This desktop simulator’s not only somewhat educational, it can make you into a safer driver, and it’s fun.
For $2,495 US, you get the CD, training manuals and videos, a steering wheel and pedals and within minutes of installation, your drivers and/or trainees can be hitting the road. In a video-game sort of way.
At minimum, you need a 2.5 GHz Intel Premium 4 Processor with USB Port , Windows 2000 or newer, a 128 MB video card; 1 GB Ram, a sound card, and a monitor, the bigger the better.
Does it replicate the real McCoy? How could it? Does it help drivers drive? How could it not?
It works like this. The driver sits at the computer and holds the steering wheel. It’s about the same size as a go-cart’s, with the signal light, mirror and side-view switches built in within thumb’s reach. (This could be something that OEMs might want to think about.)
The trainer or programmer decides what kind of vehicle is going to be driven and through what conditions.
You shift into gear, accelerate, and away you go. You can easily program the software so the driver “experiences” a variety of equipment under a whole bunch of different conditions. Want to try a single-axle day cab pulling a half-loaded 53-foot trailer through snow at nighttime?
How about feeling how long it takes a single-axle straight truck going 120 km/h to meet an oncoming four-wheeler?
When I simulated a drive with a sloped-hood tractor and tanker, I learned that even when you’re trying to maintain a trusty seven seconds between you and the SUV ahead, it takes less than an eyeblink for a patch of ice to turn a leisurely cruise into disaster.
Good thing that you can walk away from a simulated wreck. The software also allows you to record your performance, so you can brush up on whatever little “oversight” got you into the wreck in the first place.
The SAFE∙Sim™ also has received the official blessing of the American Trucking Associations. You can test drive the SAFE∙Sim™ for 30 days for $99 US.
Today's Trucking Magazine
--Peter Carter
