Category: Blog

GoFleet’s Yearly Review: Taking a Look at 2020 and 2021

Posted on | by Victoria Gole | Leave a Comment on GoFleet’s Yearly Review: Taking a Look at 2020 and 2021

This past year has been like no other. Over the course of the last 12 months our organization not only had to change the way we operate as a result of the pandemic, but we learned new ways in which we could help our customers who came to us with new and changing needs. With that being said, we believe it was critical to self-reflect on this year and share our findings with a yearly review. 

How Did GoFleet Grow as an Organization as a Result of the Pandemic? 

As an organization, we felt the impact of the pandemic as our customers and their businesses were directly affected. A positive result that arose was that we were able to connect with our customers more on a personal level to help them navigate the uncertain events that were happening. In fact, it made us appreciate the relationships that we formed with our customers and appreciate even more the work that they do on a daily basis. 

To help, we not only reflected on our business offerings and tried to help with cost-savings incentives to our customers, but we searched for more solutions that would better fit their unique needs and budgets at this time. 

As we are focused on building long-term relationships, this is something we are doing and will continue to do. 

What was GoFleet’s Goal in 2020 and what will be GoFleet’s Goal In 2021? 

At the beginning of 2020, GoFleet created a roadmap and listed various goals that we thought was important to work towards throughout the next 365 days. More specifically, we wanted to focus on sharing how Managed Services can help our customers not only improve their operations but save them time and money. In addition, we aimed to begin to network with OEM dealers while also being leaner as a company. With the course of the events that took place in 2020, it only encouraged us even more to reach those goals and remain successful. 

In 2021, we are excited to continue to grow our OEM Sales Program and our connections as we see this to be a valuable position not only for our company, but our customers as well. With such a program available, we can better help more fleets at the beginning of their journeys. In addition, we are looking to continue to further the expansion of Managed Services to non-traditional telematics services and data consulting as we are seeing positive possibilities from being Zenduit-powered.  

What Trends do you see Coming for Fleets in 2021? 

This year we believe that there are various trends that fleets must prepare for to remain successful. Below we list the trends and/or focuses that we anticipate: 

∙ More Electric Vehicle (EV) oriented insights and analysis as EV technology is advancing and zero emission regulations are discussed and put into place.

∙ OEM data integrations growing in popularity in comparison to aftermarket hardware integrations. 

∙ More car sharing and fleet pooling which leverage iox-keyless and sharing strategies to reduce the number of vehicles that a fleet has by using mobility apps to order and manage on demand.

 

A Quick Review: What did GoFleet do in 2020? 

A lot happened in 2020, keep reading to learn more about what happened! 

 

How Our Organization Changed: 

∙ We started working remotely as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure staff safety.

∙ We continued to work and adjust our approach to customer success.

 

How Our Offerings Changed:

∙ We partnered with Samsara to better help fleets.

∙ We leveraged Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) to improve safety in all fleets.

∙ We focused on promoting responder-to-vehicle (R2V) communication to improve public and first responder safety 

∙ We added a new support add-in on MyGeotab.

∙ We partnered with Drivewyze to help fleets improve efficiency.

∙ We launched GoFleet Health Check to help fleets digitally monitor the health status and potential symptoms of drivers.

 

A Few Customers We Helped: 

∙ We helped CR&R Environmental Services improve training and driver behaviour with the installation of ZenduCAM devices. 

∙ We helped DeCarolis Truck Leasing and Rental improve visibility, reporting, data collection, maintenance scheduling and more with Geotabs and Flex trackers.

∙ We helped Speedy Transport Group Inc lower unnecessary fuel consumption and increase overall productivity with the Geotab Drive app.

∙ We helped Forest Trotter with trailer made solutions to improve data collection and visibility. 

∙ We helped Rogue Transportation Inc avoid strains on work processes by leveraging new integrations. 

A lot happened in 2020 making it a year like no other. While our team was able to accomplish a lot, we want to take a moment to thank all of our customers and supporters. 

We are looking forward to what 2021 has to offer and how we can continue to not only help fleets in various industries improve their operations and save costs, but how we can drive change in the sector! 

safety-driven, telematics, fleet, technology,

Safety-Driven Technologies And Strategies Your Fleet Needs

Posted on | by Victoria Gole | Leave a Comment on Safety-Driven Technologies And Strategies Your Fleet Needs

The pandemic has drastically changed nearly every aspect of our lives. As Governments worldwide introduced lockdown measures aimed at curbing the coronavirus transmission, our cities will never look the same as before. People choose to spend more time at home, resulting in less traffic on roads. Knowing this you might be thinking that emptier streets usually translates to safer conditions for all road users, but data has shown that this is not the case. In the United States, early data indicates a 14% jump in fatality rates per distance driven in March 2020, according to the National Safety Council (NSC). Data also suggests rising speeding, harsh cornering and reckless driving activities since the beginning of the pandemic. The question is, why do we see a jump in dangerous driving behaviours during the pandemic despite our roads being emptier? What factors contribute to this change, and how could we refocus on road safety during high accident periods?

For businesses, aggressive driving behaviours are the leading contributing factors to roadway accidents and collisions, which can have a detrimental effect on a business’s operations. Any roadway accident could result in workers injuries and businesses paying out hefty fines, compensations or insurance premiums, which can be devastating to a business’s financial status in the long run. There is no doubt that companies should devote every effort and uphold a strong safety culture to maintain a safe workplace and protect all vehicle operator’s safety. In light of the pandemic, businesses need to preserve cash flow to secure corporations financial viability and cannot afford any operational mistakes or unnecessary spending. Cracking down on fleet drivers aggressive driving behaviours is the most effective way to reduce road accidents and cut down costs incurred from accidents. However, it requires a strategic and systematic approach to build the foundation for a sustainable and robust fleet safety culture. 

We also cannot neglect the fact that humans are not perfect. Even the most cautious drivers can make mistakes that may put them and the company’s assets at risk. This is why businesses and fleet managers need to supply drivers with the right tools to serve as an extra pair of eyes on the road, protecting them from any immediate road danger. There is a wide range of vehicle safety-driven products on the market, but telematics stands the test of time and brings the best of technology to life. A unique integrated approach allows telematics to combine the power of multiple types of safety-driven technology from eye-tracking, vehicle sensing and advanced camera technology, creating one streamlined set-up that provides the ultimate all-around safety support every company is looking for. We will showcase how telematics can power your fleet operations so that fleet managers never need to worry about operation safety again. 

 

The Dangers Of A False Sense Of Security

A false sense of security might explain why we see an increase in aggressive driving behaviours during the pandemic. Drivers are already used to congested roadways and slow traffic in urban areas prior to the pandemic. Now, under government-issued stay-at-home orders, there is a significant reduction in traffic on urban roads and highways. This inevitably causes many drivers who still need to travel to believe that emptier roads translate to easier and more comfortable driving conditions. They feel that less traffic means a much safer driving environment since the chances of encountering heavy traffic is greatly reduced. This false sense of security makes drivers believe that they are safe when they are actually not. The moment they decide to speed and commit other dangerous driving behaviours, they are not only putting themselves at high risk but also threatening the safety of other road users, such as pedestrians and cyclists. 

