June/July 2008

Tracking can promote safer, more economical driving, cut insurance costs, help with legislative compliance and improve customer service. Navman Wireless, who kindly provided this picture, points out that the key is to integrate tracking data with workflow and management sytems

Years of talking about computers in the cab have been turned into action as vehicle operators have finally recognised the value of telematics – and nowhere is this more evident than in the transport heartland of logistics and distribution.

Statistics abound to support that view. To take just one example, long-standing telematics developer Isotrak says it has seen a 40 per cent increase in sales year on year for the last three years. Many other suppliers would echo that.

Operators may have many reasons for adopting telematics systems, but lately it has been possible to sum them up in two simple words: fuel prices.

 

'With the way fuel prices are going,' says Craig Sears-Black, sales and marketing director for Isotrak, 'the average fleet is going 15 per cent over its fuel budget, so a cost that might have amounted to 25 per cent of the total business cost is now worth 40 per cent or more.'

Anything a logistics company can do to save money has got to be worthwhile. Stephen Jones, director for specialist tracking solutions at telematics specialist Cybit, believes a savings of even one mile per gallon on truck fuel across the fleet can add up to a lot of money.

Reduction in speed and idling, safer driving (for instance, no harsh breaking or cornering) and over-revving help to save fuel, and telematics can be used to monitor all of these areas. The most common way to obtain data on vehicle and driver performance is by use of a CANbus interface, which links up different parts of the vehicle to the telematics system to read mileage, fuel use, vehicle stopping time, over-revving, gear use and similar data.

'Things like idling have taken on new importance,' comments Steve Strong, European business development manager for Seven Telematics, which is currently working on developing an overspeeding report. 'There are instances when idling cannot be avoided – but at other times it is unnecessary.'

Neva Software launched its CANbus interface earlier this year; Trimble and Isotrak launched driver behaviour modules last year; CMS Supatrak launched its Ecotrak system three months ago to focus on fuel usage and driver performance; and Global Live will add CANbus and digital tachograph interfaces later this year. Microlise, which also says it has seen more interest in CANbus interfaces over the last three months, brings out its tachograph interface this year.

VSc Solutions is also about to embark on a customer-specific project looking at driver performance. But director Anthony Monroe-Martin points out that vehicle manufacturers' systems are taking over a lot of this work. Some even go as far as to suggest when a driver should change gear.

Digital tachographs are another source of vehicle information. 'The biggest change I've seen in the last year is the use of digital tachos integrated with telematics,' says Derek Beevor, MD of RoadRunner.

He adds: 'There's a crossover between digital tachos and CANbus, but tachos provide more accurate information. They're also more secure, as they don't rely on GPRS connection, and hauliers have to have them anyway.'

'Digital tachos don't give you a driver profile, though,' points out Philip Fretwell, technical sales director at Global Live. 'A tacho only gives you information on drivers' hours and vehicle mileage.'

Information on driver behaviour can be used to create a balanced 'scorecard' to identify a driver's weak areas and those drivers needing re-training (or discipline). A virtual 'green light' indicates a good driver, amber suggest that that may need further assistance or monitoring, and red is for those who need to be dealt with immediately. Some companies compare drivers, posting the results on the staff notice board, to encourage a friendly competition and to raise awareness of the need for responsible driving.

Telematics also allow users to monitor drivers' hours to ensure they stay within Working Time Directive requirements. Depot managers can use this information to plan staff rotas and job allocation, too. If, for instance, a driver has four hours left from his weekly time allocation, he can't be given a job that will take six.

Corporate manslaughter legislation, which came into effect in April, adds a new dimension to driver monitoring. If a driver involved in a fatal accident is found to have worked too many hours over the previous three days, or if the accident was caused by a bald tyre, failed brakes or other defect, the driver and his employer can be prosecuted.

'Every time a driver gets into a vehicle, he should make a vehicle check and report any faults,' says Steve Blackburn, European vice-president at Navman Wireless. 'This proves the right procedures are in place to promote safe driving and prevent accidents. Telematics can provide the necessary data for compliance.'

