GPS World

Tag: fleet management

  • AT&T and Telogis Expand Efforts to Connect Fleets

    AT&T and Telogis, a SaaS-based connected vehicle technology provider, have announced a collaboration to offer solutions for companies with mobile workforces. Connecting vehicles of all sizes from small trucks to 18-wheelers and heavy equipment, the combination of AT&T’s global network and Telogis’ telematics, compliance, and mobile and navigation software creates full-fleet solutions for businesses around the world.

    The announcement was made at CTIA Super Mobility, being held this week in Las Vegas.

    Telogis works with some of the world’s largest mobile companies to provide the critical data they need for more informed decisions relating to operational efficiency, reducing costs and improving safety. Telogis is the exclusive connected commercial vehicle technology provider for Ford Motor Company, powering its factory-installed Ford Telematics solution. Telogis also works with General Motors, Hino, Volvo, Mack, Manitowoc Cranes and Isuzu to build its solutions into vehicles and equipment in the factory.

    Working with AT&T, Telogis is implementing a network solution to deliver a reliable, highly secure stream of data nearly anywhere in the world. The AT&T service management platform allows Telogis to easily manage the data, devices and services that support its customers. AT&T also is working with Telogis to help with over the air updates and provide unique split billing capabilities.

    “We’re offering Telogis a complete wireless network that enables two-way, real-time data communication between the vehicle and office,” said Chris Penrose, senior vice president, AT&T Internet of Things (IoT) Solutions. “We look forward to driving new innovative services together in the fleet marketplace and offering true global solutions to our mutual customers.”

    “Telogis provides mission-critical intelligence for some of the world’s largest mobile businesses and automotive manufacturers, and our customers demand the quality and reliability that only a provider like AT&T can deliver,” said David Cozzens, CEO, Telogis. “As we continue to capitalize on a rapidly growing, multi-billion dollar global market for connected vehicle and equipment technologies, AT&T provides the scalable infrastructure and backbone Telogis requires.”

    Read more about AT&T’s announcements at CTIA here.

  • TESSCO Introduces Fleet Management Solution at CTIA Super Mobility

    TESSCO Technologies is introducing a low-cost investment vehicle tracking, monitoring and control solution at CTIA Super Mobility, being held Sept. 9-11 in Las Vegas. TESSCO is a provider of the product and value-chain solutions required to build, use and maintain wireless systems. The company is displaying the fleet management solution at booth 5932.

    “Spending in the U.S. logistics and transportation industry totaled $1.33 trillion in 2012. However, fleet management systems have remained largely disjointed and costly for smaller fleets. Our Fleet Management Solution provides choice, convenience, best-in-class products and a total source for all of the elements needed to deploy a management solution faster and at the lowest cost investment,” said Steven Tom, TESSCO VP of Analytics, Innovation & Learning. “We provide the expertise and service built on our deep experience in wireless networks and in-vehicle communications. We deliver the end-to-end products and services including sensors, telematics, vehicle mounts and internet connectivity.”

    Join Steven Tom for his presentation “The Road Ahead: The Future of Fleet Management and Telematics” on the Networked Society & Startup Stage at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 9. He will share details about the new product offering as well as look ahead to the future of fleet management.

  • Omnitracs Partners with Mack Trucks, Volvo for Fleets

    Fleet management company Omnitracs LLC will develop telematics software for Volvo Trucks North America and Mack Fleet Management Services for Mack Trucks. The two separate memorandums of understanding will provide customers of both Volvo and Mack Trucks with fleet management services such as routing and predictive analytics solutions.

    According to Omnitracs, the agreements represent a move toward standardization in the trucking industry, making it easier for fleets to better control costs, safety, vehicle management and diagnostics, driver workflow and compliance. It also paves the way for other strategic partnerships within the OEM network, the company said.

    “This partnership brings together two leading brands in the vehicle and technology space, and addresses the industry’s growing need for high-tech trucks offering improved productivity and compliance. As the Internet of Transportation Things moves beyond concept to reality, Omnitracs will continue to lead and become part of the larger ecosystem of OEMs that are redefining the traditional telematics landscape,” said Rich Glasmann, vice president of OEM strategy, sales and marketing for Omnitracs.

