Transport authorities in Germany have accepted the country-wide use of ERNA, the Efficient Road Navigation Assistant developed by ESTA member Sommer.
ESTA has long been arguing for the Europe-wide acceptance of standardised electronic permitting, route and driver support systems as a way to both improve safety and reduce the large amount of papers work that drivers have to deal with.
ERNA – which is available in 13 languages – is a certified digital driver assistance for the heavy and high-capacity transport industry.
It assists the truck driver and the driver of the accompanying vehicle in complying with the route of the permit/permit and the associated conditions, and can also advise on driving restrictions and rest areas.
Like navigation systems, it provides a visual display and an audible announcement of the authorized route along with driving conditions and instructions.
The “e-Beifahrer” – or electronic co-pilot – was until recently only approved in some federal states as part of pilot projects, and in some areas was explicitly excluded.
But now it is possible to use it on freeways throughout Germany.
The Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport said: “Test drives have shown that voice assistants lead to fewer driving errors in stressful situations. The e-Beifahrer can also reduce the costs of heavy goods transportation by reducing the number of personnel required“.
ERNA has been developed by ESTA member Sommer, the German heavy transport support company.
For further information, go to www.sommer-europe.com.