Author: Courtney redwell

Canada Road Safety Week May 2015

Posted on | by Courtney redwell

 

National Road Safety Week in Canada

 

May 12th-18th 2015, marks Canada Road Safety Week, which is a national traffic safety and enforcement initiative conducted in partnership with the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police and police services from across the country. The goal of Road Safety Week is to make Canada’s roads the safest in the world. It is a 7 day campaign running through the Victoria Day long weekend.

Road Safety Week is designed to remind Canadians how important it is to drive safely and obey all driving laws. The laws are put in place to ultimately keep yourself and others on the road safe.

There are 4 main focuses for this week which include: impaired driving, seat belt use, aggressive and distracted driving.

Always take precautions when you’re driving. Your driving often not only effects you but also those around you whether that be another driver, cyclist, pedestrian or motorcyclist. Always be aware of everything around you to ensure the safety of yourself and others.

 

Let’s take a look at some tips from Canada’s Safety Council on
How to Drive Like a Hero:

 

 

  • Focus, Focus, Focus!
    Distracted driving is becoming one of the leading causes of car accidents in Canada. Any collision involving a vulnerable driver has the potential to be deadly. Texts and calls can wait. Turn off your phone or at least put it on silent and out of reach so you are not tempted to use it while driving.

 

 

  • Stay on the Lookout
    Be sure to scan ahead for cyclist, motorcyclists and pedestrians, who can often be hard to see; pay extra close attention around intersections and when making turns. Also, don’t immediately drop your guard once you have put your car in park, try to get into the habit of checking before opening vehicle doors in order to avoid dooring someone walking, jogging, or cycling past.

 

 

  • Stay Calm & Courteous
    Everyone you are sharing the road with is trying to get somewhere, respect your fellow drivers. Try to be especially cautious with the elderly and children who may struggle with judging the speed and timing of traffic.

 

 

  • Check Your Speed
    There are a ton of speeders on the roads and it takes bravery to stick to the actual speed limit. Your decision to drive the speed limit will influence others to do the same. Every kilometre over the speed limit you’re driving increases stopping distance and reduces your effective field of vision. A small difference in your speed can be the difference between life or death; the posted road speeds are there for a reason, stick to them.

 

 

  • Leave Space
    Do not follow too close; riding the bumper of the car in front of you doesn’t do anything good for anyone. Also, always leave enough space for cyclist and motorcyclists. When you are passing a cyclist make sure you slow down and leave a minimum of 1 meter of space or if possible change lanes. If there isn’t enough space for you to safely pass, maintain your distance and pass when the opportunity arises.

 

Canadian drivers can expect stronger than normal law enforcement during Road Safety Week; please keep these tips in mind and make sure you are driving safely and obeying all traffic laws.

Sources:
Toronto Police Services: Canada Road Safety Week News Release
Canada Safety Coucil: Be a Road Hero: The Way You Drive Can Save Lives

7 Tips To Improve Your Company’s Customer Support

Posted on | by Courtney redwell

 

Improving Your Company’s Customer Support

 

There are tons of companies out there that spend tens of thousands of dollars on promoting their brand. Unfortunately, customer support (which can often be the customers first contact with a company) doesn’t get the attention it deserves. Too many businesses make it overly complicated for customers to get the help they desire, ultimately creating a bad impression of the company as a whole.

To improve your customer and technical support services, take a look at these expert tips:

1. Cover All Channels, Based On Your Consumer

It’s not all about phone based support any more, which is why it’s important to make sure you cover all your bases. Phone support is a must but if your products and/or services are geared towards active social media users, you may want to offer support via your Twitter or Facebook account.

It is also important to offer options. Phone support is a must but what about offering email support or a support portal for those who may not have the time to sit on the phone with you to have their issue resolved? Get to know your customers and their needs, then determine the different channels they will most commonly use and benefit from.

2. Listen to Your Customers

Pay close attention to what they are writing or saying; give your customers the confidence that you will personally own and solve the issue at hand. People don’t like to passed around from one agent to another.

Do not use terms your customer won’t understand. Use plain English but be sure not to talk down to your customers, you want to be as straight forward and polite as possible.

