Industries continue to leverage virtual reality (VR) technology to help them improve business and reduce cost in areas such as training. Now, the technology is making its way to into the likes of freight companies such as UPS who are incorporating VR into their training programs to help lower costs and provide effective experience to truck drivers on the ground.
As reported by Americaninno, there are nearly 41,000 trucks worked in Virginia and 23,000 in Maryland as of 2017, according to the BLS, but the numbers has been decreasing following low wage growth and a higher number of retirees. The average annual salary for a trucker is $42,780 (USD) in Virginia and $47,230 in Maryland. Becuase of these decreasing numbers their is a need for freight companies to find new staff to help ensure that their daily business does not see an impact.
According to a 2017 report by the American Trucking Associations, the US trucking industry needs to replace nearly 90,000 drivers annually for the next decade in order to continue operating. This is why UPS is looking towards the latest in VR technology to help get new hires onto the road quicker and tackle the staffing problem sooner rather than later. The company has expressed that it would install VR solutions into every training center by the end of 2018, including those in Maryland.
“There are many things you can not train in a real truck because if the individual has an accident, that’s going to be a very expensive problem,” CEO John Kearney said.
This is being made possible thanks to companies such as VR Motion and Advanced Training Systems who are building specialty VR simulators for driver training. Advanced Training Systems’ simulators can cost between $60,000 and $100,000 apiece with larger training schools hoping to have up to four simulators installed. Though it is going to be a costly expansion, the need to get hires onto the road as soon as possible, while still giving them complete training drives the need for new solutions.
“All of the costs that you normally incur in a truck will not be incurred when you use virtual reality,” Kearney said. “We’re reducing the costs of training and we’re dramatically improving on the training itself.”
As companies like UPS continue to use VR technology to help address problems such as staffing, VRFocus will be sure to bring you all the latest so stay tuned for more.