Bud Meyer Truck Lines to equip entire fleet with 350 HighwayMaster units.

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 30, 1996--HighwayMaster Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of HighwayMaster Communications Inc. (Nasdaq:HWYM), Tuesday announced that it has signed a contract to provide 350 HighwayMaster(R) Mobile Communication and Information Systems to Minnesota-based Bud Meyer Truck Lines Inc.

Russ Meyer, president of Bud Meyer Truck Lines Inc., spent more than two years looking at mobile communication systems before deciding on HighwayMaster. Currently the fleet, which is based in Lake City, Minn., consists of 370 tractors and 470 trailers. Predominantly, the company is a refrigerated carrier offering protective services to the 48 contiguous states.

"We tested other products, and as we kept hearing about HighwayMaster's capabilities, we decided to give it a chance," Meyer said. "We briefly tried the system and quickly realized that we liked what it had to offer."

A key deciding factor for Meyer was the hands-free voice activation capabilities of the HighwayMaster system. "With HighwayMaster there were no safety related risks," he said. "Our drivers don't have to try to punch on a keyboard as they are going down the highway, they keep both hands on the wheel.

"With voice activation there's no need to stop the truck to activate the system. So with HighwayMaster it is truly mobile communication," he said.

Of equal importance to Meyer were HighwayMaster's Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite vehicle location services, which enable him to both know where his trucks are at all times, and to reach his drivers quickly. "We feel that the world is changing quickly, and the movement of information as rapidly as possible is critical to our success," he said.

Citing HighwayMaster's ease of installation and integration with existing systems, Meyer said, "The HighwayMaster product was very easily integrated with our computers and it will allow us to quickly provide better service to our customers."

In an industry that has more than 100 percent driver turnover each year, mobile communication is playing an increasingly significant role in retaining drivers. At Bud Meyer Truck Lines it is a companywide objective to be "customer driven and driver friendly" according to Meyer.

"Driver retention is an industrywide issue, and HighwayMaster is helping us address it," Meyer said. "Their system allows us to provide drivers with the ability to contact their families, or to be contacted by them, by phone at any time. The access is very important to them."

"We believe that the HighwayMaster system will help us achieve our overall customer-driven, driver-friendly goal," Meyer concluded. "I think it will turn out to be a very productive relationship."

HighwayMaster is the only nationwide mobile communication system that offers the trucking industry both voice and data communications, combined with the highly accurate Global Positioning System (satellite) vehicle location technology, as well as proprietary dispatch software.

The HighwayMaster(R) Mobile Communication and Information System is the only national fleet information management system currently on the market that offers both voice and data communication, combined with Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite vehicle location technology.

Dallas-based HighwayMaster Corp. sells and markets its patented system throughout the United States and Canada with regional offices in Atlanta, Philadelphia, Chicago and Salt Lake City. The company's model 5000 Series Mobile Communication and Information System was recently awarded the prestigious Nifty Fifty product award by Heavy Duty Trucking magazine, which recognizes the most significant new product introductions for the transportation industry.

In less than 18 months of commercial availability, HighwayMaster created the world's largest seamless instant-call-delivery enhanced-cellular network designed specifically for the transportation industry.(a)

Through strategic alliances with AT&T, GTE, EDS and the leading cellular carriers across the country, HighwayMaster provides service in more than 99 percent of available cellular coverage areas in the United States and 100 percent of the A-side cellular coverage areas in Canada. Motorola manufactures the telephone and Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, two subcomponents of the HighwayMaster system. -0-

(a) January 1995 Update of the World Cellular Market Table, U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Telecommunications. -0-

NOTE TO EDITORS: (R)HighwayMaster is a federally registered trademark and service mark of HighwayMaster Corporation. This product is covered by U.S. Patent Numbers 5,155,689;5,299,132; and 5,398,190 as well as other U.S. patents pending and issued.

CONTACT: HighwayMaster Corp., Dallas

Barb Catlin, 214/732-2516

or

Hadeler White PR, Dallas

Christy Doering, 214/776-8006