3. Offer a Self-Service Option

If a customer can quickly find detailed answers to their problems all on their own, they’ll feel empowered and appreciate the information they were able to find without having to deal with customer support. Self-service can often be quicker than calling an agent over the phone, plus it frees up time for your support agents to focus on the bigger problems customers are having, not minor ones that have an easy fix.

Self-service is a good addition to phone, email and other support. You don’t want to make your customers feel like they have to solve their issues on their own, but it is a nice option to offer.

4. No One Likes Being On Hold

No one wants to be left on hold for more than about a minute or two, or they tend to get impatient and frustrated. If your support agent is unable to resolve the issues in a timely manner while on the phone with the customer, simply tell the customer you will be looking into this issue and call back when you have a resolution.

5. Use a Multichannel Ticket Management System

If you have multiple channels for support (which is recommended) it is important to have a ticket system in place to keep track of all support issues in once place. For example, if a customer emails you, you should have the ability to turn that email into a support ticket to stay on top of all incoming queries and answering them in a timely manner.

6. Hire Awesome Reps

Your support staff basically demonstrate to your consumers who you are as a company. Your agents should be patient with your customers and really find a joy in helping people. You can’t preach about the importance of keeping your customers happy and then offer a poor and unreliable experience.

7. Have Enough Reps, Especially During Peak Times

Make sure you have enough reps to effectively deal with your customer base. As your business grows, your support team should grow.

If your business is busier at certain times of the year, you may need to hire some more reps at that time to manage your support successfully.

Sources
CIO.com: 11 Tips for Improving Your Company’s Customer Support

GPS Tracking Technology Used to Propose To Girlfriend

Posted on | by Courtney redwell

Sky-writing a marriage proposal is no longer original; this raised the bar and led a man to take a journey through Japan to produce an epic marriage proposal. Japanese artist Yasushi Takahashi (also known as Yassan), quit his job to travel through Japan covering over 4,300+ miles in six months. This journey Yassan took on was done mostly on foot and sometimes by bicycle, car or ferry.

GPS tracking technology was used to track every step of the way as he journeyed all the way from Hokkaido Island to Hyodo Cliff on Kyushu Island where he ended his travels. Everywhere he went was planned perfectly to ensure the words “Marry Me” including a heart complete with an arrow through it were executed correctly.

It started in 2008 when Yassan, who at the time was 31, quit his job and planned his journey through Japan. The motivation for his trip was to experience a Japan he only knew in books and to draw out his marriage proposal for his girlfriend using GPS tracking technology.

To go along with his unique proposal, Yassan created a video seven minutes in length describing his once in a lifetime journey. It’s made up of seven chapters, each one showcasing the different stages of his trek. The footage contains photos of his many experiences such as trekking down bad roads, eating fresh seafood, visiting hot springs, and climbing Mt. Fuji.

Yassan’s marriage proposal is the world’s largest and currently holds the Guinness Record for the world’s largest GPS drawing at 4,451 miles in length!

 

Sources:

Daily Mail: Artist Treks Through Japan with GPS Tracker to Spell Out “Marry Me” Across Islands

Yahoo Tech: This Man Travelled Across Japan to Spell Out His Marriage Proposal via GPS

Iddity Central: Man Proposes to Girlfriend with Epic GPS Recorded Trek Across Japan

Guiness World Records: Largest GPS Drawing

5 Tips to Help Choose the Right GPS Fleet System

Posted on | by Courtney redwell

GPS tracking devices have come a long way in a relatively short period of time. They are no longer simply used to ‘track’ your vehicles but are now known more as a fleet management system for your entire fleet. The capabilities available today can help decrease fuel consumption, increase the productivity and safety of your drivers, help manage maintenance, and the list goes on. Before installing a GPS fleet system in your fleet, it is important you find the right fit for your business.

These simple tips will help you choose the right GPS solution to fit your needs:

  1. Determine Your Unique Business Needs
    It is important to include the managers of all departments in the decision making process. Or, if you’re a small to mid-size business owner and you are the manager of multiple departments keep in mind all elements of your business you regularly deal with, when making the decision. GPS fleet systems can help in many areas outside of the fleet department. Does your business require help remembering vehicle maintenance or reading engine fault codes? Is payroll and/or paper time cards too time consuming and often inaccurate? You will better understand what to look for in a solution by considering all departments of your business.

