Whether we like to admit it or not, winter is coming, and it’s important that we be prepared. Some parts of North America have already started experiencing heavy snowfall.
It’s crucial we do everything we can to keep our roads as safe as possible throughout the winter months.
Check out these 10 tips to follow to stay safe this winter.
Create a ‘Survival Kit’
Your kit should contain items such as: booster cables, small shovel, gloves, snow brush, windshield wiper fluid, first aid kit, torch, safety vest, candles, water bottles and non-perishable energy foods. Keep this kit located in the trunk of your car.
Check Weather & Road Conditions Often
Choose your route ahead of time and check the forecast to make sure you know what you can expect before you hit the road.
Allow for Safe Distance Behind Snow Plows
If you get caught behind a snow plow, keep a safe distance. Snow plow drivers don’t always have the greatest visibility and often create snow clouds that can reduce your visibility.
Get Winter Tires!
They provide much better handling, braking and traction; they can also shorten your braking distance by as much as 25%. All-season tires are not equivalent to winter tires. They can lose their grip if the temperature drops below 7 degrees Celsius.
Slow Down; Give Yourself Extra Travel Time
This one is quite obvious and very important. Always drive according to the conditions of the road and do not rely on the estimated time of arrival your GPS gives you.
Clear Ice & Snow From Your Vehicle
Clean all mirrors, windows, lights and the roof; wait for foggy windows to clear up completely so your visibility isn’t effected.
Wear Comfortable Clothes
It’s normally a good idea to layer up in the winter but having too many layers can be restricting on your movement and make it hard to check your blind spots.
Keep Your Gas Tank Full
It helps to reduce moisture in the fuel system and also adds some extra weight to slow your vehicle down faster.
Avoid Using Cruise Control
You can easily lose control of your vehicle in bad weather by relying on cruise control. If driving conditions are very poor, or if there is a serious blizzard or ice storm, it’s best to avoid driving completely.
Learn The Best Way to Recover From a Skid in Your Vehicle
How your vehicle will respond to a skid depends on whether or not it has front wheel, rear wheel, or 4-wheel drive. If your vehicle has ABS brakes (anti-lock braking system), you should learn how to use it properly.
Preview the latest updates to Geotab software applications and firmware, rolling out soon.
Check your build number to verify whether the changes are reflected in your system by going to Administration/About. The build number shows the month of release, for example: 5.7.1511.xxx release/2015-11.
In this edition:
Active Tracking Enhancements
Hours of Service Availability Enhancement
Marketplace Configurations
New Google Zone Import
Group Management Enhancement
Internationalization
New Addition to Security Clearances
Minor Interface Enhancements
Active Tracking Enhancements
Geotab’s Active Tracking feature for MyGeotab, which provides near-live vehicle animations on a map, is a critical tool for first responders, taxi companies, fleet owners, and other dispatchers who need to closely monitor the live position of their vehicles.
Previously, Active Tracking was enabled vehicle by vehicle. However, to accommodate managers of larger fleets, a new enhancement makes it possible to enable Active Tracking for an entire group of vehicles at once.
To make a bulk edit, follow the steps below:
Navigate to the Vehicles page and select the vehicles you would like to bulk edit. You can do this by selecting the drop-down above the vehicle list and selecting the visible vehicles in the list, individual or all in the group filter you have selected.
Select the Edit selected devices button to bring you to the device edit screen.
You will now have the option to turn on Active Tracking from the edit screen.
Bulk vehicle edit.
Active Tracking toggle in bulk edit.
Hours of Service Availability Enhancement
Fleet managers have a faster way to view the HOS availability of all their drivers. The Availability report will now load all drivers by default, instead of requiring the user to select each driver first. In the default setting, “All” drivers are selected. Click the Apply button to accept. When viewing HOS Availability, all drivers within the group filter should be displayed when first viewing the page.
Having faster access to HOS information enables fleet managers to identify which drivers are coming up to the end of their daily or weekly hours, and helps them avoid potential HOS violations.
Marketplace Configurations
In MyGeotab, the default setting has been updated so that users will see all available Marketplace applications. This includes both free and paid applications, including applications developed by third-party vendors.