 

How To Build A Robust Fleet Safety Solution With Safety-Driven Technology?

In commercial fleet operations, this false sense of security cannot be tolerated.  Drivers may argue that speeding will help them to complete their work faster, but when an accident happens, the adverse impacts will far exceed what many companies can endure. The additional costs that resulted from the accident are just one side of the story, where many business owners underestimate how much an accident could hurt a business’ brand image and reputation. Imagine that a logistics freight truck is transporting an important load of time-sensitive critical shipments, and the vehicle got involved in an accident due to the drivers aggressive driving behaviours and careless driving. In this case, the shipment might get delayed or damaged, causing for a late delivery and an unhappy customer. Thus, in many ways, reinforcing safety-driven practices within the fleet is an important pillar to help your business secure customer loyalty and create a positive brand image. 

Establishing strong safety-driven practices within the organization and building an extensive driver training program is just one step in shaping a zero-incident culture. In today’s world, businesses face increasingly challenging and complex tasks, which require some of the most innovative solutions to address the most pivotal concerns. 

 

Live In-Vehicle Verbal Driver Feedback: Tailored Coaching, Perfect Driving

Wouldn’t it be great if every driver gets a virtual personalized safety assistant to provide live verbal instructions and reminders in helping them perform safe operations? If drivers forget to buckle up their seat belt prior to starting up the engine, our assistant will promptly remind drivers to do so. If drivers went over the posted speed limit, our assistant would ask the drivers to immediately slow down. This kind of seamless experience can only be found on the telematics device, and it takes your fleet driver coaching program and daily operations to the next level. 

State of the art spoken alert system uses real-time text-to-speech to issue messages to drivers if a user-defined violation has been triggered. This gives fleet managers the ability to tailor the system by setting up custom rules in the telematics platform. For example, fleet managers may want vehicles to slow down in specific areas, such as at the warehouse loading bay. Traditionally, they could only rely upon drivers to follow the posted speed limit, which in many cases, drivers may not notice the signs or just ignore them. But with in-vehicle verbal driver feedback systems, fleet managers can set up custom rules such as drivers must not drive vehicles at speeds higher than a certain threshold in the warehouse zone to restrict drivers’ behaviours in any geographical setting. Now, when drivers enter or travel within the warehouse zone at any speed higher than the predefined metrics set up in the system, the in-vehicle verbal driver feedback system will warn the drivers to slow down and record a rule violation if drivers continuously disregard the warning. Any rule violation will also trigger the system to send out a notification to fleet managers and record the event on file. 

We keep the device installation process of the in-vehicle verbal driver feedback system extremely simple with minimal work required. Just plug it directly into the compatible tracking device and it will become a driver’s best safety companion on the road. 

 

Collision Avoidance Technology: Your Extra Eye On The Road

We have spent a long time pursuing the answer these important questions: What can we do to save drivers lives at the most critical moment? When drivers face imminent danger, what can we do to best protect them and maximize their survival chances? We know that the few seconds before any collision or accident are absolutely crucial, and the driver’s actions and responses could make the difference between life or death. That’s why we want to adopt the most advanced vision sensing technology to create the last safety barrier drivers can trust.

The collision avoidance technology uses cameras, radars and sophisticated software algorithms to detect objects ahead. Blending with computational power, the collision avoidance system actively and continuously scans the road ahead, analyzes the vehicle’s surrounding environment and identifies probable and imminent hazards and threats. When a threat has been detected, the system is safety-driven and instantly issues both a visual and audible alert to warn drivers of probable danger. Compared to vehicles that were not equipped with collision avoidance technology, the equipped vehicles earns driver’s a few more valuable seconds to respond to immediate dangers, which prove to be life-saving and decisive in protecting the driver safety. 

The collision avoidance solutions are a form of safety-driven technology that can be used in more ways than just detecting objects around the vehicles. It has the capability of warning drivers when it detects the vehicle is about to cross the lane boundary without signaling to switch lanes. Other than detecting surrounding vehicles, the system can also detect pedestrians and cyclists, making it one of the most versatile safety tools that perfectly fit the urban road setting. We want our system to fit in your businesses workflows, and that’s why our system works in all weather conditions and has night vision capabilities for accident avoidance in any situation. 

The reduced traffic on roads during the pandemic might cause drivers to drop their guard and commit dangerous behaviours. Businesses cannot overlook the risks hidden behind their drivers unsafe driving behaviours. Though strengthening the corporation’s safety culture and practices is an important step in reducing the risks, equipping your fleet with the most advanced safety-driven technologies can further eliminate the chances of accidents and cut down the burden that accidents may cause to your business. Speak with one of our fleet safety specialists to learn more about how we can help your business to achieve zero accident fleet targets. 

 

airport ground operations, aircraft, aviation, pandemic, telematics, fleet

Fly High With The Right Tools For Your Airport Ground Operations

Posted on | by Victoria Gole | Leave a Comment on Fly High With The Right Tools For Your Airport Ground Operations

The airline industry has been hit hard by the ongoing pandemic. Dropping travel demand, travel restrictions at the borders and travellers lack of confidence in airplane travel has put the global aviation industry into the biggest financial crisis since 9/11. Airlines are struggling, with many in danger of immediate collapse, and experts predict that it will take years for the industry to fully recover from the impacts of the pandemic. It’s not just airlines that are suffering from low travel demand and astronomical revenue loss; many support sectors in the air transportation field, such as the airport ground handling service, airline catering service, airport retails and commercials, are all experiencing the turbulence of pandemic. Job cuts and salary adjustments have already become way too familiar in these sectors in the past few months as the coronavirus pandemic has wiped out tens of thousands of jobs in the aviation field and grounded most of the airline fleets. 

 

Unprecedented Challenges And New Opportunities For Airport Ground Operations

With the positive incoming news regarding the development of vaccines and planned mass vaccination happening soon, hope is on the horizon. In fact, even though during the pandemic period we saw a sharp decline in passenger volumes across the board, cargo flights were booming in business as they formulate vital links and connections between countries. They are the critical workforce in the global logistics network, transporting and distributing time-sensitive and temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals, personal protective equipment and vaccines between countries. Additionally, as the coronavirus testing technology continues to evolve, rapid testing has been widely applauded by the airlines as a scientific and effective method to restore traveller’s confidence in airplane travel along with the ease in border restrictions and quarantine rules. In the foreseeable future, with vast immunization across the world, the establishment of travel bubbles between countries, and the introduction of immunity passports, we are expecting travel demand to quickly pick up soon. 

Extraordinary times call for extraordinary actions and responses. Airport ground handling crews are the most pivotal group of employees working the frontlines by supporting the airport operations and aircraft movement 24/7. Most work directly for airlines or contracted ground handling companies, and their positions and tasks can range from providing customer service, ramp services and conducting aircraft maintenance. We will primarily focus on the ramp service crew and see how their work enables the airport to function smoothly throughout the pandemic. We are also going to explore how technology tools power them through the everyday workflow. 