  2. Features That Meet Your Needs
    Once you have determined all of your company’s needs and the benefits you expect from the system you can use that information to narrow down your options. For example: Do you struggle with high insurance costs due to the unsafe driving habits of your drivers? If so, you’ll want to look for a solution with real-time in vehicle driver feedback to correct poor behaviour and potentially bring down your insurance costs. You’ll also want access to safety reports within the GPS fleet system. Do you miss a lot of vehicle maintenance? This can cause more expensive repairs in the long run, look for a system that includes built in maintenance reminders with the ability to pull engine data straight from the vehicle.

  3. Choosing the Right Provider
    One of the hardest yet most important elements when adopting a GPS fleet system, is to make sure your provider will be there with customer support and account assistance whenever you need it. If you purchase a solution and never hear from your provider again, there is no way you can use the system to its full potential. You need training on how to use the software and how to properly utilize the reports to get the highest ROI, and tips for how to use the system to its full capabilities in a way that will benefit your business. GoFleet stands out in this area; by taking a partnership approach we get to know our customers needs and work with them to save them as much money as possible using the features of our system. We also offer weekly training sessions 3 times a week and one-on-one training if needed.

  4. Learning to Properly Utilize the System
    Installing a GPS fleet system can have a ton of benefits for your fleet, but those benefits don’t just happen overnight by plugging in the devices. It is crucial you learn to use the software effectively. This ties in to choosing the right provider; without choosing a provider who will train you properly on how to use the software, you won’t learn its full potential. Being well versed in the software translates into getting insight into your fleet and allows you to save money and really improve on your pain areas. If you simply install the units and never even look at the software, you will not achieve the savings and productivity increase you are looking for.

  5. Implementing the GPS Fleet System
    What many business owners often overlook is the importance of gaining a strong buy-in from employees. Fleet management systems can help increase the productivity of your employees by simply telling them you’re installing the devices. By sharing the benefits of the solution, investing in your employees and enhancing their knowledge about the solution, implementation should go smoothly. If any of your employees have a big issue with the installation of GPS devices, think to yourself: what are they hiding? Employees with nothing to hide should embrace the system with open arms.

Do your research. Don’t just sign up for the cheapest system or the first system you come across. If it’s the cheapest system, it’s probably lacking a large portion of the features you can use to optimize your business.

[email protected] | 1-888-998-1122

Fleet Managers See Increase in Time Spent on Admin

Posted on | by Courtney redwell

Increase in Time Spent on Admin for Fleet Managers

 

1 in 5 fleet managers report an increase in time spent on fleet administration work

 

These findings come from the latest quarterly Company Car Trends research, which found 1 in 5 managers reported an increase in the time they spent on administration tasks in the last year.

The findings slightly differed for managers with fleet as their primary duty (20% reporting an increase) and those who have a wider range of responsibilities including fleet management (17% reporting an increase).

Those with a wider range of responsibilities were then asked what their primary job was:

  • Human Resources: 16%
  • Administration: 18%
  • Finance: 22%
  • Operations: 25%
  • Other: 19%

From these findings it is clear that managers who are involved in running fleets are seeing a year-on-year increase in the amount of admin work they have to take on. Also, it shows us that managers who are involved in fleet decisions but are not only responsible for managing their fleet are getting more and more tied up with fleet issues. This leaves them less and less time to focus on their priorities which can lead to an inefficiently operating business.

 

How GoFleet Can Help

 

Fortunately, for fleet administrators that take on multiple roles, our fleet management technology can help. Our solution will not only eliminate time card discrepancies and the need for paper time cards, it has also proven to increase employee productivity by 15% and reduce fuel costs by 18%.

People often think our solutions are only meant for large fleets with a dedicated fleet manager but, our solutions are for fleets of any size to increase safety and productivity and decrease fuel and maintenance costs.

As a fleet consulting company, we want to work with you to customize a solution to meet your needs. Stop wasting time on administrative tasks and let our system streamline your operations. Not only will it help make your job easier, it’ll also save your company money.

