Published on the 28/01/2007 | Written by David McNickel

Security, productivity, cost savings and fleet logistical management are all key drivers behind the latest range of vehicle tracking solutions – David McNickel profiles the options…

When I visited the offices of Snitch in Auckland’s upper Symonds St, MD Jeremy McLean had to leave hurriedly to attend another meeting. “Don’t worry,” said his colleague Dion, “we can see where he goes.” Now although I was familiar with in–car GPS systems for navigation, I was about to experience something entirely different.

This is science fiction stuff circa Big Brother and 1984. You see Jeremy’s car was fitted with a Snitch device – the ‘Armada’ to be exact, and for the next hour I sat on the luxuriant couch in the Snitch offices, and watched on a giant plasma monitor as a street map of Auckland rolled across the screen, plotting the position of Jeremy’s car in real-time.

Every traffic light stop, every give way, every motorway merge Jeremy’s vehicle made, was displayed on the screen for all to see. And if he did stop permanently, the physical address of the stop was also logged. It was fascinating. And it just got better. While the original concept of Snitch was in the vehicle security space, today the device’s use as a way to keep a productivity watch on your staff ’s vehicle usage is what is opening fleet manager’s eyes across New Zealand and around the world.

Somebody’s watching
You have a fleet of vehicles on the road. Things seem to be going well, but sometimes there are long delays. Some employees just seem slow. What are they doing differently? Do they just drive more slowly? Do they run errands on work time?

In most companies once an employee walks out the door and gets into their company car, van or truck, they leave the watchful eye of their manager. How do you know where they’re going? With a vehicle tracking system (VTS) like Snitch installed you can either watch what your vehicle fleet is doing real-time, or you can look up a record of your employee’s travels at any time (through a web interface).

This can be helpful for calculating correct onsite charges for a customer, and also enables managers to see exactly where their vehicles have been stopping throughout the day – and for how long (remember, exact physical locations are logged at every stop). And the benefits don’t end there. In addition to exact location details, Snitch units can be set to text their owners if they are moved (ie: being stolen or towed away).

They can detect rapid deceleration (as experienced in a crash) and will text the physical address of the crash site. Speeding vehicles is another issue for many organisations, and Snitch units can be set up to text fleet managers if the vehicle they’re installed in exceeds a preset speed limit. Snitch units can be installed with or without the vehicle operator’s knowledge – and if a vehicle is stolen and its main battery disconnected, they can run for up to three days on four AA batteries.

How do they work?
Vehicle tracking systems normally work using a combination of GPS and mobile telecommunications networks. The Snitch product range, for example, has Vodafone SIM cards at its communications core, while the Locate + solution from Telecom, operates using a GPS location device installed in a vehicle and connected to Telecom’s nationwide mobile data network. In a typical installation, a GPS unit will be installed in a vehicle and can be easily concealed from both car thieves and the vehicle’s operator.

The unit is wired into the vehicle’s battery. Using a mobile network, the GPS unit provides all location and status data to a server which can then be accessed via a web browser interface by authorised personnel and fleet managers.

Another solution, offered by iVistra, also incorporates other data sources such as RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) and wireless to locate an asset. iVistra’s EVS (Enterprise Visibility System) product also integrates tracking and mapping data with an organisation’s enterprise data. “Being able to see positional, operational and financial data as live visuals from one application,” says iVistra’s Nick Brown, “enables a business manager to make better operational decisions and see trends and patterns. It assists decision-makers across all levels of the business to improve efficiency, increase asset utilisation and lower costs.” While GPS location information is the standard feature of all vehicle tracking solutions, there are a range of other services they can deliver, depending on which product/package you opt for.

For example, Insight Fleet Pro (a joint venture between iVistra and Advance Mobile – www.insightfleetpro.co.nz) can monitor a vehicle’s odometer,temperature, fuel and emissions – and can even tell you how much fuel was used while a vehicle was idling. Telecom’s Locate + can tell you whether a vehicle’s ignition is on or off, whether a door is opened or closed – and send you alerts when a vehicle arrives or departs a specific location.

Calculating ROI
Although addressing security concerns and monitoring errant drivers are features of vehicle tracking systems, these are typically ‘exceptional’ events, and all the providers agree that it’s in the area of fleet management efficiency that the solutions are most likely to positively impact an organisation’s bottom line.

Are you paying too much in road user charges? Are your fuel bills higher than they need to be? Analysis of VTS information will give you answers you need. The payment options for vehicle tracking systems differ, but typically they breakdown into two key areas – hardware & installation and monthly monitoring & network data fees.

In the case of Snitch, the standard Snitch unit retails for $1295.00 and Mclean says a monthly fee of $10 and Vodafone data charges of around $10 would be typical. Telecom’s Locate + unit on the other hand, retails as a hardware only option from $1325 (with data and monitoring charges from $49.50) or you can opt for a monthly rental from $97.00.

So what might that investment be worth in terms of savings? “Let’s say you have a fleet of 100 trucks,” says Snitch’s Jeremy McLean, “and by eliminating idle time, and targeted training of your drivers on the best routes to take you save 15 minutes per truck – that’s equivalent to putting another two trucks on the road.

So you’ve saved the price of two trucks plus their fuel, two drivers and the maintenance bills. It can also reduce the amount of training required for a new dispatcher as efficient coordination of a large fleet is a lot easier when you can see it from a bird’s eye view.”