Ramp agents are responsible for a variety of tasks, including loading and off-loading baggage and cargo, directing planes to and from their gates, de-icing airplanes, operating baggage carts and pushback tractors and many more activities. It requires a collaborative effort between multiple departments to service each aircraft. In busier airports, ramp service agents may need to service multiple aircrafts at the same time, which demands a high level of precision, accuracy and efficiency. 

Airport operations and air traffic movements follow a strict set of schedules and plans where each flight is assigned with a dedicated take-off and landing slot. Any ground operation delays for a flight could have a domino effect on other flights, resulting in a more wide-spread delay across the airport and disrupting regular traffic flow. Air traffic controllers have to reassign new departure windows to each following aircraft and adjust airport departure rates and arrival rates to bring the airport operations back to normal. The longer the airplanes are sitting at the gates, the more money airlines are losing. Airlines need airplanes to stay in the air as much as possible to turn profits. Airplanes sitting on the ground will keep burning cash as airlines need to pay crew members as well as aircraft and ownership costs. Lengthy delays could also negatively affect passenger satisfaction. During the pandemic, airlines were focusing on preserving cash flow and revamping their operations and business models to survive this challenging period. Any ground delays can further impact a business’s long-term financial status, which threatens the airlines future. Poor on-time performance can also drive away loyal customers, which is a huge loss for any airline during the pandemic and may slow down the economic recovery of the business after travel demand picks up again. 

All of this demonstrates that airport ground handling service must be done in an efficient and cost-saving manner in the post-pandemic world to support the recovery of the aviation industry. The new standards pressure the ground service contractors to use the least possible labour and adopt all cost-cutting measures but maintain the same level of service and quality. It may seem impossible to balance these conflicting factors, but modern technology has showcased proven solutions that help ground service contractors and agents to fly through operational tasks with mobile computer vision.

Introducing telematics — one of the most reliable and widely adopted assets and human resource management systems that completely transforms how ground operation managers and equipment operators navigate their day. We will go through 8 different ways of how telematics can simplify workflow, maximize productivity, drive down costs and secure operations. 

 

Stay On Top Of The Operations

When you have so many airport assets and vehicles to manage, you need to stay on top of the entire operation. With telematics, getting a full picture of the fleet and operations on any device could not be easier. Our scalable system automatically compiles all the critical information and displays it on one simple intuitive map which gives you full visibility and control of the operations.

 

Streamline Work Process From Start To Finish

Our system can be easily integrated with airport systems and IT infrastructures, where the system automatically establishes work orders, determines priorities and assigns work to equipment operators. The whole process takes into consideration multiple factors, including aircraft pushback time, arrival time, the amount of workload for ground handling agents and an estimation of how long it will take to complete the work. The system algorithms are designed to optimize and best utilize the available resources to ensure timely pushback of every flight. By giving equipment operators a clearer view of their upcoming tasks and the information of the aircraft they need to service next, they can more efficiently plan out their day and improve their productivity.

We also focused on providing a simplified workflow for fleet managers. Our innovative dashboard is the ideal place where fleet managers can find a summary of all the real-time fleet critical metrics and data. Our system can automatically notify fleet managers if a disruption happens during the ground handling operations that may result in a pushback delay for the aircraft, so that fleet managers can be alerted and take appropriate responses such as dispatching extra resources to mitigate the impacts. 

 

The Most Expansive Customization, Right In Your Hands

The airport is a very unique and special setting where rules need to be strictly enforced. We provide the most expansive list of software and hardware customization options, so you can have complete freedom to create systems, dashboards, maps or hardware packages that best serve your interests and key focuses. Geofencing is a powerful tool in our system where fleet managers can set up predefined boundaries, establish special rules and restrictions to control asset movements and provide clear instructions to asset operators. It allows fleet managers to draw zones around places of work to create a highly organized workflow that drastically improves airport operation efficiency. 

 

Safety Is A Top Priority

Safety is a top priority in any workplace. This is especially true for airport operations, where any collision and accident can be costly and catastrophic. This is a place where safety rules have to be strictly enforced, and no mistake is allowed. In responding to the stringent safety measures and standards, telematics solution providers offer a comprehensive 360-degree protection solution that could have a meaningful impact on the operations. The collision avoidance technology, driver distraction camera and all-angle vehicle camera system, form a multi-layered safety protection net that effectively reduces the possibility of collision and accidents. The driver scoring dashboard is the first-of-its-kind in the industry that adopted advanced sensing technology to assign a safety score for each equipment operator, helping to promote good driving behaviours among the fleet. 

 

Real Saving That You Can See

Throughout the pandemic, we learned that businesses are putting an increased focus on cost management. For heavily impacted sectors, such as the aviation industry, companies and airlines are searching for every opportunity to cut down on unnecessary costs and preserve important cash flow. For ground operations, fuel is one of the top expenditures and managing fuel consumption has been the number one priority for ground service contractors and airlines. However, you cannot effectively cut down on fuel consumption without first knowing all the fleet’s critical energy consumption data and metrics. Telematics is the central platform enabling fleet managers to monitor fuel consumption, set up targets for minimizing the costs and to keep an eye on the overall fleet costs. Our package includes leading sensor solutions, helping fleet managers extract vital information from vehicle parts and components. Our software utilizes advanced algorithms and machine learning models to analyze data and create tailored step-by-step solutions to assist fleet managers in driving down costs. 

 

Small Steps, Big Difference

We deeply care about the environment, and that’s why we integrate features allowing fleet managers to measure the fleet’s environmental and carbon footprint. Our vehicle’s onboard sensors can help fleet managers track drivers’ behaviours such as harsh braking, engine idling that directly affect fuel consumption and carbon footprints. The road navigation system integrated with our telematics platform always assigns equipment operators with the most efficient route to their destinations in the airport, slashing both carbon footprints and fuel spending. 

 

Your Asset, Now Secured

Fleet managers never want any unauthorized individual to operate airport equipment. Our telematics solution packs in an encrypted onboard driver authentication feature where only operators and personnel that hold the authorized ID card can access and operate the vehicles. This type of controlled access can clearly reduce unauthorized equipment usage and eliminate injuries to untrained, non-qualified crew members.  

 

Protect Your Fleet – With Proof

Accidents that happened at the airport can be devastating and extremely expensive. Think about what if one of the ground handling equipment collides and damages the airplane; who should be responsible for the damage? When it comes to determining liability and responsibility, fleet managers need to equip the vehicle with the right tool, such as dash cameras, to help them document the event and analyze who was at fault. It’s a handy add-on that can protect your business and prove your operators are not at fault during an accident, which can save your business from paying hefty compensation that you actually should not be responsible for. 

The aviation sector will prevail and bounce back eventually. Though nobody can be certain about when people will be confident to fly again,  airlines and ground handling companies are devoting all efforts to ensure they can navigate through the turbulent time and come back in a stronger position. The effects of the pandemic will be felt in aviation for several years to come, but we are ready to give a helping hand.

