Bruce Batt who is deaf truck driver for Kingpin Express Company in Winnipeg, drives across from Vancouver to Ottawa/Toronto. He showed Dave and me his satellite TTY that use only for communicate to receive & reply messages from the head office in Winnipeg for pick up and drop off any load delivery across the provinces.
The satellite TTY is called Unicom not sure correct spelling. His company truck has a satellite dish on a roof of his truck. It is very expensive, costs lot. Amount approx. $5000.00 each.
It helps deaf truck driver lots that use to receive information picking up and dropping off any load delivery. Not use phone. It is very interesting what satellite TTY is.
A laptop connected to an Iridium cellphone would be a hell lot cheaper; and connect to the online relay services (http://www.ip-relay.com)
If you use NexCom, you can also call other TTY users over the Internet too!
For less than $2000 including price of laptop and satellite phone (used as a satellite Internet modem).
You can get an Iridium or Globalstar style satellite telephone, and use a laptop as a TDD in this manner. And if you maily drove your truck in cellphone areas, you can just live with a regular cellphone as a modem for your laptop to use the laptop like a TTY over the Internet (or a couple of cellphones covering different networks for better coverage). Your modem does NOT have to be TTY compatible to call a TTY over the Internet.
However, if the satellite TTY is extremely reliable and can function in a moving vehicle much more safely, that would probably be worth the money. It would have to be extremely well designed in order to be as safe (like controlling a CD player) while the vehicle is moving! Like a HUD and a "Yes" / "No" predefined macro answer button, for example.
I don't work in the trucking industry though -- I'm a software engineer -- but thought I would chime in.
Thanks,
Mark Rejhon
Y said:
I heard from someone else that NO ONE knew about
FEDEX, UPS and long distance truck drivers used
ALMOST same thing (for hearing drivers) anyway....
IT looks like why NOT these both hearing and deaf
truck drivers use the same thing everywhere !??!!!
Mark~
Thanks for providing useful information...
I used to be a long-haul over-the-road trucker myself during the days when satellite was unheard of then...yet, it's very interesting to see how advance technology has come by in the last decade...and to see that 'Deaf' truck drivers are able to communicate better nowadays...I do not know what kind of laws is enacted when it comes to Canadians Deaf truckers...but for the USA, under D.O.T. Regulations, the closest anyone who is able to legally drive a semi-truck must be able to have a 35db. or lower hearing loss...or able to hear a forced whisper from 5 feet out. I'm hoh myself and I was close to the D.O.T. borderline with my hearing loss, and a few truck companies wouldn't take me in, which they DID specifically say they wouldn't hire me because of my hearing. I was fortunate to find a nationally well known truck company that took me in under their wings to drive their rigs. Although, I did at times would have problems at some check points where you had to weigh before proceeding in that state...or communicating with certain dispatchers over certain pay phones that were terrible to hear out of...(that was before they added the 'feature' of a 'loudness volume button' to depress)....
Roger that buddy? 10-4, over and out at mile-marker....ummm...where the heck am I at???
My friend is a truck driver of 18 wheel truck. He showed me his special kind of TTY and GPS system. His boss knows where he is located at. He must wear digital hearing aids in order to hear any noise surrounding him on highways. I found his devices very fasnicating.
Excellent informaiton.. I gonna nofity to my friend who really loved work truck driver unfortunally mostly companies who barriers negitive remarks being Deafness.. He still working on it and processing that deaf people CAN work truck driver u-haul anything anywhere.. He has his own blackberry pager and showned few company some of people thinks okay but still negitive things. I'll copy this comment from #1 and will show him.. So he can show any where company.. To make them company WAKE UP..
Hopefully wishes him great luck..
BullyMom~
Sure hope your friend will have much success and be able to 'live' out his dreams or desires of being a 'truck driver'...umm...perhaps you'll be able to hop on and grasp the feeling of what it's like to be the 'King of the Road'...well, errr...in your case, 'Queen of the Road'...heh heh...and go roarin' down the lanes tootin' da airhorn!!
It was an awesome experience to be able to drive these 18-wheelers...all over the country. I've had this 'dream' of owning a truck company myself, but I doubt that will ever happen...but seein' 'em truckers out there, keeps me in awe of what they do and watching the big rigs zoomin' along....