  • August Product Showcase

    August Product Showcase

    Garmin-eTrex-W
    Consumer

    Outdoor Recreation Handheld

    Garmin’s eTrex Touch 25, 35 and 35t outdoor handhelds have an updated user interface and 2.6-inch capacitive touchscreen display. The eTrex Touch series also features activity profiles for navigation for multiple activities and an enhanced track manager to start and stop recording.

    The eTrex Touch series has a high-sensitivity, WAAS-enabled GPS receiver with GLONASS support and HotFix satellite prediction to locate users’ position quickly and precisely, even in heavy cover and deep canyons. All units have a three-axis tilt-compensated electronic compass, which gives directional information even when standing still. The eTrex 35 and 35t also have a barometric altimeter to get more accurate altitude, elevation and climb information, as well as indications of weather changes.
    Garmin, www.garmin.com

    FieldMaster_Tasks-WFleet Management

    Supervisor App for Fleets

    The Supervisor app for the FieldMaster suite of mobile applications allows managers to leave the office and still have visibility into their fleet and mobile workers from their smartphone or tablet, as well as manage day-to-day operations remotely.

    FieldMaster Supervisor is available with Trimble Fleet Management and Work Management. Features include viewing the team’s locations on a map; seeing their job progress, including tasks at risk; finding the nearest worker to another team member or customer; turn-by-turn navigation; inspecting job performance and documenting status in the field; and receiving vehicle and driver performance alerts in real-time.

    Trimble, www.trimble.com

    Defense

    SAASM Receiver

    FlexPak-S-front-WNovAtel’s SPAN GNSS/INS technology is now available on the company’s OEM625S dual-frequency SAASM GPS plus civil RTK receiver. SPAN offers system developers with SAASM requirements the benefit of continuously available 3D positioning, velocity and attitude (roll, pitch, yaw) for their defense applications. Authorized defense customers need access to the Precise Positioning Service (PPS) for DOD applications. When keyed, the existing OEM625S board-level receiver provides an RTK PPS solution by taking the raw measurements from an L-3 XFACTOR SAASM and applying them to NovAtel’s RTK algorithm. SPAN technology couples NovAtel’s precision GNSS receivers with robust IMUs to provide a more reliable, stable solution, even during short periods of time when satellite signals are blocked or unavailable.

    NovAtel, www.novatel.com

    Design & Test

    Record and Playback with Real Time

    Averna-RP-6100-WThe Averna RP-6100 series is an RF tool offering high-performance record-and-playback and real-time simulation in one platform for RF application validation.

    The RP-6100 can capture all GNSS bands, as well as HD Radio, Wi-Fi, LTE, radar, and cognitive radio — plus impairments — to advance RF projects and harden product designs. It features up to four channels, 160 MHz of recording bandwidth, tight channel synchronization, an extended frequency range of 10 MHz to 6 GHz and 14-bit resolution. The RP-6100 can be equipped with Skydel Solutions’ software-defined, real-time GNSS simulator, which delivers easy setups, integrated maps, dynamic scenario creation, high precision and tight parameter controls to enable highly repeatable simulations of current and future GNSS conditions, as well as corner cases.

    Averna, www.averna.com

    Mobile

    Internet of Things Platform

    The AirPrime WP Series of smart wireless modules is designed for the development of connected products. The WP Series provides an integrated device-to-cloud architecture enabling developers to build a Linux-based product using a single module that sends user and product data to the cloud. The AirPrime WP series offers an application processor, GNSS receiver, and cellular modem with an optional ultra-low power mode that reduces power consumption by 200 times, opening up new use-case possibilities for cellular connectivity.

    Sierra Wireless, www.sierrawireless.com

  • Reyax Technology Develops 3G GNSS Tracking Platform Based on u-blox

    Photo: Reyax Technology

    Reyax Technology, a telematics tracking systems provider for the automotive industry, has developed an industrial high-integration 3G GNSS tracking platform, the Reyax RY277AI, which is fully based on technology from u-blox.