Our industry-leading telematics solutions provide the necessary support to help your business deliver high-quality service during the pandemic and build resilience to endure hardship. Speak with our industry-specific specialists to discuss how we can help your businesses to fly high during this unprecedented time. 

power take-off, gofleet, tax, return, refund, iox aux, fleet

All You Need to Know About Power Take-Off and Tax Refunds

Posted on | by Alan | Leave a Comment on All You Need to Know About Power Take-Off and Tax Refunds

Power take-off (PTO) is a crucial device used to transfer mechanical power from vehicle engines to other pieces of equipment. It is adopted in a wide range of industries and sectors, such as forestry, energy, winter operations, waste management and many more. It allows the vehicle’s add-on equipment to extract and receive power from the vehicle’s host energy sources without installing an external energy source. 

Many fleet managers and asset operators favour PTO as an efficient and reliable way of attaching additional equipment and machinery to the vehicle, which helps them complete demanding tasks and dramatically expand vehicle utility. As a telematics company, we pride ourselves on using an innovative approach to derive changes and outcomes and we decided to give PTO a magical refresh and update. Our approach focuses on helping you extract the most information from PTO systems, which empower your operation to unmatched efficiency and drives down costs. 

 

The GoFleet Way of Mastering the Power Take-Off (PTO) System

Our IOX-AUX Harness links auxiliary sensors to our industry-leading fleet tracking systems, which enable operators and fleet managers to access information that they previously could not see. The IOX-AUX facilitates advanced sensor monitoring, enabling fleet managers and operators to view the real-time status and activities of the PTO. Fleet managers are also able to set up exception rules in the system to restrict and monitor operators’ behaviours, and any violation will trigger alerts, which immediately notify fleet managers to take appropriate actions. One of the most useful capabilities of PTO integration is that the system can organize PTO sensor data and formulate detailed reports at the end of the operations, which inform fleet managers about any event or violation that took place during the operation. These reports are also extremely valuable and helpful to fleet managers when preparing and submitting fleet management reports to the corporation’s executive team. Being able to extract more data and insights from the PTO system simply gives businesses a leading-edge over its competitors as these pieces of information can help fleet managers and executive teams better optimize the operation through a data-driven approach.  

Talking about system expandability, we want to offer you the most choices out of competitors. That’s why our IOX-AUX harness supports up to 4 digital inputs each. With two IOX-AUX, you can monitor up to 8 inputs at any time. If you have multiple sensors or inputs needed to track on a vehicle, you now have the complete freedom and control to do so. For example, fire truck operators or fleet managers may want to monitor sirens, fire pumps and aerial ladder activities simultaneously. It is vital for them to have access to all parts’ status and real-time information at one intuitive software interface, especially during an emergency operation. This poses stringent standards for the telematics solution as fleet managers and operators demand a high level of connectivity and integration, which allows them to monitor every component and part of the fire truck. Our solution, which supports up to 8 inputs, can handle these kinds of tasks with ease. No matter which part you want to track and monitor, you can link them with the vehicle onboard GPS tracking system through IOX-AUX to experience a streamlined workflow. 

When you are ready to go, we also want to make sure the installation process of IOX-AUX is simple, easy and problem-free. Our plug-and-play installation process guarantees that your entire system will be up and running in under a few hours. The USB connector of the IOX-AUX connector plugs right into the GPS tracking device, and you just need to connect the desired auxiliaries to the IOX-AUX wire as needed. There is no complex configuration or additional hardware required, and the installation process is easy enough where you can self-install and set them up by following our step-by-step instructions. 

 

Economic Returns of Using Power Take-Off Device

Did you know that you may be qualified for a refund if you paid tax on fuel used in Ontario to operate power take-off equipment? If your fleet qualified for the requirements listed below, you could apply for a power take-off tax refund:

  • The vehicle is licensed to operate under the Highway Traffic Act
  • The use of the auxiliary equipment occurs in Ontario
  • The motor vehicle is not used to transport passengers
  • The auxiliary equipment is powered using the same power source that is used to power the vehicle
  • No use of the power from the auxiliary equipment to drive the vehicle
  • No use of the auxiliary equipment for personal use, pleasure or recreation
  • Have paid fuel tax to Ontario 

A refund request must be filed and received by the Ministry of Finance within four years of paying the fuel tax. Remember that your fleet needs to meet all the above conditions to get a power take-off tax refund, and the exact amount of refund will be determined and calculated based on the vehicles’ total distance travelled in Ontario. 

DISCLAIMER: Before placing the information contained within this article in your fleet strategy, it is always recommended that you perform your own research and speak to the appropriate individuals to ensure it is right for you.

 

Q&A of Tax Refund for A Power Take-Off

 

Question: How is the refund being calculated?

Answer:

Calculating A Refund – PTO Activity Before July 1, 2017

There are two ways to measure the fuel used during the PTO operations; you may use either one of the below:

  • Readings from meters or electronic control modules that measure the fuel supplied to the auxiliary equipment
  • Set allowances approved by the ministry for different kinds of PTO operations, based on information from equipment manufacturers

You may need to contact the ministry to confirm if there is an approved allowance for your equipment. 

 

Calculating A Refund – PTO Activity After July 1, 2017

Starting from July 1, 2017, the PTO refund is calculated by applying a pre-determined percentage allowance against the total fuel disbursed to the licensed vehicle containing the qualifying auxiliary equipment.

You can find the PTO allowance chart on the Ontario Ministry of Finance website, which outlines in detail what the allowance is for different PTO activity types. 

 

For Inter-jurisdictional Carriers

For inter-jurisdictional carriers, the refund is calculated based on the vehicle’s total distance travelled in Ontario during the claim period. The following example will help you better understand how the refund portion is calculated. 

An IFTA licensed carrier (carrier licensed under the International Fuel Tax Agreement) reports a total distance of 10,000 km in all jurisdictions, of which 2,000 km represents the distance travelled in Ontario. While in Ontario, the carrier uses fuel to operate PTO equipment. The tax rate on the fuel used is 14.3 cents per litre. Based on the ministry approved allowance, it was determined that PTO activity accounts for 1,000 litres of fuel. 

The carrier calculates the Ontario PTO tax refund as follows:

  • Calculate the percentage of Ontario travel out of the total travelled distance

2,000 km ÷ 10,000km = 20%

  • Use the PTO litres to multiply the proportion of distance travelled in Ontario 

1,000 litres x 20% = 200 litres

  • Then, multiply the result above by the tax rate to arrive at the refund portion

200 litres x $0.143 = $28.60

 

Question: How and where can I apply for the refund?

Answer:

  1. You need to download and complete the application form online, which can be found on the Ontario Ministry of Finance website
  2. Read the accompanying guides, which help you navigate through the application
  3. Mail the completed application and all supporting documents to the Ministry. Make sure to keep one copy for your records. You can find the mailing address on the Ontario Ministry of Finance website

 

Question: What kinds of supporting documents do I need to provide?

Answer: 

For Refunds Under $500

You do not need to send in supporting documents with your application if the total of all refunds for a calendar year does not exceed $500. However, you will still need to keep your records for seven years in case the Ministry audits you.