Administrators have the ability to customize the types of applications visible to users through a toggle option. For example, the Marketplace view can be configured to display only free applications. To change this setting, navigate to Administration/System Settings. On the Marketplace tab, select the Off for “Display third-party apps.”
System Settings Marketplace option for setting application visibility.
New Google Zone Import
To streamline the creation of zones, which are a critical component in analyzing fleet behaviour, Geotab has made it possible to create zones from Google Keyhole Markup Language (KML) files using the Import KML Zones Add-In.
Geotab has developed a number of Add-In products which can be easily integrated into your MyGeotab UI. More information is available on the MyGeotab Software Development Kit (SDK) portal.
Import KML Zones add-in.
Group Management Enhancement
Quick edit functionality has been added to the Vehicle Edit section. When a vehicle is assigned to multiple groups, you can click the “x” to remove it from the group, while leaving the other assignments in place.
Management of Groups in Vehicle Edit.
Internationalization
Multi-language support has been extended to users. Report headings for default reports will be translated into the language currently set by the user. Users can also make use of this functionality for custom reports in any supported language.
To add multi-language support for a new custom report template, follow the appropriate method below.
From a default template:
Export the base report you want to build your custom from by going to Administration>Reports>Report Views, selecting the report, and clicking on the Export button.
Un-hide the Languages tab.
+ The Languages tab has English as its first column and subsequent columns contain French, Spanish, German, and Japanese. The column titles must be shown in English.
+ The other languages can be in any order.
+ Custom reports do not need to support all languages, a subset is acceptable.
If you add new header text in the report or summary tabs, you will need to add two asterisks before the heading (for example, “Date” would be “**Date”). Without the asterisks, the translations will not work.
From live data:
Navigate to the section you want to build your custom report from and run the report (for example, Activity>Risk Management>View>Advanced).
Un-hide the Languages tab.
+ The Languages tab has English as its first column and subsequent columns contain French, Spanish, German and Japanese. The column titles must be shown in English.
+ The other languages can be in any order.
+ Custom reports do not need to support all languages – a subset is acceptable.
For each tab, whether a sheet or a pivot table, at the English heading you wish to translate, type the prefix of two asterisks (for example, change “Date” to “**Date”). Without these the translations will not work.
If you create new columns, you will need to add them to the translations table, one per line.
Translating existing custom reports:
If you have existing custom reports that you wish to translate, please follow the above steps for creating a report template from live data. You will need to create a new tab with the exact title “Languages” which can be hidden later if desired.
Noto Sans Japanese font
The default system font for the Japanese language user interface in MyGeotab has been changed to Noto Sans Japanese for improved Japanese language legibility. The Noto font family is being developed by Google as a means of supporting all languages with a font that is high-quality and reader-friendly.
Sample of Noto Sans Japanese font.
New Addition to Security Clearances
An additional security clearance for “Administer devices delete/unplug/replace” has been created for configuring user-level security. A user will now need this particular clearance to makes changes on individual vehicles. To add or change security clearances in MyGeotab, go to Administration/Users and click on the Clearances button.
Minor Interface Enhancements
Vehicles are identified as “historical”, rather than “historic.” This change does not affect functionality.
A cancel button was added to the rule edit page.
The placeholder text for input fields and button tool-tips supports multiple languages.
Route and Route plan changes include: numbering route stops; adding a drag icon to routes on a list; warning that if a trip is optimized it may change the stop order; clarification that optimization is based on shortest distance.
Questions or Comments?
If you have a question or comment about any of the items mentioned, please email: [email protected].
Source:
Original Article By: Angie Milne, Solutions Specialist at Geotab https://www.geotab.com/blog/geotab-updates-preview-november-2015/
A poor safety rating can be crippling to a business. Orkin, the 20th largest fleet in the world knows this all too well. The sustainability of Orkin’s entire business was threatened by a poor safety rating. At one point 7% of Orkin’s entire revenue was going towards insurance and claims. A strict culture of safe driving was introduced through a comprehensive fleet & risk management program. Since implementing this program into their fleet 11 years ago, Orkin has saved as much as $40 million per year or $6000+/vehicle.