Monitoring performance

Monitoring vehicle performance is equally important. The best telematics systems identify vehicles due for service and compare performance of makes and models, as well as checking fuel usage and other activities.

CMS Supatrak's software has been used to work out mpg for different types of fuel. 'One customer discovered that Euro 5 vehicles have lower mpg rates that Euro 3,' says managing director Jason Airy. 'So a Euro 3 engine might create more emissions, but use less fuel. Which is greener?'

Identification of vehicles due for service not only ensures hauliers comply with operators' licensing requirements, but also saves money by pinpointing faults before the vehicle breaks down – preventing the knock-on problems of undermining forward planning or upsetting customers because of missed collections or late deliveries.

'If a vehicle is due for service, our planning system quarantines it so it can't be loaded,' explains Munroe-Martin of VSc. 'The system can also be used to identify which vehicles develop the same fault at the same point – after say 5,000 miles – so that they can be serviced before the critical point is reached.'

Trimble's system includes prognostics, too. 'For example,' says managing director Andrew Yeoman, 'if an alternator is not giving out enough voltage, the software predicts that the vehicle won't start the next day, so the depot can sort the problem before it occurs.'

Telematics are also increasingly being used to monitor operational functions such as the temperature and humidity inside a vehicle body, and whether its doors have been opened. Seven Telematics has now integrated its Transcan software with its tracking system so that users can see the location and condition of a vehicle in real time.

In the rush to monitor their vehicles and drivers, though, hauliers and third-party logistics companies should not lose sight of the potential telematics have for improving customer service. 'If a haulier uses telematics to identify a slower optimum speed for fuel usage, will it have an impact on service levels?' asks Roger Marks, managing of Aeromark. 'Everyone focuses on saving fuel by monitoring driver behaviour, but it is better to reduce the number of miles driven – and for that you need better route optimisation.'

And the latest generation of telematics systems goes a long way towards providing that. 'Our customers like to measure actual route and other operational information against plan,' agrees Isotrak's Craig Sears-Black. 'And they want to do it across multiple sites, as they increasingly share trucks, trailers and drivers between depots.

'Telematics give better visibility of resources. Users can see where drivers and vehicles are, and feed this information back into their transport or warehouse management systems to allow re-planning if, for example, a vehicle develops a fault and has to return to base.

'Planning becomes even more important where collaboration is involved. As retailers start to share resources, it will be imperative that they don't increase the risk of failed deliveries.'

A lot of data required for planning is now made available through integration. While some companies, like Microlise, provide it all – telematics, load planning, warehousing, the lot – others integrate their telematics with back-office systems, or vice versa.

'Telematics allow users to flag up potential problems,' says Matt Hague, product director at Microlise. 'But the information obtained from telematics systems can also be used for things like determining if and why there was a route deviation. And once data is in the planning system, it can be used not only to plan routes, but also to plan future deployment of resources.'

TomTom Works' new IQ Routes takes an average time of every route – at specific times of day – to enable users to create the most effective route for each time period. A traffic service, developed with Vodafone and due out later this year, will monitor the flow of traffic and send alerts to both driver and planner to promote better routing on the fly.

VSc's sophisticated planning system incorporates telematics data to enable drivers to download order details (right down to stock number), and work is in combination with satellite navigation to provide an accurate route. Users can see where drivers are; whether a vehicle has been held too long; if an order is in jeopardy of not being delivered on time; what has been delivered; and what has still to be dropped.

Information overload can give the best planner a migraine. As Blackburn says, 'management of data is important; companies have to think how to use it and integrate it with workflow.'

But at least they have the data. These days, without telematics, logistics and distribution companies don't stand a chance.

CASE STUDY: Tracking brings better control for container carriers

Hull-based AR Lenn and Don Hunter Transport in Felixstowe both use telematics for their container haulage businesses. AR Lenn has chosen Cybit as its supplier, while Don Hunter has installed a Navman Wireless system.