For Refunds Over $500

You need to submit accurate and verifiable records of your fuel purchases along with your application to support a PTO refund claim. The invoice must show the following information:

  • The name and address of the seller
  • The selling price per litre
  • The amount of tax charged
  • The quantity of product purchased
  • The date of the sale

You also need to submit copies of proof of payment such as the account statement and cancelled cheque along with the receipted invoice. 

 

For PTO Claims on or After July 1, 2017

For PTO claims on or after July 1, 2017, additional documents are required:

  • A monthly summary of all fuel issues covering the entire claim period
  • Entries broken down by each licensed vehicle included in the claim
  • Based on verifiable information that may include inventory reconciliation reports from bulk storage facilities, daily disbursement logs, receipts from retail fuel outlets and issue tickets from card lock systems

Similarly, you are responsible for keeping all the records for seven years after you apply. If the Ministry selects you for an audit, you are required to present all the relevant records. 

 

Question: How to claim the refund?

Answer:

The fastest way for you to receive your tax refund is by signing up for direct deposit. It’s an easy and secure way to receive refunds or rebate. You can fill out the direct deposit authorization form on the Ontario Ministry of Finance website and include it in the submission package. 

All the information presented here is for informational purposes. At this moment, GoFleet cannot advise you on finance-related questions nor responsible for any issue related to the topic. We encourage your business to consult with a professional financial consultant to determine eligibility for the PTO tax refunds and discuss in detail how to apply. For more information, we recommend visiting the Ontario Ministry of Finance website to discover the more information on this topic. To learn more about the IOX-AUX harness and supporting accessories connecting to the PTO system, contact us today as our industry-specific experts at GoFleet will be happy to discuss with you in further detail. 

Utilisation of Your Tech Stack

Maximize Your Existing Tech Stack To Get Ahead In 2021

Posted on | by Victoria Gole | Leave a Comment on Maximize Your Existing Tech Stack To Get Ahead In 2021

As businesses round up the year, it’s the perfect time for teams to perform a review of business operations. This allows management to see what processes and projects are working towards their long-term goals and how their finances stack up. When it comes to fleets, the process is no different. However, in addition to reviewing processes and projects, it’s critical for fleets to see how they can utilize their existing tech stack to help them further get ahead.

 

2020 Overview: Adjusting To A New Normal 

2020 was a unique year. For many, it was the first time they truly expected industry uncertainty and long-haul transporters definitely went through a moment of change. As regulations, demand and driver processes were adjusted, with the right driver and utilization of tools, teams were able to power through it. 

For nearly all fleets, 2020 caused operations to change by increasing health and safety protocols, PPE and more. Some fleets also decided to put attention towards their current processes and technologies within their fleet by focusing on using performance or finance boosting tools. Some found this easy to do as they leveraged their existing tech stack. 

As a result, leveraging existing tech stacks is a critical recommendation for all long-haul transporters, to help them get ahead in 2021.

 

Leveraging Telematics And Connected Networks Already In Place 

Nearly all fleets are already digitally connected by some form of a GPS or fleet tracking device to optimize routing, complete routes efficiently and to monitor hours-of-service (HOS) or driving times. 

When looking to maximize existing tech stacks, it’s important for fleets to leverage these already in place networks that connect to already installed hardware. Doing so will immediately increase route completion performance. 

One advantage is to leverage bypass programs that require no hardware as installation is digital. Regardless of where vehicles are, operations can change for the better almost immediately. During a time where social distancing and PPE measures are heightened, this is a major benefit. 

 

Leveraging A Tech Stack With GO9 Devices  

Fleets that are fitted with Geotab GO9 fleet trackers are used for several reasons including GPS tracking, HOS tracking and engine diagnostics. These already in use devices can also leverage the connected network it relies – by installing the unique Drivewyze Weigh Station Bypass Program fleets can truly meet global expansion dreams. 

While Drivewyze did not invent the weigh station bypass program, they did modernize it. By leveraging relationships and connected networks, they were able to implement a program where over 47 states and provinces allowed them to operate by using the safety scores of fleets, as well as other credentials, to allow vehicles to have a green light to pass and not have to pull into weigh stations. 

 

A New Efficiency Tool: Hardware-Free Weigh Station Bypass Programs 

A weigh station bypass program works by using vehicle GPS location data from a GO9 device in correlation to the GPS location of weigh stations, as well as unique weigh in motion scales strategically embedded in highways prior to a station. If a weigh station is participating in the program, the vehicle will have their fleet information and weight calculated from the motion scales automatically and this data will be cross referenced against screening rules to determine whether they are required to pull in. Typical screening rules include: 

  • Fleet safety score
  • Weight of vehicle while approaching station 
  • IFTA payment completion 

Many fleets find that they are authorized to pass stations approximately 98% of the time, immediately resulting in saving resources and time. In fact, most fleets report approvals of preclearance more often than not and notice a near immediate ROI when a truck receives just one or two bypasses a month. For drivers who find they are held up at weigh stations this is a game changer. 

 

Weigh Station Bypass Programs In Real Life 

Over the last year, weigh station bypass programs have thrived as they have been leveraged by fleets to streamline workflows when it comes to driver delivery times. When speaking to Drivewyze’s Weigh Station Bypass Program, they remained agile when encountered with recent pandemic restrictions. 

 

The COVID-19 Shutdown 

During the COVID-19 pandemic many cities and countries shut down for a period of time, resulting in various businesses being closed or services being halted. For long haul trucking, it was felt most as several truck rest stops and weigh stations were closed for a short period of time. As a result, many drivers were unsure of where they could safely stop to rest so resources were overused and HOS records were affected, as they drove around looking for a safe place to stop.

To help long haul fleets, Drivewyze accelerated their development of new features to automatically allow their systems to monitor the location of open rest stops and even provide data on their capacity level.

 

Becoming Part Of A Response Plan 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many offices were instructed to enforce remote working options when possible. For some fleets, as part of their response plan, they took this time to proactively work towards upgrading their fleets by enrolling them into a bypass program. Because the program is completely digital and is free of hardware installation, the implementation of Drivewyze’s program was able to happen instantly. This resulted in improving operational efficiencies and social distancing measures as they did not have to pull off the highway into a weigh station.

After this unexpected year that many fleets have had, it’s hard to tell how 2021 will be. It’s critical for long haul fleets of all sizes to do what they can to elevate their existing tech stack to help them remain successful in the new year.

To learn how weigh station bypass could benefit your fleet, speak with one of our long-haul transportation specialists about receiving a Weigh Station Analytics report to see exactly how much time and money your fleet could save, or inquire about a free trial to experience the service in-cab.

 

Written by: Victoria Gole, Marketing, Branding & Communications Specialist at GoFleet

Contributions by: Doug Johnson, VP of Marketing at Drivewyze

gofleet, customer success, telematics, fleet

GoFleet’s Approach To Customer Success

Posted on | by Victoria Gole | Leave a Comment on GoFleet’s Approach To Customer Success

Over the last 10 years, our three offices in Canada, the United States and the United Arab Emirates have been dedicated to helping hundreds of customers and businesses worldwide to step up their games in the fleet management sector and transform their fleet into a productivity machine. Now it’s time to have you on board with us on this exciting journey and experience the GoFleet difference. 