    “Our vehicle tracking platforms are dependent on highly accurate position data to deliver the performance crucial to meet the demands of our customers. u-blox’s highly reliable products as well as a flawless technical support were convincing,” said Ritchie Chang, general manager of Reyax Technology. “u blox’s MAX M8C positioning module and SARA U270 cellular module were the right choice for this new platform,” he added.

    RY277AI is designed for 3G telematics applications, in particular vehicle tracking, fleet management and insurance box. With both MAX-M8C and SARA U270 modules embedded, it also benefits from two of u blox’s GNSS and wireless technology services. With AssistNow, Assisted GNSS (A-GNSS) accelerates the calculation of a position by delivering satellite data to the GNSS receiver via wireless networks or the Internet, also ensuring faster TTFF (time to first fix).

    CellLocate, another of u-blox’s trademarked technologies, matches cellular positioning data with previously successful GNSS fixes in shielded environments such as indoors. This is especially useful in case of jammed GNSS signals and in M2M applications. Additionally, u-blox’s nested design enables hosting of next-generation wireless and positioning modules on the same PCB.

    “We are excited about this co-operation with Reyax Technology, the recognized leader in telematics tracking systems. Reyax-based solutions make full use of u-blox’s advanced positioning and cellular technologies to enhance vehicle tracking. This solution is an answer to the growing encouragements by the Taiwanese government to promote IoT/M2M applications and whose vision we share.” explained Ming Chiang, country manager of u-blox Taiwan.

    RY277AI comes in an LGA package, with a dimension of 70mm x 30mm x 7mm, and an operating temperature of -40～+85° C.

  • Trimble Enhances FieldMaster Mobile Suite with Supervisor App

    Trimble Enhances FieldMaster Mobile Suite with Supervisor App

    Photo: TrimbleTrimble has announced the addition of a Supervisor app to its FieldMaster suite of mobile applications. The latest addition to the suite is designed to enable managers to stay efficient and effective on the go by empowering them to do more work in the field and manage their day-to-day operations remotely. With the FieldMaster Supervisor app, managers can leave the office and still have visibility into their fleet and mobile workers from their smartphone or tablet.

    “Mobility is an increasingly valuable tool for field service organizations,” said John Cameron, general manager of Trimble’s Field Service Management (FSM) Division. “It allows a traditional office role to move into the field and still access up-to-date information about the performance of the field operation. The result is a more effective operation where managers in the field have the information they need at their fingertips.”

    “I’m often meeting with customers or surveying a job so it’s important for me to know my technicians’ location,” said Dave Rowan, manager of Del-Mar Doors in Delaware. “I use FieldMaster Supervisor whenever I’m on the road. I can open the app and see where my team is, where they’ve been and how long they’ve been at each location. Having quick access to this information has improved my efficiency and productivity. FieldMaster Supervisor is an excellent tool.”

    FieldMaster Supervisor is available with Trimble Fleet Management and Trimble Work Management solutions. Features include:

    • Viewing all locations of your entire team on a map
    • Seeing each team member’s job progress, including tasks at riskF
    • Finding the nearest worker to another team member or customer
    • Navigating to key locations using turn-by-turn directions
    • Inspecting job performance and documenting status in the field
    • Receiving important vehicle and driver performance alerts in real-time 

    FieldMaster mobile applications are a core component of FSM’s integrated suite of field service management solutions that includes Fleet Management, Work Management and Driver Safety. FieldMaster also includes a Technician app, which is an advanced collaboration tool for mobile technicians that allow them to receive, access and update job information in real-time for improved effectiveness on the job.

    FieldMaster mobile applications are available from the Google PlayStore and the Apple App Store.

     

  • DIRECTV Subscribes to Fleetmatics for Service Fleet

    Fleetmatics Group PLC, a global provider of mobile workforce solutions for service-based businesses of all sizes delivered as software-as-a-service (SaaS), has entered into a master subscription services agreement with DIRECTV to enhance tracking, driver safety and on-time arrivals for its fleet of vehicles that are making service calls.

