L.I.T. JUNIOR STAFF TESTS ASSISTANCE SYSTEM
IN THE APPRENTICE TRUCK
Daria Ruginis, an intern at Nordwest-Zeitung, and Marvin Möhlmann, an apprentice at L.I.T. Gruppe, are standing in the blind spot of our truck.
Modern technology can do a lot and become an important helper in everyday life. For example, the turning assistant for trucks, which is currently on everyone's lips. It is intended to prevent serious accidents between multi-ton vehicles and cyclists or pedestrians. Accidents that often end fatally and occur when the weaker road user is in the truck's blind spot and is overlooked during a turning maneuver. Nordwest-Zeitung visited us and had the technology explained to them.
Alexander Thon, who at the time of the visit was in his second year of training as a professional driver, frequently drives our apprentice truck. The vehicle – the ultra-modern Actros Edition 1 from Mercedes Benz – is nicely spacious and equipped with the latest technology. What is immediately noticeable: The truck no longer has large exterior mirrors. Instead, it has cameras that show the side of the vehicle and the road space on a screen in the cab. »The advantage is that the blind spot is almost eliminated,« explains Thon. »The camera detects cyclists and pedestrians. A warning triangle appears on the screen if someone is there.« If it gets tight, an acoustic signal sounds that cannot be ignored. Trailer tracking is also important. »The camera shows me the end of the trailer in a curve, so I always have an overview,« he says.
Our apprentice also knows: Technology does not replace an attentive driver. A driver cannot unconditionally rely on a warning signal from the turning assistant. Robert Hennemann, who is responsible for the operational business of L.I.T. Cargo, also points out: »A turning assistant is not a guarantee.« Drivers and all other road users must keep this in mind; caution is therefore always important in traffic. Camera-based turning assistants have been available for trucks as a retrofit package for some time. Systems that are installed as standard have only been available recently. »These are newer versions that can also intervene in the braking system and do not just give a warning signal. The system then brakes with it. You must imagine it like a lane keeping assistant in a car,« reports Hennemann.
From 2020, all new registrations with us will be equipped with such a system, Hennemann knows. From 2022, turning assistants for buses and trucks will be mandatory EU-wide for new vehicle types. From 2024, all new vehicles must then be equipped with them. We do not want to retrofit older vehicles, as Hennemann explains: »We have looked into it, but the technology was not yet convincing, and our proportion of kilometers driven on motorways is very high at 97/98 percent. The cases in which a turning assistance system is usefully employed are therefore currently very few for us.« Currently, only the apprentice truck is so extensively equipped. Our aspiring professional driver is happy to learn with such a modern truck. The most striking external feature of the ultra-modern equipment is certainly that the apprentice truck no longer has large exterior mirrors, but instead has cameras that show the side of the vehicle and the road space on a screen in the cab. Alexander Thon's enthusiasm was further increased by the fact that we called on our apprentices to choose their favorite design for the vehicle and to contribute their ideas. Thanks to their creative input, the apprentice truck is a real eye-catcher: It features not only our tile pattern in the typical L.I.T. colors, but also our training motto: »Bist du lit?«
Alexander Thon,
Apprentice professional driver
Six of our junior staff finally personally picked up the new apprentice truck at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Wörth and received extensive instruction in the technology there. They are now fully responsible for the vehicle, the transports carried out with it, and the dispatching. The fact that he thus directly bears responsibility is a great plus for Thon during his apprenticeship. For him, being a professional driver is a dream job. »I applied, looked at everything, there are ultra-modern vehicles here,« he says. »The work at L.I.T. is varied. I compared which forwarding companies there are, and this is the best training company for me.«
Alexander Thon, who at the time of the visit was in his second year of training as a professional driver, frequently drives our apprentice truck. The vehicle – the ultra-modern Actros Edition 1 from Mercedes Benz – is nicely spacious and equipped with the latest technology. What is immediately noticeable: The truck no longer has large exterior mirrors. Instead, it has cameras that show the side of the vehicle and the road space on a screen in the cab. »The advantage is that the blind spot is almost eliminated,« explains Thon. »The camera detects cyclists and pedestrians. A warning triangle appears on the screen if someone is there.« If it gets tight, an acoustic signal sounds that cannot be ignored. Trailer tracking is also important. »The camera shows me the end of the trailer in a curve, so I always have an overview,« he says.
Our apprentice also knows: Technology does not replace an attentive driver. A driver cannot unconditionally rely on a warning signal from the turning assistant. Robert Hennemann, who is responsible for the operational business of L.I.T. Cargo, also points out: »A turning assistant is not a guarantee.« Drivers and all other road users must keep this in mind; caution is therefore always important in traffic. Camera-based turning assistants have been available for trucks as a retrofit package for some time. Systems that are installed as standard have only been available recently. »These are newer versions that can also intervene in the braking system and do not just give a warning signal. The system then brakes with it. You must imagine it like a lane keeping assistant in a car,« reports Hennemann.
From 2020, all new registrations with us will be equipped with such a system, Hennemann knows. From 2022, turning assistants for buses and trucks will be mandatory EU-wide for new vehicle types. From 2024, all new vehicles must then be equipped with them. We do not want to retrofit older vehicles, as Hennemann explains: »We have looked into it, but the technology was not yet convincing, and our proportion of kilometers driven on motorways is very high at 97/98 percent. The cases in which a turning assistance system is usefully employed are therefore currently very few for us.«
Currently, only the apprentice truck is so extensively equipped. Our aspiring professional driver is happy to learn with such a modern truck. The most striking external feature of the ultra-modern equipment is certainly that the apprentice truck no longer has large exterior mirrors, but instead has cameras that show the side of the vehicle and the road space on a screen in the cab. Alexander Thon's enthusiasm was further increased by the fact that we called on our apprentices to choose their favorite design for the vehicle and to contribute their ideas. Thanks to their creative input, the apprentice truck is a real eye-catcher: It features not only our tile pattern in the typical L.I.T. colors, but also our training motto: »Bist du lit?«
Six of our junior staff finally personally picked up the new apprentice truck at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Wörth and received extensive instruction in the technology there. They are now fully responsible for the vehicle, the transports carried out with it, and the dispatching. The fact that he thus directly bears responsibility is a great plus for Thon during his apprenticeship. For him, being a professional driver is a dream job. »I applied, looked at everything, there are ultra-modern vehicles here,« he says. »The work at L.I.T. is varied. I compared which forwarding companies there are, and this is the best training company for me.«