 

Who Is GoFleet? 

We are in the business of connection and digitalization, offering fleets of any size a tailored solution that helps them grow and succeed, all powered by telematics. At GoFleet, our vision is to bring the most powerful hardware, simple but useful software, and exceptional services together to delight every customer. Collaborating with industry-leading partners and blending in our own unique solutions, advantages and expertise, we believe we can provide you with the right answer for any challenge and pain point you encounter. 

 

What Does GoFleet Do?

GoFleet provides pioneering end-to-end fleet management hardware and software solutions covering every link of fleet operation, from asset tracking, vehicle health monitoring, dispatching, routing to safety management, vehicle maintenance and data storage. Our wide range of products can address customer’s pain points and challenges in every single fleet management aspect, including fuel management, asset tracking, maintenance diagnostics, drivers’ behaviours monitoring and training, routing and dispatching, electronic logging devices and many more. All our products are built and designed upon the foundation of our commitment to improving your fleet management experience in five core objectives: productivity, safety, optimization, compliance and expandability. 

We have previously worked with countless customers from a diverse range of industries to show them how we keep our commitment and transform their workflows from the bottom up. Boston Pizza, one of Canada’s largest and leading casual dining chains, put our telematics tracker into real-world testing and installed it on every delivery vehicle. Since day one, the franchise owner immediately noticed an improvement in delivery efficiency and customer satisfaction across the board. Our tracking solution helps to streamline deliveries and significantly reduce wait times for both delivery drivers and customers. With access to delivery vehicle real-time locations and status, the kitchen chef can now make sure the order is prepared and fresh out of the oven right when the next delivery vehicle is back at the restaurant to pick it up. This ensures that food is not sitting around waiting to be picked up, and customers can receive the freshest and warmest food as fast as possible. 

Our partnership with CR&R Environmental Services further showcases our determination to help businesses in improving fleet safety performance. CR&R Environmental Services is an innovative waste and recycling collection company serving more than 3 million people in numerous countries. Prior to contacting us, CR&R Environmental Services experienced multiple instances where vehicle cameras were not recording or functioning. The camera is an essential piece of equipment used to record video footage of the operations, and an unreliable camera system is simply unacceptable. Loss of footages may put businesses in a disadvantageous position if liability disputes arise when one of the company’s vehicles gets involved in a collision or accident. CR&R Environmental Services reached out to us to see if we can offer an innovative safety solution to replace their current one. Our team worked hard and delivered on promises by leveraging telematics’ power and brought on a highly reliable and capable 360-degree camera system alongside an intuitive software platform. After the implementation, the CR&R Environmental Services noticed an increased level of visibility, reliability and productivity compared to their old system. They feel more confident in their ability to review driving footage in case of an accident and use these videos to train drivers and improve drivers’ skills. 

System integration and optimization are at the core of every product we create. Every piece of equipment, hardware and software we designed works seamlessly together. We deeply understand many customers are frustrated by the incompatibility between different systems and platforms, and it’s our job to bring them all together into one unified fleet management platform that enables you to do everything anywhere. All you have to do is focus on what matters and leave the rest of the hassles to us. 

 

Why Does GoFleet Care?

We take great pride in our products and in building relationships with our customers. We put people, product quality, innovation, environment, the end results, and your feedback at the forefront of everything we do at GoFleet. We deeply care about each of these aspects, and that’s why we adopt cutting-edge technologies to enrich each of them. 

 

People

Everyone’s safety is our top priority. We introduced a range of safety products all aimed at protecting your fleets drivers’ safety. From the driver distraction camera to the collision avoidance system, they are life-saving tools that can make a big difference at the most critical moment. They also give fleet managers and drivers extra peace of mind and an extra layer of protection during everyday operations. 

Our industry-leading customer service team is at your service no matter what problem you encounter in using our products. We provide easy and hassle-free device installation and training guidance so that you can implement our products across the entire fleet in just a matter of time. We offer remote diagnostics support to quickly assess and resolve your issues without the need for you to wait for a technician to come and help. The 24/7 support directly from product manufacturers is included with our ProPlus subscription, and if necessary, we will send in technicians to your sites to help you fix the issues and get your vehicle back on the road as fast as possible. 

 

Quality

We know that you have high expectations for product quality and want a product that works as promised and marketed. That’s why we conduct rigorous testing to ensure each one of the products we ship meets or exceeds our stringent quality standards. Additionally, we know that you want a device that doesn’t compromise and works in any weather conditions and environments. Most of the hardware products we sell are waterproof, shockproof and highly durable, giving you the freedom to use them in any environment. 

 

Innovation

Innovation is in our DNA. We strive to bring you the best and latest technology and incorporate them into our products. We want you to fully experience and utilize our products for a long-lasting period. That’s why we keep adding new features and fix any bugs by frequently pushing new software updates to your device and system. We are committed to bringing in the best available technology such as artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms to make your products even smarter throughout time, so when you own our products, you not only gain the right tools to tackle any current challenges but also fully prepare yourselves for the future. 

 

Planet

We care about our environment deeply. The first step we are undertaking is helping businesses and fleets to convert their entire workflow to a paperless model. With all the fleet data stored over the cloud database, we can truly digitalize how information is being used, analyzed and shared within the corporation. We are also incorporating environmental metrics and benchmarks into our vehicle tracking dashboard to allow fleet managers and drivers to access the vehicle emissions and fuel economy information throughout their operation. 

Another initiative that we are taking to safeguard the quality of our living environment is providing the right tool to help businesses’ existing fleet transition into a fully electric vehicle fleet. Working directly with electric vehicle manufacturers, we have developed unique capabilities to access electric vehicles’ data and ensure your electric vehicle has strong data support. We are also working around the clock to expand our support to new models over time. We understand the migration to an electric vehicle fleet is not an easy task; it’s a process, and it takes time. But rest assured, when you are ready to make the move, we have already set the foundation and have the right tools ready for you. 

 

Feedback

The process is important, but for any business, we know that you also value the results. You want to see the improvement in numbers yourself. We have created a comprehensive fleet dashboard showcasing data on fleet performance and efficiency, allowing you to track improvement percentage and return on investment. Based on this data, you could gain a sense of how much improvement our products provide to your fleet operations.   

We are always happy to discuss and hear what you think about our products and services. Our customer support team makes follow-up calls and consultations after your purchase and implementation to ensure the solutions work well for you. And of course, if you encounter any issues with our products, our technical support team is always here to help. 

 

Where Is GoFleet Heading?

We pride ourselves on being an innovation-driven organization, and we will keep innovating to integrate the best and latest technologies to the existing systems and platforms. Utilizing the power of artificial intelligence, machine learning, big data analytics and 5G wireless communication technology, we can truly take the whole fleet management platform to new heights. 

