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Out of the Lab and Into the Cab: Con-way Freight Goes High-Tech for Safety

Company Marks National Safety Month with Rollout of Advanced "Detect, Alert and Respond" Technologies for Trucks; Integrated Driver Warning System Aims to Reduce Accident Frequency

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - June 29, 2010

Con-way Freight, a less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier and subsidiary of Con-way Inc. (NYSE: CNW), today announced a major safety initiative in which it has installed in new trucks a broad range of advanced technologies designed to prevent accidents and improve safe driving performance.

Under the program, the company has put into service nearly 1,300 new Freightliner Cascadia 2010-model tractors, each equipped with an integrated suite of advanced driver alert and truck control technologies. The suite includes technologies that provide for rollover stability, front collision warning with adaptive cruise control, and lane departure warning. The suite also includes factory-installed in-dash AM/FM/Satellite radio units which replace portable radios and are designed to minimize driver distraction.

The replacement tractors represent an overall investment of just over $100 million, with the integrated suite of safety technologies comprising $5.4 million. All three technologies are important advancements for reducing accident frequency and are aimed at prevention of the most common accident situations in which trucks are involved: front-end collision, inadvertent lane change or lane departure, and vehicle rollover.

“Advanced technologies that have proven safety benefits hold great promise for making our highways safer,” said Bill Graves, president and CEO of American Trucking Associations. “Con-way Freight’s significant investment illustrates their leadership and commitment to further developing and testing these technologies.”

The company began testing these and other technologies in February 2009 in partnership with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI), which managed the Department of Transportation-funded Integrated Vehicle-Based Safety System (IVBSS) program. Over the next 10 months, UMTRI, as program manager, conducted field testing and evaluation of a new, integrated crash warning system for commercial trucks. As a participant in the study, Con-way Freight purchased 10 Class-8 tractors equipped with the IVBSS suite of technologies. Eighteen Con-way Freight truck drivers operated the IVBSS-equipped trucks in regular commercial service out of the company’s Detroit service center. The program collected and analyzed data on system performance as well as driver interaction and feedback in real-world operating conditions. Results of UMTRI’s study will be released this summer.

According to federal studies, the most common incidences of commercial motor vehicle crashes involve front-end collisions, lane changes or departures, and rollovers. To address each of these, Con-way Freight has adopted the following systems for new replacement units coming into the fleet:

• Forward Collision Warning: This technology uses adaptive cruise control to help a vehicle maintain a safe following distance and avoid rear-end collisions by braking as needed. The adaptive cruise control automatically keeps a safe distance behind the vehicle ahead, accelerating or decelerating as needed in the absence of driver action. The system uses forward-looking radar sensor technology to detect a potential collision, and will then send audible and visual warnings to the driver through an in-cab display. Known as the OnGuard™ System, this collision avoidance technology was developed by Meritor WABCO.
• Lane Departure Warning: This technology monitors a vehicle’s position relative to highway lane markings and sounds an alarm to alert the vehicle operator if they are unintentionally driving out of their lane. Using image recognition software, the system can detect when a vehicle drifts out of its intended lane. When this occurs, the unit automatically emits an audible warning, similar to the sound a vehicle makes when it travels over a highway “rumble strip,” alerting the driver to make a correction. Known as the AutoVue™ Lane Departure Warning system, this technology was developed by Iteris.
• Roll Stability Control: This technology senses driving conditions or vehicle performance tendencies that are consistent with a vehicle about to roll over, such as during hard cornering or change of direction. When the system senses rollover conditions, an indicator lamp on the dash alerts the driver. Even if the driver does not feel or sense the possibility of a rollover, the system will automatically respond by decreasing the engine torque. This system was also developed by Meritor WABCO.
• In-Dash Radios: Factory-installed in-dash AM/FM/Satellite radios were included in the equipment suite to replace portable radios often brought by drivers into the cab. The in-dash units help reduce driver distractions by keeping their eyes focused ahead on the road.

“With the anticipated release of FMCSA’s Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010 initiative and the potential for stricter safety regulations for truck drivers and trucking companies, Con-way Freight is proactively pursuing a high-tech approach to safety,” noted Bob Petrancosta, the company’s vice president of safety and a 41-year industry veteran who started his career as a driver. “We were very pleased to work with the FMCSA and UMTRI to test and validate these technologies over the past year. It confirmed what we initially believed — these are effective technologies in our operation that can provide real-world, lifesaving results. It’s an investment we’re proud to make.”

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Con-way equipment images are available at www.con-way.com/en/about_con_way/newsroom.

About Con-way Freight
Con-way Freight is the industry’s leading less-than-truckload (LTL) freight transportation company, providing guaranteed, day-definite regional and transcontinental service with exception-free delivery, on-time service performance and faster transit times through a single, unified network of more than 300 service centers in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico. Con-way Freight offers LTL freight transportation across North America and through Global LTL^TM delivery in the United States from around the world. Global solutions include international less-than-container (LCL) ocean shipments from Asia through its OceanGuaranteed^® service; U.S. and Europe delivery for inbound and outbound international cargoes through an exclusive alliance with TNT; direct service to more than 30 Bahamian and Caribbean ports through TropicalDirect^SM; and domestic offshore transportation to Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. Based in Ann Arbor, Mich., Con-way Freight is a certified FAST highway carrier and is C-TPAT/PIP, ACE- and CSA-certified.

Con-way Freight is a subsidiary of Con-way Inc. (NYSE: CNW), a $4.3 billion diversified freight transportation and logistics services company. For more information, visit www.con-way.com/en/freight.

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