Carmon

With most Truck Stops now being WiFi enabled truck drivers can turn in daily reports, contact dispatchers, file reports, find return loads, shipping and receiving departments and stay efficient while on the road. They can be in constant communication throughout their travels and each night while parked at the truck stop.

This is a major efficiency enhancement for the Independent Truck Driver who is on the road so much he basically lives in his truck. Before truck driver's would rent phone-lines at the truck stops and try to access the internet by dial-up, can you imagine the hassles? Then some had plug in lines with DSL or Cable. Now all real serious truck stops have WiFi blasting away and truck drivers are in heaven.

Of course many truck drivers also use 3G Wireless Internet Access and pay the extra fee on their phone bill each month. It is also great to have and if they are a driving team often one person can sit in the back on the Internet while the other person drives and that is a great benefit as well. Most services like that run about $75.00 per month for access, but we have noted recently some only cost $39.00 per month.

The WiFi at the truck stops depending on which service run about $25.00 per month. There are also systems available that allow trucks to have their own link directly to the satellite. In fact I had the opportunity of Beta Testing one of the first of these types of systems while working with a company, which had a strategic alliance with GM Hughes, which later became DirectPC. These are pretty cool but the up front costs are high.

L. Winslow is an Internet, Communication and Economic Advisor to the Online Think Tank, a Futurist and retired entrepreneur. Currently he is planning a bicycle ride across the US to raise money for charity and is sponsored by http://www.Calling-Plans.com and all the proceeds will go to various charities who sign up.