We are also fully prepared for the massive transition from gasoline and diesel fleet models to the electric vehicle fleet model. All of our products have been optimized for either fleet structure, and we are working hard to add support for new electric vehicle models every month. But we want to look even further ahead into the future of commercial fleets. Many of the foundational works have already been undertaken to prepare for the development and transition to autonomous vehicles. We always want to stay ahead of the competition and have the products ready for you, so you can have unlimited choices of how you want to expand your fleet. 

At GoFleet, we keep adapting to constant changes. The pandemic has drastically changed the operational model of many businesses. We are here to make sure our products fit our customers’ changing needs and standards. There is a growing demand for remote fleet management, so we bring the best software to your mobile device, giving you easy access to all the fleet statuses and information on the go. There is a rising trend of high precision and specialized transportation activities, so we offer advanced temperature and humidity monitoring sensors to help your business conquer challenging tasks. As the world is becoming more connected and globalized, we also focus on providing more localized optimization for your fleet. This includes providing convenient software features such as the weigh station bypass service to help your fleet better navigate through your local community. During the current turbulent period, we recognized that we have an even greater responsibility to respond and cope with the unpredicted changes and market trends to create tailored products that meet your businesses’ core needs, but it also gives us valuable opportunities to show you what our products can do for your business.

At GoFleet, our approach of doing everything with passion and professionalism has driven us to success to date, and our commitment to our customers is what motivates us to reach new heights. 

Contact us today to speak with one of our many industry or solutions specialists to assist in nearly anything fleet related! 

fleet maintenance, repair, vehicle ,truck, breakdown, cmms

Don’t Let Poor Fleet Maintenance Slow Down Your Businesses

Posted on | by Victoria Gole | Leave a Comment on Don’t Let Poor Fleet Maintenance Slow Down Your Businesses

Keeping your fleet in good shape all-year-round can help you maximize productivity and avoid unexpected vehicle breakdowns or service delays. Meaning vehicle maintenance is an essential branch of fleet management. 

The core idea of a maintenance program is identifying and addressing “small problems” through routine inspections and repairs before they turn into big ones. Preventive maintenance and corrective maintenance are some of the most common maintenance practices adopted by most businesses, but we want to elevate the existing maintenance strategy to a whole new level. Doing this will deliver a superior and streamlined experience to fleet maintenance teams. 

 

Why Do Businesses Need To Step Up On Fleet Maintenance Management?

Failing to run a proper fleet maintenance program could be fatal to vehicle based businesses. Poor maintenance could lead to frequent vehicle breakdowns, safety concerns, service disruptions, and poor customer satisfaction. Unreliable service could discourage your valuable customers and clients from engaging with your business again in the future. 

You don’t want to lose a big deal or valuable partners because of trying to save a little on fleet maintenance. That’s why it’s more important than ever to invest in a reliable and intelligent Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) to protect the corporations’ long-term viability and financial sustainability.

 

Improve Vehicle Uptime

Downtime can be crippling to businesses, with costs quickly adding up the longer a vehicle is off the road. Even a single vehicle that goes out of service can have an immeasurable impact on the entire fleet operations. Fleet managers have to redistribute tasks and mobilize additional human or asset resources to recover productivity losses. Therefore, it’s necessary to create a comprehensive maintenance plan for the fleet to ensure vehicles remain operational and stay on the road as long as possible. 

An unexpected vehicle breakdown could also delay shipments and services. Customer delivery may be delayed, and important deadlines may be missed. Time-sensitive, temperature-sensitive, and perishable goods are also at higher risk of quality degradation, leading to customers rejecting the load. It will be a major loss for the business, and it will disappoint customers who didn’t get their shipment in time. If this situation happens often, customers might lose trust and confidence in businesses, and they may switch to other service couriers. 

Businesses cannot afford to experience frequent vehicle breakdowns or lengthy vehicle downtime. That’s why businesses need to adopt preventive maintenance strategies to reduce the likelihood of equipment failures. CMMS is a reliable maintenance tool supporting the monitoring and tracking of vehicle health status and reminding technicians to conduct routine part inspections periodically. Only through frequent inspections and proactive monitoring can the technicians identify the faulty units early and address the issues before it happens. 

 

Reduce Operational And Maintenance Costs 

Fleet managers might be hesitant about the initial investment cost of the CMMS. They might be unsure or uncertain whether the investment can be justified. But if you look at the fact that many small problems can quickly grow into more serious and costly maintenance issues if the problem isn’t detected and addressed early, you might want to rethink your decisions. 

Additionally, just consider how much additional money businesses need to pay if a small vehicle malfunction, such as a flat tire, leads to collisions and roadway accidents. It will not only threaten employees’ and drivers’ health and safety but also result in companies paying huge fines, insurance premiums, or legal issues. As the winter season is fast approaching, it is now more important than ever to ensure vehicles are in the best shape all the time to embrace harsh weather conditions. 

Adopting a CMMS can help businesses save money in multiple aspects of the operations, both directly and indirectly. For example, oil changes are among the most important vehicle maintenance routines that every driver or technician must perform. Most vehicles need an oil change every 3,000 to 5,000 miles to keep the engine running efficiently at peak performance and remove particles and sludges accumulated in the filter and tube. However, it will be quite difficult for humans to keep track of the oil change routines and intervals for all the fleet vehicles, especially if the fleet size is relatively large. This is where the CMMS system truly shines as it accurately logs each vehicle’s mileage since the last oil change and reminds maintenance technicians when it’s the time to conduct the oil change. Routine changes and getting the right kinds of oil can improve vehicles’ gas mileage by 1-2%. That doesn’t sound like much of an improvement, but if your businesses own a large fleet, every small saving will accumulate and become quite significant over a long period. 

 

Enhance Drivers’ Safety And Improve Drivers’ And Customers’ Satisfaction

Drivers’ safety is at the centre of everything we do. Vehicle malfunctions such as flat tires and faulty brakes could lead to serious consequences threatening drivers and other road users’ safety. Most businesses are unaware of an accident’s true costs as they only prepare for the direct costs of an accident. Some of the most common hidden costs include loss of labours, downtime of injured workers, maintenance costs for the damaged assets, cost of hiring and training a replacement worker, cost of any fines related to the accidents, and many more. These hidden costs can add up quickly and become a huge financial burden for any business. However, if the business owns a CMMS that can alert fleet managers about the vehicle issues beforehand, all those extra spendings can be avoided. 

Poorly maintained vehicles will also affect drivers’ morale and productivity. Drivers will be offended if the vehicle assigned to them is not properly maintained because it will create hindrances in their work. There is nothing more frustrating than a vehicle unexpectedly breaking down during a route and drivers are forced to wait for roadside assistance. This could result in a significant disruption to the service workflow, as it will delay the onboard shipment, and customers might not receive the deliveries in time.

 

Unique Advantages Of The CMMS

By implementing CMMS, businesses can achieve higher efficiency and control over the assets. The highlight of the CMMS is bringing a high level of automation and digitalization to the entire maintenance process. From wirelessly capturing data from vehicles’ onboard sensors to automatically creating and assigning work orders when issues have been recorded, CMMS is the ultimate tool in designing a well-managed preventive maintenance program. 