 

For more information contact one of our fleet consultants today:
1-888-998-1122 | [email protected]

 

 

Article Sources:
FleetPoint: Fleet Managers See Increase in Time Spent on Admin Work
FleetWorld: 1 in 5 Fleet Managers Report Increase in Admin Work

 

Fleet Productivity Management

Posted on | by Courtney redwell

Increase Fleet Productivity Level

GoFleet offers many features for fleet productivity management, to help increase the productivity level of your drivers and ultimately make your business more profitable. Let’s take a look at some of these features:

Real-Time GPS Vehicle Tracking

What could be more amazing than watching your vehicles move on a map in real-time? Being able to see all associated trip details, including broken rules, speed levels, and much more. Our rich breadcrumb trail tracking is a patented technology that gives you the most advanced insights available on your driver’s on-road performances.

gps fleet productivity management

Trips and Activity Reporting

Your trips history information is stored within the software allowing you to re-create any trip at any time for any specified date. The reports give you an in-depth look at different events, such as the time spent driving vs. at customer locations vs. at the office, helping you to allocate work time accurately.

gps fleet productivity tracking

NFC Driver ID

The latest in RFID technologies have been incorporated into our software; Near Field Communications (NFC) delivers Driver Identification for drivers that need to switch between different vehicles. Driver ID allows managers to have a full view into their drivers behavior regardless of the vehicle they are driving: generate reports, rules, and exceptions by driver OR vehicle. Vehicle immobilization can be combined with driver ID; this means a valid Driver ID keyfob must be touched to the fob reader before the vehicle will start.

driver productivity management

New Exception Rules

Being an innovative engineering-based organization, we are continually raising the bar when it comes to driver productivity tracking. You can set many different preferences within the software such as early leaving, late arrival, long lunch, too much office time, unauthorized home stops, and long stops during work hours.

fleet productivity management

Dispatch with Garmin GPS

In partnership with Garmin, we have effectively transformed the GPS devices into powerful messaging and dispatching tools. You can send route information directly to the Garmin device which will then automatically navigate your drivers to the correct destination. Making it even easier to identify drivers, you can also set the status of drivers to ‘on the job’ when they arrive on site, and have the vehicle colors change on your map based on their status.

garmin gps productivity management

Fuel Card Integration

Developed by an integrator, the fuel card program can help you to better understand fleet expenditures. In addition to managing maintenance, safety violations, and time spent idling, you will be able to view and confirm fuel card expenditures daily.

fuel card integration

Congregation Reporting

We offer unique reporting tools that will highlight when your drivers get together. For example, you will be able to identify drivers that are meeting for long lunches or other activities decreasing productivity.

 

1-888-998-1122 | [email protected]

8 Efficiency Increasing Tips for a Small Business Owner

Posted on | by Courtney redwell

Tips for a Small Business Owner to Increase Efficiency

An efficient business owner is likely to automatically incorporate an efficiency culture in the team working with him or her. On the other hand, small businesses are often packed with efficiency issues simply because one person is relied on to make the majority of the decisions. To be a successful and efficiently running business it is important to make the most of what you have. Unfortunately, many small business owners under or overestimate their resources.

Small business owners all tend to face the same challenge: getting projects done within budget and on time. A lot of the time small business owners and employees become swamped with many deadlines quickly approaching; instead of creating high-quality work, they are left with only enough time to get the job done.

It is important for small business owners on a monthly or quarterly basis to do the following:

  1. Define a List of Priorities
  2. Identify Any Challenges
  3. Clearly Understand Available Resources and Any Limitations to be Efficient

This should help avoid employees becoming swamped and increase the quality of the work produced.

At the end of the day, it is most important the small business owner be efficient him or herself. Here are 8 efficiency increasing tips for any small business owner:

Find Strengths & Improve Them Further

The Pareto Principle states 80% of your profit comes from 20% of your services/products. Identify what makes up that 20% and work on strengthening them even further.