    Fleetmatics says its REVEAL is a powerful yet simple-to-use fleet management solution designed to drive cost savings and improve productivity for mobile workforces. Fleetmatics REVEAL+ enables enterprise customers with larger fleets, such as DIRECTV, to manage complex organizational structures and large numbers of users, as well as to deliver actionable executive level business intelligence across the entire enterprise.

    “Fleetmatics’ advanced tracking system offers the ideal mobile workforce solution for DIRECTV’s field-based operations,” said David Baker, senior vice president of Field Services for DIRECTV. “This partnership will help our business operate more efficiently while continuing to deliver on our promise of industry-leading customer service.”

    “With more than 6,200 new subscriptions, we look forward to delivering actionable business intelligence to DIRECTV,” said Jill Ward, president and CEO of Fleetmatics. “By arming thousands of DIRECTV vehicles with the most powerful telematics solution for the enterprise, we’re helping the company drive cost efficiencies and increase field service worker productivity.”

    DIRECTV is a provider of digital television entertainment services to more than 39 million customers in the U.S. and Latin America.

  • Fleetmatics’ Intelligent Routing Tool Coming This Summer

    Fleetmatics’ Intelligent Routing Tool Coming This Summer

    Fleetmatics_Routist_Screen-O

    A new routing program from Fleetmatics Group is coming this summer. Fleetmatics Routist is an intelligent routing optimization solution that systematically builds the most cost-effective, customer-friendly routes for fleets.

    Fleetmatics Routist seamlessly calculates and deploys route plans to drivers in the field, and features real-time and historical data that gives users the most holistic view into routing performance, the company said.

    Fleetmatics Routist operates by taking locations, vehicles, time windows, technician skills, and costs and capacities into consideration, among other inputs, while remaining simple and intuitive for customers to use. Fleetmatics Routist also incorporates historical traffic data into its algorithm, elevating traffic and routing optimization effectiveness for customers operating in metropolitan areas.

    “Inefficient routing wastes minutes, miles and money, leaving on-time arrivals and important elements of customer satisfaction to chance,” said Jill Ward, president and chief operating officer of Fleetmatics. “Customers that choose Fleetmatics Routist won’t have to worry about manual or time-consuming routing, and we fully expect the benefits will extend to their customers, as well.”

    Fleetmatics Routist’s robust feature set, offered to customers as an add-on module, will integrate into the Fleetmatics REVEAL fleet management solution, helping it to become one of the most effective routing optimization solutions known to be available today. Customers can import work orders from electronic files or integration with their order management software, select the drivers involved in the plan, and get a cost efficient and customer satisfying route, Fleetmatics said.

    Route planners can make adjustments to the plan based on their own business insight, and then deploy to the field. Route plans can be delivered effortlessly to drivers via the Fleetmatics REVEAL Field Application for smartphone and mobile devices, via Garmin integrated devices or simple route sheets printed at the office.

    Once the routes are live, dispatchers and managers stay current on a driver’s progress against route stops in real-time on the Fleetmatics REVEAL live map and can make real-time adjustments as needed. When the day is done, actual versus plan analysis is available to compare the stops made by drivers against the work orders provided, so managers can provide appropriate coaching around route deviations and the impact of field activity on customer satisfaction.

    Register here to receive additional information and notice of Fleetmatics Routist’s availability.

  • Ford, Telogis Expand Partnership to Commercial UK Customers

    Ford Motor Company and Telogis have expanded their exclusive partnership to bring Ford Telematics powered by Telogis to Ford’s commercial customers in the United Kingdom first, with other European markets to follow later this summer. Ford Telematics uses real-time information from Ford vehicles to enable businesses with workers in the field to have insight into vehicle location, driver behavior and fuel consumption.

    The telematics can save companies up to 20 percent on fuel, according to a 2012 Frost & Sullivan report.

