backed by a global, 24/7, world-class technology infrastructure, Qualcomm Enterprise Services is positioned to meet and exceed the increasingly complex and business-critical needs of its more than 2,500 clients with superior customer care and professional services. ABI Research ranked Qualcomm Enterprise Services No. 1 on its bi-annual Commercial Vehicle Telematics Vendor Matrix in three consecutive reports (2010, 2008 and 2006). For more information, please visit us at: http://www.qualcomm.com/qes.
Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) is the world leader in 3G and next-generation mobile technologies. For more than 25 years, Qualcomm ideas and inventions have driven the evolution of wireless communications, connecting people more closely to information, entertainment and each other. Today, Qualcomm technologies are powering the convergence of mobile communications and consumer electronics, making wireless devices and services more personal, affordable and accessible to people everywhere. For more information, visit Qualcomm around the Web: www.qualcomm.com