Focus on the Main Job at Hand

Many new business owners feel the need to grasp on to every single opportunity that comes their way. This often causes them to get off track on projects at hand or waste their time chasing down opportunities leading nowhere. This spreads you too thin and limits your productivity and efficiency; it can sometimes cause serious harm to the business as a whole. Make sure you know your limitations and take up only enough projects to keep your employees and other resources occupied. Deliver these projects to the highest of standards and only then start to move on to other things.

Work as a Team & Keep Everyone in the Loop

Effectively working as a team is key to being efficient. If you and your team lack regular communication then all the processes and strategies were put in place for nothing. Make sure all your employees are well aware of any strategies and processes you are trying to implement & the reason behind them. If clients are involved it is even more important to ensure everyone on your team has the same vision on what needs to be achieved. Implement tools to increase easy communication between everyone.

Know When to Say No

Small business owners are always being pulled in a ton of different directions and getting questions from peers, friends, and even clients wanting to learn from them. Sometimes employees could be getting information from their colleagues, instead of you. Always be sure to consider whether or not what you’re doing is a good use of your time.

If not respectfully decline. Make sure you set some boundaries with employees and clients so everyone will learn when to ask or when to ask someone else/handle it on their own.

Deadlines, Deadlines, Deadlines

Setting deadlines are so important; set a timeframe for your projects to make sure you are productive and efficient. Emails and phone calls often distract from tasks at hand, make sure the allotted time for projects is done with no distractions.

Most small business owners get an unbearable amount of emails per day, what can help is setting aside a dedicated time each day for checking emails and responding. This will eliminate emails from becoming a distraction and still allow you to respond in a timely manner.

Get Your Priorities Straight

Rank all the tasks you need to do in a day by importance. This way you can prioritize what should be done when you are most productive. If you tend to take an hour or two to get into the groove of things, maybe take the morning to respond to emails, then leave the afternoon to do more important and difficult tasks.

Don’t Forget About Downtime

So many business owners over work themselves, don’t forget to take breaks. Going at the same task for hours and hours is bound to make anyone tired and can lead to making silly mistakes. Take a break, go out for a walk, or grab a coffee; this way you will stay energized and sharp for the entire day.

Keep Your Amazing Team Happy!

A happy team is a motivated one. As their leader it is your responsibility to make sure everyone on your team is happy. Don’t forget to have a smart balance between work and play inside the workplace. Happy employees are much less likely to complain about being poorly managed or overworked. If the workplace environment feels more like a home environment it will work in the businesses favor.

Efficient Leader = Efficient Team = Efficient Organization



Article Source:
Tips and Tricks for a Small Business Owner to Get High on Efficiency in Business2Community

The Secret of Earning Fleet Insurance Discounts

Posted on | by Courtney redwell

Fleet Insurance Discounts

One of the main factors people look at when determining whether GPS fleet tracking is suitable for their fleet is whether they will gain a ROI. Earning fleet insurance discounts is one of the many factors in getting the ROI you want to achieve.

Car insurance premiums are determined based on driver risk factors. This includes:

  • Type of vehicle
  • Vehicle usage
  • Driving record
  • History of previous accidents
  • The city & province or state you live in

There are two different types of auto insurance coverages that are mandatory in Canada: Third-Party Liability and Accident Benefits, also known as no fault benefits.

Third-Party Liability Coverage
Third-Party liability coverage allows the person who did not cause the collision the option to sue the at-fault driver for additional costs and damages not covered by Accident Benefits. Additionally, this coverage covers you for the legal costs of being sued if you are the at-fault driver. Ontario has a hybrid program including both types of coverages; Quebec, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan don’t have the Third-Party liability coverage, they have only no-fault systems.

Accident Benefits
Accident Benefits mostly cover income replacement, medical treatment, and other benefits to assist in the healing processes if an individual is injured because of a collision. The “No Fault Benefits” provides payment regardless of who caused the collision. According to the IBC, this coverage is mandatory for all Canadian provinces, except Newfoundland & Labrador.

Coverage in the United States
The United States has laws that are similar to the coverages previously mentioned for Canada. There are some states governed by Tort Laws, in which the party who is at fault pays for the victim’s damages and medical expenses, such as suffering and lost wages. The other states are governed by No-Fault laws, in which all parties that file a claim are usually compensated without requiring a fault determination.