The margin for error within driver safety and compliance becomes narrower every year. Any tickets, accidents or claims impacts the entire company and forces harsher penalties, liability, and ultimately higher overall operating costs. Take a look at the action steps below, to see how we recommend our clients work towards running a safer fleet.
ACTION STEPS:
Post a weekly driver scorecard report for drivers and management. This report measures driver risk by each driver. Risky driving habits such as speeding, seat-belt use, harsh-braking and backing-up when leaving are measured.
Allow drivers to self-evaluate and make efforts to improve poor driving habits.
Define penalties around unsafe driving which puts your company at risk. Communicate that unsafe driving will not be tolerated.
Develop baseline measurements of driving habits through a driver scorecard. Evaluate current liability and insurance costs. Set goals for improvement based on the measurements and measure against these goals at 3-6-12 month intervals.
Implement driver training for high risk drivers. A study by SAFED showed that the average driver reduces fuel consumption by over 10% following fuel efficient driver training. Additionally driver training reduces risk and claims by as much as 50%.
INSURANCE DISCOUNT PARTNERSHIP
Call your insurance company. Evaluate potential insurance savings with your insurance company based on reduced liability.
GoFleet has developed an insurance discount partnership with multiple providers. Potential insurance discount can range from 10-40% on insurance premiums for fleets.
COMPLIANCE WITH HOS & DVIR
New CSA / DOT compliance requirements mandate Hours of Service (HOS / Driver Log) and Driver Vehicle Inspection Reports (DVIR) for specific types of commercial fleets (typically applying to heavy duty logistics fleets). These mandates help ensure drivers are not driving fatigued and that vehicles are being operated safely on the road. GoFleet offers HOS & DVIR compliance tools that are Android / Garmin / Mobile based.
Do you have HOS / DVIR requirements? Email us at [email protected] for more information or to get started.
For fleets, focusing on safety means more than reducing personal injury or eliminating the potential for vehicle damage. Safety behind the wheel can result in many direct and indirect benefits for your fleet.
MyGeotab, our easy to use fleet management software, has easy to setup driving rules that help fleets monitor unsafe driving behaviors. These rules are easy to configure and can be turned on or off with a simple mouse click. Manage seatbelt usage, speeding, harsh braking and more. Watch this video to find out how you can use GPS telematics technology to improve fleet and driver safety.
Start improving the safety of your fleet, contact a fleet consultant today! 1-888-998-1122 | [email protected]
It is normal for a fleet manager to always want his drivers to be on their best behavior. However, this is not always the case. Each company will always have employees with an aggressive style of driving who will often take unnecessary risks in traffic. This can be a problem for multiple reasons. For starters, the constant accelerating and braking used by an aggressive driver results in fuel-inefficiency. A fleet manager will want all of his vehicles to be driven in a smooth and safe manner whenever it is being used in order to maximize fuel efficiency. With GoFleet’s driver safety tracking, fleet managers can track a vehicle throughout the day—how hard your employees corner, how hard they brake, their fuel consumption, etc.
Bad Publicity
Another issue is the image that these drivers are creating for their companies. When one of their drivers cuts somebody off in traffic or exhibits risky behavior on the road, not only does this anger other drivers but the reputation of your business is tainted and compromised. Suffice to say, bad news travels faster than good news and your company will have a public relations nightmare if your drivers engage in unsafe driving behaviour. Your employees represent your business.
Having an unsafe driver is simply bad for business. Your employees’ actions can cost you money. If your driver ever gets into an accident, it is the employer that is left footing the bill and having to pay more on insurance. That is where fleet employee safety tracking will make a world of difference. With GoFleet’s OBD GPS Tracking System, you will have all the necessary details at your fingertips and you will be able to track the driving performance of each of your employees.
GoFleet’s Driver Safety Tracking
Having this kind of accountability will only serve to make all of your drivers more responsible on the road. You do not need to be constantly checking up on them in order to make sure that they are driving responsibly. By integrating GoFleet’s Driver Safety Tracking, most drivers will represent your company well on the field. By giving you the best resources possible and give you up-to-date metrics, you will be able to rectify any business inefficiencies.