    Since 2011, Telogis has been the exclusive technology provider to power Ford Telematics (formerly Ford Crew Chief) in the U.S. and Canada, with comprehensive and scalable telematics for commercial customers. The UK expansion of the Telogis-Ford partnership leverages the success of Ford Telematics in the U.S. and Canada and will meet the demand from current and new Ford customers in the UK for in the visibility into day-to-day operations including Ford vehicle diagnostics.

    “Ford Telematics is an innovative system that can deliver reductions in cost of ownership for businesses that operate Ford’s Transit commercial vehicles,” said Paul McDermott, manager, CV aftersales, Ford of Britain. “Real-time vehicle location and diagnostic data provides fleet customers with a powerful tool to manage their vehicles more effectively and also encourage safer driving.”

    Making its debut at the 2015 Commercial Vehicle Show, Ford Telematics will be available to fleet customers in May as a dealer-installed option, offered through Ford’s network of specialist Transit Centres.

    Ford Telematics functions by securely transmitting vehicle data and metrics from the vehicle to a dedicated Telogis website via an embedded cellular connection. The telematics system’s ability to access proprietary Ford vehicle data enables operators to track details such as oil change warnings, water contamination in diesel fuel, tire pressure, safety belt usage and airbag status.

    “The reality of being able to visualize field staff and the performance of each Ford vehicle — all on one screen — is here,” said Paul Reynolds, automotive director at Telogis. “This visibility enables Ford commercial customers to provide better service for their own customers and run their businesses more productively and efficiently — it’s no longer a ‘nice to have’ but a ‘have to have’ solution.”

    Based on the real-time data, the Ford Telematics powered by Telogis software platform delivers a comprehensive range of actionable business information that enables fleet managers to operate their vehicles in the most efficient way and to help ensure drivers are following safe and economical driving practices.

    Advances include a suite of more than 80 pre-loaded reports, integration with established business operating systems and fuel card services. Ford Telematics and the Telogis platform also allow for a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) approach, helping to further reduce hardware costs and increase productivity.

    Ford Telematics is compatible with Ford’s latest range of Transit commercial vehicles — including the all-new Transit, Transit Custom, Transit Connect and Transit Courier — as well as the Ford Ranger pickup. Additionally, the same Telogis hardware can be fitted to any other vehicles on the fleet, regardless of manufacturer, allowing informed fleet managers to view the whole fleet in one place, with all the usual driver performance and vehicle tracking information that they expect.

    Ford Telematics also provides a gateway to the broader cloud-based Telogis platform that includes a suite of connected vehicle technologies including route optimisation and planning, commercial-grade navigation, work order management and mobile applications to drive additional efficiencies and productivity for mobile enterprises.

    “Ford Telematics is another example of Ford facilitating the delivery of smart technology to help our customers enjoy the highest quality, safest and most sustainable operation of commercial vehicles available today,” said Nick Themistocleous, director, Fleet Operations, Ford of Britain.

     

     

  • Fleetmatics Report Shows Retail Sales Correlate with Fleet Activity

    Fleetmatics has released the second edition of its FleetBeat Report, an in-depth analysis of tens of billions of data points extracted from thousands of commercial fleets managed using the company’s Software as a service (SaaS) platform over a span of four years. The report, “FleetBeat, Vol. 2: The Economy in Motion,” was co-authored by Stephen Fuller, Ph.D., professor and director of the Center for Regional Analysis at George Mason University.

    Fleetmatics says the data included in the report reveals that performance of small businesses in the services industry directly reflects the health of the economy.

    “It has long been said that retail sales trends are often impacted by the health of small business,” said Jim Travers, chairman and chief executive officer of Fleetmatics. “Fleetmatics is uniquely positioned to analyze small business services activity given we have one of the largest fleet management data clouds in the world. Also, our customers are typically in the earlier phases of consumer consumption, such as distribution of goods and home deliveries.”

    fleetmatics_infographic_fleetbeat2

    As outlined in the report, the data extracted from Fleetmatics fleet management data cloud suggests that performance of small business services companies can be a highly credible indicator of national and regional economic health, even under changing conditions. The report also looks at small business services performance and retail sales in four Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), and concludes that geographic features can significantly define regional small business activity profiles.

