CON-WAY Makes Commitment of Over $1 Million to Safety

    ANN ARBOR, Mich.--April 9, 2001--Con-Way Transportation Services (CON-WAY) has scheduled delivery of 605 new Sterling tractors between April and June of 2001. This is not unusual. It's part of CON-WAY's annual equipment replacement cycle that keeps the fleet of its less-than-truckload (L-T-L) operating components in top shape. But this year each of the tractors is having a new, high-tech collision avoidance system installed that will help CON-WAY drivers monitor the speed and location of other vehicles in front or beside them as they travel the highways. Cost of the safety improvement is estimated at more than $1 million.
    "We've been following the development of this technology for a number of years," said Doug Stotlar, executive vice president of operations for CON-WAY. "The vendor test evidence has shown good reliability and we expect to achieve good results. Having 605 units in our own fleet equipped with the system will give us the opportunity to gain experience and carefully measure the results. If we get the anticipated results from these first units, our plan is to make collision avoidance systems standard equipment on all new heavy duty, over-the-road tractors we buy. Within seven years we should have the entire fleet equipped."
    The new tractors are being assembled at the Sterling plant in St. Thomas, Ontario and will be delivered throughout North America. The CON-WAY operating units that will be receiving these new tractors are Con-Way Western Express, Con-Way Central Express, Con-Way Southern Express and Con-Way Canada Express. This broad geographic distribution will give exposure and operating results form a diverse set of highway operating conditions.
    The system has a set of radar antennas on the front and the side of the tractor. The antennas are connected to an on-board computer that monitors the tractor speed and engine activity and matches that activity to that of vehicles in front and beside the tractor. When the front-mounted antenna detects a faster-than-desired closing rate on a vehicle the computer alerts the driver to the potentially dangerous situation. The side-mounted antenna gives a sound warning to the driver when they detect a vehicle in the "blind spot" on the right hand side of the vehicle.
    "The driver is still in control of the tractor, but this system acts as a separate set of eyes and gives the driver notice of a potentially dangerous situation," says Stotlar. "We will monitor the safety results of this portion of our fleet and compare it to the portion of the fleet that is not equipped with the system. In addition, we'll be sharing the experience and suggestions of our drivers and mechanics with the equipment manufacturer. Highway safety is a national priority, not just a CON-WAY priority. Each day, however, there are over 12,000 CON-WAY employees whose work place is the streets and highways of North America. We're committed to investments and procedures that bring greater safety to them."