The most impressive aspect of a fleet employee safety tracking system is the level of detail it provides. You can find out anything from average speeds to top speeds to hard braking and this can give you a clear picture of how each of your drivers behaves in traffic. This can also make it much easier for you to set future goals for the company. It will be much easier for you to monitor the developments and see which drivers are complying with your business goals and objectives.
Then there is also the aspect of the drivers that do everything by the book. Until now, it may have been hard to differentiate the exemplary employees in your workforce. Through GoFleet’s driver safety tracking system, we help report those who standout and create new benchmarks in what constitutes an exemplary employee. You can compensate and rate performances accordingly.
Professional Services & Fleet Consultants Are What Differentiates A GPS Fleet Management Company From its Competitors.
The objective to help manage a fleet is to have a consultant based mind which can help provide customers with the appropriate solutions; this will not only satisfy the customer, but will also start the process of tailoring the solution to their needs.
Cookie Cutter Approach
One of the most successful approaches, which we often use at the early stage of the process, is known as the “Cookie Cutter Approach”. It’s used to help customers focus on small metrics instead of taking on all data at once. This helps them to manage and organize data more efficiently. Also, only the required data should be discussed with the customer, as they require. Too much data and reports should be refrained from.
Pillar System
Another alternative approach we use is the “Pillar System”. It’s very similar to the Cookie Cutter Approach but the difference is that the Pillar System is a step-by-step overview of which metrics should take place before the other. This helps create a timeline in regards to how data and reports can be implemented as needed.
Once a system is established and in place, we start incorporating new data and reports along with the management process. Groups and rules will be categorized to help organize and manage a customer’s fleet. For bigger fleets, Security Clearances will be taken into consideration, as this should become a mandatory requirement.
Our fleet consultants understand the importance of how a fleet looks at their data once they are set up within the system. It is also important for them to understand how fleets manage their prospect levels and level of acceptance within their organization. Each fleet is managed differently, so it is important to understand how they currently manage and which data and information would be most suitable for each fleet. Our consultants often recommend different types of Risk Reports that should be used. Reports are also customized and designed to help factor towards fleet motivation compared to using default reports; data is tailored according to fleet.
Understanding fleet violations as a company is also an important factor. Relevant data can be used to develop a management system to incorporate an escalation process in regards to fleet violations. If an enforcement policy is not implemented, it is important for a fleet to create and implement an enforcement policy. This will help drivers within a fleet to have the decision of making the right choice. Areas for further review should be identified, as this is important to help further understand a fleet.
Once areas that require further review are identified, simple reports will be created to begin assessing these areas. Reports should be set-up to be sent to the correct user in order to improve productivity. We explain the data that is collected and help identify the following targets.
As a consultant, being professional is not a label, but a view.
Our fleet consultants have the drive to give exceptional service
and save our customers money.
Written by: Nitin Mehta, Account Management & Support Specialist
We offer a web-based GPS fleet management software solution; see all your driver and vehicle information in one place and use it to make quicker, better-informed decisions for your business.
Advanced Reporting
Advanced reporting flexibility makes managing your fleet easier. Start out with our standard reports, and make them more meaningful by tailoring them to your specific business needs. Easily gather, run and utilize the information you want the way you want it whenever you want it.
Manage Driver Behavior
Increase safe driving habits with in-vehicle driver feedback and coaching tools. Shared vehicles can still be individually identified with our Driver ID NFC technology.
Engine Data Reporting
Our devices collect and respond to common status information in your vehicle. This includes engine light, engine RPM, engine hours, seatbelt, odometer, emissions, vehicle battery voltage and vehicle identification number (VIN).
GPS Vehicle Tracking
See where your vehicles are in real-time or choose a custom date and look back to see where your vehicles have been. Our patented algorithms provide you with accurate and detailed trip information.
Route Optimization
Reduce vehicle mileage and fuel consumption through creating zones and routes for your drivers. Also, our GPS for fleets solution lets you compare actual routes versus planned routes.
Engine Health & Maintenance
Be alerted to potential critical engine health issues and easily prioritize repairs necessary for your vehicles. Detect issues early by focusing on proactive vehicle maintenance and setup vehicle maintenance reminders.
Open Data Integration
The open software development kit (SDK) allows you to integrate vehicle and location information into your company’s operations or with third party add-on/add-in applications.