    “This is truly a groundbreaking new report, viewed from the perspective of the fleet management industry,” said Fuller. “Based on Fleetmatics’ FleetBeat second edition report, Fleetmatics data explains much of the variation and growth in retail sales. Furthermore, when comparing the Fleetmatics’ small business service fleet activity data with the retail sales data from Moody’s and the U.S. Bureau of Census, it’s clear the two data sets exhibit an extremely high correlation. I believe the ability to analyze real-time telematics data can now be considered an accurate data source on the small business flow of goods and service.”

    With a dataset of over 10.7 billion telematics-generated data points from commercial vehicles managed with the Company’s SaaS platform in the United States, the report used regression analysis to compare the data with national monthly retail sales data.

    There were eight telematics-derived, independent parameters considered in the analysis, both in aggregate and at the per vehicle level, including those related to mileage, number of vehicle stops, mileage per stop, number of active vehicle days per month and number of vehicles active in a month. The data was drawn from small business customers defined as entities having fleets from 5 to 100 vehicles, and only fleets from business types that were related to or supporting retail and service sectors were considered.

    The report also examined regional differences that drive activities of small business services companies in four markets: New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Miami. The result was an in-depth breakdown of the most prominent indicators of small business economic activity and correlation to retails sales in each core market.

    Fleetmatics’ first FleetBeat report highlighted the economic impact of telematics adoption and quantifiable benefits of business intelligence-driven fleet management. The report found that the total estimated economic impact of commercial fleet vehicles armed with telematics – assuming everyone had the same results as Fleetmatics’ optimized customers – would amount to $2.2 billion in fuel savings, a decrease in carbon dioxide emissions by 5 tons per year and $34.9 billion in total cost savings due to decrease in payroll hours.

  • GPSTrackIt.com Fleet Manager Now Supports Multiple Vehicle Groups

    Photo: GPSTrackIt.com
    Photo: GPSTrackIt.com

    GPSTrackIt.com has added the ability to allow vehicles in Fleet Manager, its fleet and mobile workforce management system, to simultaneously belong to multiple groups. The feature enables groups to be “nested,” expanding the reporting and alerting capabilities of Fleet Manager.

    “A vehicle belonging to more than a single group now appears in the list for each group selected,” said Eddie Bermudez, GPSTrackIt.com’s product development manager. “Units in two groups will appear twice, once in each group.”

    Vehicle membership in multiple groups can be seen in the following changes to Fleet Manager:

    • The Vehicle Status page has been augmented with a selection/filter list for groups.
    • On the Map page, the information bubble for the unit displays all group tags.
    • The Analytics Dashboard can now compare two groups containing the same unit.
    • Scheduled Reports can be run using multiple groups.

    “This enables the creation of ‘nested’ or vehicle sub-groups,” Bermudez said. “Say there are sales teams at local offices. Each office has a ‘sales team’ vehicle group. But the regional sales manager is responsible for five locations, so the vehicles are also in the ‘regional sales team’ group.”

  • Tallysman Application Enables Companies to Build Fleet Networks

    Tallysman Wireless has released a hosted data service for its TruFleet AVL (Automatic Vehicle Location) system, which runs on MOTOTRBO digital two-way radio networks. The new service enables Tallysman’s channel partners to build and brand their own carrier network of individual radio systems and to generate an ongoing revenue stream using any MOTOTRBO radio configuration, from conventional repeaters though to wide area trunking systems.

    TruFleet is a web browser interface for Tallysman’s fleet management AVL application that enables clear fleet overview and management. It delivers excellent web-based reporting capabilities, is very reliable, and has a rich, intuitive interface that is simple to master and to operate.

    The new TruFleet hosted data service enables channel partners to offer a cost-effective AVL solution for fleet sizes with as few as 15 subscribers.

    “The TruFleet solution generates compressed batched messages transmitted at a low reporting rate, similar to first generation Tallysman Sprite devices, but a patent-pending algorithm provides much greater data compression, conserving data bandwidth,” said John Seymour, director of data systems at Tallysman. “This enables us to to provide precise positioning at rates that are competitive with cellular systems.”