'We have thirty artics moving containers nationwide to and from Felixstowe,' explains Don Hunter. 'We began using Navman Wireless two years ago, initially to help with the calculation of drivers' pay, as we could obtain mileage and hours worked, but now we also use M-Nav, the company's messaging system.

'We have geofenced the port so that when drivers enters Felixstowe, we can tell them where to go next, eliminating the need to return to base. This saves ten to fifteen minutes, which adds up over a week.'

Don Hunter also uses the system to notify drivers of change of address and delivery details for empty containers, which they don't often know before the driver leaves the port. And drivers can tell the depot if they are being held at a customer's premises for more than three hours, triggering an extra fee on the invoice.

AR Lenn, which has moved containers around the Humber ports for 25 years, adopted the Cybit system three years ago to gain better control over its 100 vehicles and save fuel through better planning.

'With live tracking, we can contact drivers and tell them to make a collection,' says Andrew Lenn. 'We can work out drivers' hours, too, and avoid allocating a job that will take an individual over his limit.'

Like Don Hunter, AR Lenn also uses the system to match drivers' time sheets with the hours recorded in order to make up the payroll. For fuel usage, manual input is still required. 'We take the accurate mileage from the system, but match it to fuel receipts manually,' Lenn explains. 'But we gain a multitude of savings from Cybit, including a discount on our insurance from Norwich Union.'

CASE STUDY: Telematics and satnav: beneficial bedfellows for CEVA

Although CEVA Logistics has deployed a variety of mobile telecoms solutions over time, it has found that TomTom Work provides a range of additional benefits.

'We began trialling the system 18 months ago for high-tech customers such as Xerox and Ricoh,' explains John Court, regional IT director for Northern Europe. 'We were using TomTom's satnav for drivers anyway, but we find Work allows us to track vehicles so that we know where all our lorries are at any time.

'Two-way communication is quick and efficient. The driver can upload data about a problem such as road accident, or about which part of the site he is to deliver to. Or he can send a message saying *I'm here; where do I go?' And he can upload PODs.

'We find the system helps us with predictability, too. We can alert the customer about delays – and also let them know if the driver is running ahead of schedule. And it reduces vehicle mileage because drivers take the optimum route.

'Finally, it cuts our communication costs. Any information we previously relayed by phone can now go over TomTom Work, which is much cheaper to run.

'So far we have about 120 vehicles using TomTom Work, and although that is a fraction of our fleet, it does cover operations which have dynamic delivery points.'

CASE STUDY: Across-the-board telematics bring Asda measurable gains

Until a year ago, Asda had no in-cab telematics system in any vehicle. The planning and execution systems were also out of date. A pilot project using Isotrak telematics changed all that.

"We trialled Isotrak for three months in Lutterworth, where we employ 500 drivers," explains Chris Hall, network transport manager. "The system has given us a much better way of tracking assets, and ensures we are utilising our vehicles better.

"It also allows us to plan the next job and transmit collection information to drivers. We can use it to help with store delivery turnround by notifying a store of a driver's impending arrival – and it offers hands-free two-way text communication, as well as a driver panic button and alert system.

"But driving style is most important. We have a balanced scorecard system and use this for driver training. We've improved fuel efficiency by two to four per cent.

"When our new planning system is up and running, we will be able to benefit from better route optimisation, too."

Asda plans to roll out Isotrak to 1,000 trucks, 1,600 trailers and 3,000 employees in the next five months. It has also begun deploying the system in its home shopping fleet. "We began with 460 vans; now we have 600, and this will increase to 900 by the end of the year. We operate out of 130 stores, and that total will grow to 170 by the end of the year.

"We are replicating the system used in the heavy haulage fleet – with the addition of real-time temperature monitoring and bonnet sensors to ensure drivers check the vehicle for every journey. The first vehicles are just being fitted now."