Dave Franklin, a 22-year trucking veteran with Lilly Trucking, said the PeopleNet location tracking system recently saved his life. Franklin said the GPS device led police and medical emergency personnel to locate him when he was unable to call for help.
According to Sharon Lilly, co-owner of Winchester, VA-based Lilly Trucking, Franklin was recently on assignment pulling a load of paper mill machinery through Wisconsin. When he was three hours late for a mandatory call in, Lilly located his truck through PeopleNet and saw that it hadn't moved since the day before.
She contacted local police who found the vehicle in a McDonald's parking lot and Franklin in the sleeper compartment, conscious but paralyzed.
"Apparently, Dave suffered from a nerve problem that incapacitated him. He couldn't reach his cell phone or his radio to call for help," said Lilly. "Without the location tracking system, we may not have found Dave in time to save him."
Franklin, who has fully recovered and is back to work, said he is a new believer in GPS-based tracking devices.
"A lot of drivers don't like their tracking device because they don't want to feel like they're being watched," he said. "But if it wasn't for the tracking system in my cab, I might not be here today."