Custom Mapping
Design your own business relevant maps which are automatically combined with the application’s vehicle information. Flexibility in map views, legends and zone shapes and sizes allow for further customization.
Geotab Drive is a savvy Hours of Service electronic logging device (ELD) and vehicle inspection application.
The FMCSA regulates commercial driving; they are getting ready to release a new set of rules in September, 2015. The regulation changes add clarity around the types of devices, how they are allowed to communicate, and what and how data is presented. These regulations have been debated and argued for the last several years leaving the rules to be highly anticipated.
It is expected in September 2015 fleets will need to switch from paper to electronic logs and Geotab is working hard to ensure the devices are fully in compliance with the new ELD rules. Depending on whether or not fleets are already using electronic logs or are still using paper logs, the transition period slightly differs. Any Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) has to transition from paper logs to ELD within 2 years after the release date of the new rules. Fleets using an AOBRD on the date of the release of the new regulations have 4 years to make the transition to the new ELD rules.
The Benefits of Geotab Drive Geotab Drive is currently available on the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. The application connects to the GPS GO Device in order to provide an automated process for creating accurate records of the drivers time spent in each duty status: On Duty Not Driving, Driving, Sleeper Berth, and Off Duty. The system is very user friendly and gives drivers more time to complete their daily tasks by simplifying the annoyance of always documenting their time. Through automating vehicle inspection reporting and driver logs, and depending on the number of duty status changes required by the driver to record, fleets are finding as much as an extra hour a day! That translates into lots of added productivity, not to mention the increased accuracy of the reports.
Where is it heading?
These features provide some amazing advantages to fleets, however the future of Geotab Drive is even more compelling. There will be support for two-way messaging for safe communication with the driver and ease of dispatch. Just like the MyGeotab software offers add-in ability to the base software, Geotab Drive will soon have the same functionality. This will allow end user fleets and other value added partners to add functionality directly into the Drive application.
For example, an add-in that shows a driver how many deliveries he made today on-time, based on his scheduling and routing software, or how closely he met the estimated miles on the projected route from the scheduling and routing program. Another option would be to provide the driver interface to a dispatch application where a driver has one application for all of his or her in-vehicle needs for HOS and dispatch.
Original Article By: Stephanie Voelker, Sales Manager at Geotab
http://www.geotab.com/blog/taking-look-geotab-drive/
Productivity, Safety, Fleet Optimization, Compliance & Expandability make up the five pillar approach. This supports our ongoing innovation and assists businesses in making improvements in identified target areas. Each pillar offers a different way for businesses to save money and time. Unfortunately, many assume large fleets are the only ones to achieve significant savings; it’s important to recognize small to medium sized fleets can also reap these benefits.
How Small Are Small Fleets?
According to Frost and Sullivan, approximately 80% of fleets have under 10 vehicles, and most of these fleets do not have a fleet management solution (telematics). Also, it’s interesting to note that in order to be considered a “fleet”, a business must have bought 5 vehicles in a year and have a total of 15 vehicles in operation. In the June 2015 issue of Automotive Fleet, it’s explained that any commercial entities with under 15 vehicles are not considered to be a fleet.
Why Choose GoFleet & Geotab For Small Fleet Tracking?
1) Low initial investment
Some common initial expenses often associated with a new fleet management solution include: installation, testing, calibration and vehicle downtime during the setup process. Lucky for you, GoFleet & Geotab have made it as easy and low-cost as possible to get started. Geotab’s GO GPS devices are plug-and-play, not only do they eliminate install fees, but they also plug directly into the vehicle’s OBDII port, allowing for almost no downtime, and communication almost immediately after install. These benefits makes the Gofleet ideal small fleet management solution.
Minimal Entry Learning Curve
The learning curve involved in a barrier for any new tasks. Since a multi-tasking fleet manager is more likely for smaller fleets, although a fleet management solution may seem intriguing, finding enough time to properly utilize the solution may not seem achievable.
