March/April 2005

Tracking equipment and service providers have realised that one size does not fit all, and are now tailoring their products to suit the end user. GSM is back in favour, too. If you don't need live tracking or want to send big data files from vehicles back to base, the argument goes, you can manage perfectly well with GSM, which has the benefit of full reliable network coverage.

These were among the clear trends emerging from this year's Commercial Vehicle Show, which was held in Birmingham in April.

It was also clear from the show that tracking systems are fast shaking off their reputation for being expensive and purely a security-based purchase rather than a fleet utilisation tool. If our feature starting on page 14 doesn't convince you, the show would have. Tracking systems producers seem to have realised that if they get the technology and price right there is a big market out there. The new benchmark seems to be a price of under £1 per trailer per week (how low depends on whether the equipment is bought or hired.)

TISS, for example, uses the GSM network for some of its trailer tracking applications. The metal bulkhead and roofs on some trailers can interfere with a GPS signal, it explains, and developments in some GSM network will improve the positional accuracy even more later in the year.

 

Bluecom has one of the cheapest tracking systems available, charging from 26p per vehicle. If you only need to know whether the trailer has moved, says the company, all you need is a movement sensor costing £200, linked to a pay-as-you-go SIM card. You're only reporting events, so you don't need a GPRS contract. There is, of course, little management information, but then again, you're not paying for what you don't need.

The next step up is the event-driven Solo tracking system vehicle for trailers or vehicles, which can be hard-wired in situ or a plugged in to the vehicle's cigarette lighter socket. It uses Trak8's GPS/GSM GPRS device. When an event occurs it sends an SMS message to three designated mobile phone numbers. The cost is £349, but it can be transferred from one vehicle to another, so you get added versatility with it.

One reasons system costs are coming down and they are getting easier to use is that suppliers want to attract a wider customer base. CFC Solutions, for example, points out that the majority of fleets have fewer than 50 vehicles, and that of these, only about 10 per cent currently use fleet management software. CFC has now developed a FleetPlusLite version of its software for smaller fleets. Andy Leech, sales and marketing director, says: "The UK's large haulage fleets are among the most advanced users of IT anywhere in the world. At the other end of the market there is 'IT poverty'. Smaller operators could not easily spot if one of their trucks was losing 2mpg over others, yet our software could flag this up immediately."

Comprehensive trailer telematics systems can now incorporate a wealth of details. Haldex offers its owns system with Web-based reports on various trailer systems, giving alerts of electrical problems and mechanical faults. Schmitz Cargobull's new Cargobull Telematics system offers a variety of operation information, including tyre pressures, braking system condition and brake wear.

C-Track supplier DigiCore has added C-Track Secure to its portfolio. The system only reports in when an event has occurred, so power consumption is minimal, says the company. Geofencing can be timed to prevent false alarms during working hours and there is the option of including 24-hour monitoring by a call centre. sharon clancy