The Role of GPS Fleet Tracking
Businesses must keep up with costs, including insurance rates and the overall upkeep of vehicles. There is also an increase in how GPS fleet tracking technology can help businesses reduce their commercial auto insurance. This includes satellite navigation, vehicle and container tracking, fleet management, emergency warning systems, wireless vehicle safety communications, and more. The data taken from GPS tracking devices can help improve driver behavior, which can also reduce maintenance costs, fuel consumption costs, as well as employee injury claims.

To qualify for a reduced auto insurance rate, businesses may be required to have a GPS device installed in a number of their fleet vehicles. Insurance companies sometimes have their own list of approved GPS solution providers, and each recommends that the business speaks first with an insurance rep to see if their GPS solution provider qualifies.

The insurance companies normally review the policies yearly and depending on the data pulled, it could change your rates; this makes it essential to practice preventative measures to ensure the rates stay low.

Being able to manage, track and learn from the data being pulled from your GPS device will help improve the quality of life for your vehicles, which will save you money. Further to this, Research and Markets identified that “in recent years, the vehicle theft rate in countries like the United States and Brazil are increasing, which is leading to increased adoption of GPS solutions to lower insurance rates.”

There are a few types of policies

  • Commercially insured fleets: Insuring vehicles with insurance companies that accepts GPS data to save a percentage off the premium.
  • Self-insured fleets: It is required to have a policy put in place and the policy holder must be prepared to reinforce the policy, it all depends on the policy presented.

The policy may require employees to have clean MVRs (motor vehicle reports). To achieve this, the business can reinforce drivers to remain within speed limits, and always wear a seatbelt. Additionally, to help fleets that are self-insured to save money, employees can use the data provided from their GPS solution to manage their driving habits, such as aggressive driving (hard acceleration & braking) which can cause high fuel consumption and cause wear on vehicles.

Maintaining and using this data effectively can aid in:

  1. Reduced vehicle damage (bent metal claims)
  2. Personal injury claims
  3. General liability
  4. Workers comp

A Geotab & GoFleet Perspective
At Geotab & GoFleet, we’ve seen self-insured injury and vehicle damage claims drop from $30,000 per 1 million miles driven $0.03 per mile to $22,000 per million miles driven $0.022 per mile.

  1. For a vehicle driving 30,000 miles per year – vehicle damage claims can drop from an average of $900 per year before a GPS solution policy, to an average of $660 per year after. An average of $240 per year in savings.
  2. Forensic accident data & first notice of loss from the notification of an accident helps to reduce time to settle and claims cost for at fault and preventable accidents.
  3. Even self-insured fleets must insure their excess general liability. Insurance premiums on this can be lowered after a successful deployment and proven reduction in accidents and claims amounts.
  4. Proof of activity that can be used to prove the whereabouts of an employee for false workers compensation claims are used by firms as part of their private workers compensation investigations.

On average, safety usually drops a vehicle down from $5000 to $3500 ($1500/yr avg) once a policy is put in place and reinforced by follow up from the insurance firm.

To learn more about the fleet insurance discounts that could be available for your fleet, contact us!

Original Article Written By Geotab
http://www.geotab.com/blog/earning-insurance-discounts-telematics-data/

Reporting Seatbelt Data: Not as Easy as Buckling Your Seatbelt

Posted on | by Courtney redwell

Seatbelt Data Reporting

Seatbelt information is very important to many of GoFleet’s customers yet it is not always as easy to retrieve as one may think.

Seatbelt data isn’t mandated by OBD-II specifications
Different vehicle years, makes, and models can all report seatbelt data differently. Geotab goes the extra mile because of this, to acquire seatbelt information. The plug-and-play GO device uses an intricate detection and verification algorithm to tackle these difficulties to be able to cater to as many vehicles as possible. The GO device will report all data it thinks is seatbelt data but only the data that passes the verification process will be used as seatbelt reporting data in My.Geotab.

