Michigan State Police have launched a new statewide safety campaign aimed at commercial truck drivers.

The MSP Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division is extending its reach by sending safety messages to the electronic logging devices of truckers. MSP Inspector Patrick Morris told us how this new program will work.

“Now we have the ability to message directly to the trucking industry,” Morris said. “Either they can receive it audibly if they choose to, or they can display through the geofence messaging. It allows us to not only deploy it statewide, but each zone can be tailored in our messaging to reflect what is the problem in that particular zone.”

Short messages, no more than 25 characters, will be transmitted to truck drivers about road hazards, speeding, crashes, and more.

“I think it will make the road safer for everybody, in addition to keeping the truck drivers alert. Keep in mind, these are professional drivers, but they are driving vehicles upwards of 80,000 to 160,000 pounds. Small distractions for them can be catastrophic. If we can limit that, knowing that they’re always going to be commingled with non-commercial vehicles, it is a win.”

The new campaign was officially launched last week, with a testing period this past weekend.

Morris says he hopes  this new feature helps decrease the amount of commercial vehicle incidents on the roadway.