However, some of the features that can save you the most money (like in-cab driver alerts/coaching or maintenance warnings) are very quick and easy to learn and offer a high benefit-to-work ratio. For example, we frequently see our customers experience 5-10% fuel savings as a result of improved driver behavior alone, with other cases reaching beyond that. We also see savings of around 11% (but sometimes even up to 25%) on car insurance by adopting a small fleet management solution. Low initial investment combined with automated savings mean you’ll se a return on investment sooner than ever.
3) Ultimate flexibility and customization
On top of the many saving benefits, many small fleets are currently taking advantage of our customizable solution. There are thousands of compelling and unique ways to optimize and grow your business using our fleet management solution. For example, one of our current customers Boston Pizza, was looking for a solution to track their drivers. Not only did they gain real-time driver visibility, but with our solution they were also able to double the volume of their deliveries. Through the many add-ons we also have available, Excel reports, and the SDK, we are confident we can help you grow and better manager your business.
Our small fleet customers are able to save more than ever through our fleet management solution. We are also happy to offer weekly free training sessions and custom database configurations.
Original Article By: Jay Boychuk, European Solutions Engineer at Geotab
http://www.geotab.com/blog/telematics-untapped-breaking-barriers-small-fleets/
Your company is using Geotab’s GO devices and the MyGeotab software platform to manage your fleet, increase productivity levels, improve safety, and integrate data into other internal applications. It’s interesting to look back and see just how far telematics technology has changed and developed and how it will continue to change in the future.
Telematics of the Past
If we wind back the clock and look at how fleet management worked 10 years ago, we remember a very basic product with a GPS and position recorder. Back then an external antenna was required because GPS’s used to need direct view of the sky. Unfortunately, the external antenna was an obvious failure point. It had a long wire, connector, was always subject to interference, and was often the cause of needing installers to return to vehicles. Back then nobody was connecting into the vehicle’s OBD port. Because of this, intricate wiring had to be done in order to power the device, another failure point. Any time a wire was cut or a connection was made, the wire could break down. There was also absolutely no engine data available; for example there was no way to tell if a driver was wearing a seatbelt. Any fault lights and statuses or fuel data was completely unavailable.
Old GPS devices had little to no expansion capabilities. They had dedicated I/O wires and possibly a serial port. Today we have come a long way from there and now have IOX expansion; there are over 30 different IOX’s that can be plugged into the Geotab GO device. Essentially, the wide variety of add-ons turns our tracking device into a very specialized data gathering computer. For example, a module that connects to the Iridium satellite network so that the device will work anywhere in the world, can be added at the same time as Mobileye integration, reefer temperature monitoring unit, and driver ID keys. The possibilities are almost endless.
Old devices were also missing an accelerometer. The accelerometer is an extremely sensitive micro machine (MEMS) that measures when you brake or accelerate too hard. It also has the capabilities to reconstruct what happened in an accident.
In the past, databases and software had to be installed in your own IT infrastructure. You also needed an expert staff member to manage the systems and install the end user software. Thankfully, today all systems are cloud-based through the web.
Initially, there were no API‘s for MyGeotab. Through the SDK, hundreds of partners are integrating data from MyGeotab into other systems like risk management, invoicing, maintenance, safety systems and route planning. There is an entire ecosystem of partners that are adding even more value to the existing Geotab solutions, in order to help customers solve business problems that are very specific to their industry that couldn’t be solved in the past.
It’s obvious new technology has brought amazing improvements to fleet management:
Reliability (no more cutting of wires, unreliable installs or mounting antennas)
Simplicity (plug & play installs in the OBD port, emailed reports, Web-based services, server rules & driver feedback)
New Engine Information (valuable measurements directly from the vehicle like ODO, seatbelt, fault codes & fuel consumption)
Expansion (new IOX’s that address virtually every use case, from weight scales to driver identification to temperature monitors)
API’s and Integration (automating data & connecting customers’ systems to solve any new tricky business problems)
It’s truly amazing how far fleet management technology and telematics has come and how much it has improved fleet management. We will constantly continue to add value to how customers manage and measure their fleets.
The future holds a ton of exciting opportunities including connected vehicles, big data, and customer benchmarking.
GoFleet & Geotab are your partners at the FOREFRONT of changing fleet management. Between Geotab’s always improving technology and our incredible support staff and in house development team, we are sure to meet all custom needs to fit your business.