Obtaining Seatbelt Data
It may seem seatbelt data should be very straightforward to report since there are only two different states, unbuckled or buckled, but it isn’t! Some of the complexities include:

  • Seatbelt data is proprietary, meaning different makes and models report data in different locations through different Parameter IDs (also known as pids, code used to request engine data). Where one car may report seatbelt data another car may report an open door.
  • Sometimes seatbelt data is voluntarily broadcasted, while at other times data needs to be requested from the engine computer; sometimes data is only reported once when the state is changed. The GO device needs to have the ability to process all different circumstances the seatbelt data is presented in.
  • Seatbelt data can be very “bouncy” as it tends to jump around for the first few seconds of start-up before it settles to the correct value. One would not expect 20+ buckled and unbuckled events within the first few seconds of ignition on! The GO device must determine this is the correct seatbelt data once it settles.
  • Some drivers fail to use a seatbelt, while others use it in an abnormal manner, for example taking it off in the middle of a trip. Taking into account abnormal driver behaviour also makes it challenging for the GO device to verify seatbelt data.

Detecting and Verifying Seatbelt Data
The following describes the different stages the GO device goes through in the seatbelt detection process to be an “all in one” solution:

  • Scan through the broadcasted data and try each of the different seatbelt requests.
  • Once the GO device has identified all possible seatbelt data, it then detects if it is in fact seatbelt data, and not other pieces of data such as the driver door being opened.
    • If it is incorrect data, the device will skip it and return to search for other data that could be seatbelt
  • Account for different random seatbelt events such as:
    • Drivers unbuckling their seatbelt after ignition off
    • Drivers unbuckling to deliver a package but leaving the ignition turned on
    • Drivers unbuckling at high speeds to reach something out of their pockets
    • Drivers unbuckling before coming to a full stop
    • Drivers buckling up before ignition is turned on

One can surely speculate how the list can go on and on for different driver behaviors. Geotab’s detection system looks deeper into these events to verify seatbelt data before it starts being reported to you, the customer. The GO device processes when unbuckled and buckled events occur during the trip and use other pieces of engine data before the device decides how likely that this piece of data truly is seatbelt data.

Next Steps
Geotab is constantly adding new seatbelt data for more and more years, makes and models. The detection and verification process is continuously being updated to account for new seatbelt information and the different ways seatbelt can behave in vehicles.

Original Article Written by: Paul Ciolek, Junior Systems Developer at Geotab
http://www.geotab.com/blog/reporting-seatbelt-data-not-easy-buckling-seatbelt/

See GoFleet at the 2015 AHR Expo

Posted on | by Courtney redwell

AHR Expo in Chicago with GoFleet

 

AHR Expo | GoFleet | January 26th – 28th
McCormick Place, Chicago

 

We are excited to be attending the AHR Expo in Chicago from January 26th to 28th! We will be located in booth #6178, if you plan to attend make sure to pay us a visit!

The AHR Expo is the World’s Largest HVACR (Heating, Vacuuming, Air Condition & Refrigeration) Marketplace with over 2,000 exhibiting companies. There are over 100 educational sessions you can take advantage of if you attend. GoFleet is excited to be attending to promote what GPS tracking can do for HVAC, refrigeration and plumbing companies to make them stand out from their competition.

GoFleet already works with many plumbing, refrigeration and HVAC companies to decrease maintenance costs, increase productivity, and decrease fuel costs. A#1 Air has seen the capabilities our system offers that others don’t; before implementing the Geotab GO devices, they were with another provider but it was not giving them the data they needed. With our system they’ve been able to greatly reduce maintenance costs, lower fuel costs through effective routing, lower insurance premiums, reduce accidents and improve customer service:

“The system has greatly reduced the lag time in being able to update customers and keep them in the loop. Before, we would say, well, here’s a 3-hour window of when we’ll arrive, but now that window has greatly decreased.”
– Ken Kapson, A#1 Air’s Fleet, IT & Building Manager

Check out the full case study here: A#1 Air: Obtaining Fleet Insight

To calculate how much money you could potentially save, after installing our plug-and-play devices, check this out: Fleet ROI Calculator

If you haven’t registered already, act now! Today, January 9th, is the final day for free registration, after that a 30$ fee will apply. Register here.
***UPDATE: Free Registraion Extended to January 12th!***

Show Dates & Hours
FAQ About the Show
Interactive Floor Plan

We can’t wait to attend the AHR Expo, and we hope to see you there!