An intelligent dashboard helps fleet managers utilize assets more efficiently and easily schedule planned maintenance. It can also streamline the entire vehicle parts and components purchasing procedures, as the system can track parts inventory and help you directly order parts to replace faulty units right within the dashboard. 

The smart calendar feature displays all the maintenance events and progress in a simple and intuitive user interface, so fleet managers can stay on top of all the maintenance events and not miss any critical alerts. The best feature of the CMMS is that the system can generate over 100 types of highly customizable maintenance reports detailing all the fleet and maintenance data. This is especially useful and valuable to the fleet manager as they can gain real-world insights into fleet performance, identify risk factors, and take appropriate actions to mitigate risks. This could also simplify the company’s internal reporting procedures as the management team could also access these maintenance reports and assess the fleet’s overall status. To provide even more flexibility to businesses, the CMMS is compatible with a wide range of third-party Application Programming Interface (API), allowing users to customize the system to fit their needs.

To conclude, dedicated fleet maintenance software is an essential piece of equipment for any businesses that are looking to improve fleet efficiency and make real cost savings over the long run. If your business wants to get on board and is looking for innovative ideas and solutions that can bring your fleet operations to the next level, work with one of our industry-specific specialists to see how we can create a maintenance software system like ZenduMaintenance personalized just for your business. 

smart warehousing, telematics, ble, beacon, warehouse,

How Smart Warehousing Depends on BLE Technology

Posted on | by Alan | Leave a Comment on How Smart Warehousing Depends on BLE Technology

The growth of globalization and e-commerce has prompted the rising need for more efficient and cost-effective inventory management solutions to improve warehouses’ operational efficiency. Asset managers across industries have concluded that the warehouse information management system is an essential pillar to effectively facilitate large-scale warehousing tasks. In fact, it’s been noted that smart warehousing is an ongoing trend that needs to be monitored. 

However, the COVID-19 pandemic has posed greater challenges to warehouse operations worldwide. This is because staffing issues and physical distancing rules make today’s warehouses hard to operate without adequate technologies and automation. The pandemic also has a trickle-down effect on the supply chains, which forces businesses to adopt innovative solutions to keep a close eye on inventory and stock. 

In adapting and shifting to the “New Normal”, finding and implementing a smart warehousing solution is a primary task for asset managers. Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology is the perfect solution to achieve the most efficient logistics operation possible and keep track of the asset movements. 

We will show you why BLE has the leading edge over other solutions and how it can transform your businesses’ warehousing operations in the real-world. 

 

What’s BLE?

BLE is a simple highly-automated wireless local data network that enables informational communications between assets. There is no barcode, no paperwork and no wire needed to operate the network. It’s as easy as attaching BLE beacons to the assets, plugging in readers to the power outlet and powering on a cloud database to see all the information. 

The initial investment costs of a BLE system is very low, and the installation process is fast and simple. Best of all, because most smartphones have Bluetooth connectivity already, they can be used as a reader and mobile end device to receive and display information with compatible asset management applications installed. 

This is extremely important for smart warehousing since the workforce is constantly moving between warehouse aisles and shelves. Having all the information they need in the palm of their hands is a huge productivity booster for all employees as they can clearly see, track and monitor all assets on the go. 

 

Why Use BLE?

As the name suggests, low energy consumption is what makes BLE technology special. BLE beacons use low amounts of power on a battery that can last anywhere from one to five years. Because they are so reliable, it requires very little maintenance work to keep those beacons running. 

Beacons will automatically alert the asset managers in advance before the battery runs out so managers can order a replacement battery or a new unit in time. The high versatility of BLE technologies means that asset managers can use them in a wide range of settings. As BLE beacons run on its own power and can function without a SIM card or mobile signal, they can be placed anywhere. 

Some common placements of beacons are: 

  • Forklifts or other moving or stationary commodities
  • Human assets
  • Self-powered assets

Product customization is one of the top considerations for asset managers when choosing tools and solution packages for their businesses. BLE solutions satisfy business needs by offering a wide range of unique customizations. It can track temperature and humidity, perfect for cold chain inventory management or temperature-sensitive commodities tracking. Customers can choose to pack in an accelerometer into the BLE beacons, which is essential to detect drop or article orientations for high-valued or fragile commodities. From the software end, asset managers can set geofencing boundaries, which provide enhanced safety protections for critical items – an alarm will be triggered if the item enters or exits virtual boundaries. 

Additionally, the authentication feature can be built right into the BLE, allowing improvement to be made in the warehouse security management field. Many warehouses are high-traffic spots and supply chain integrity and security can be easily compromised if businesses do not value the importance of security. By implementing a BLE-based security network, warehouse managers can now keep the warehouse secure by only granting people wireless access to places where they need to enter. This could protect employees’ safety and deter theft and damages to the commodities. 

 

How Does BLE Come Into Play With Smart Warehousing?

When it comes to a highly localized environment like a warehouse, we believe there are four essential aspects that managers should focus on when implementing smart warehousing management techniques. Directing the focus to these four aspects can enhance employee productivity and operational efficiency – and the BLE solution plays a big part in each of these areas. 

 

  • Getting The Foundation Right

Creating the ideal and optimal warehouse space layout is a precondition of facilitating efficient asset management and inventory tracking. Warehouse asset managers need to identify current traffic bottlenecks in the warehouse and make every effort to reduce travel time between the commodities storage spaces and the fulfillment centre and optimize inventory placement. This analysis work could not be done without first learning the assets historical performance data and travel patterns. 

Asset managers need a reliable tool that can be easily attached to each moving asset to collect vital information that helps them gain deeper insight into potential conflict points in the warehouse that may slow down the operations. Historical data is also crucial in assessing inventory placement and seeing what kinds of improvements can be made to optimize the pick-up efficiency. 

Defining zones and stocking rules can be an especially helpful strategy in warehouses that store multiple types of inventory with different handling and storage rules. For asset managers, you want to make sure that you are putting time-sensitive inventory and short-term storage items in an easily accessible location and place long-term non-perishable goods in the back of the warehouse. In any of these scenarios, the BLE-based inventory tracking system can help the asset manager monitor all the goods movements to make sure they are stored in the right location. This system can truly help warehouse facilities set themselves apart as a highly-efficient hub that can handle and store any kinds of goods.

 

  • Live Inventory Tracking

Forget about all the cumbersome manual entries work and complicated paperwork needed for inventory tracking and recording. The BLE-based warehouse management solution can record all the inventory changes and tag all received inventory. With the power of advanced computing, the system can automatically plan out the best location to store the inventory depending on the inventory types, as well as the fastest route to a destined storage zone.

Inventory counts are widely considered one of the most challenging tasks in large warehouses. The BLE system can handle it with ease as it provides real-time accurate inventory information and reports it to asset managers with an unparalleled level of detail and clarity. It streamlines and digitalizes the entire inventory tracking process and reduces the costs of paying dedicated personnel to count and record the inventory manually. With the proper configuration set up, the system can automatically alert asset managers if inventory is running low or the stock level is abnormal. 

The BLE-based system can also assist asset managers in finding free storage spaces in the warehouse. A common scene in a warehouse setting is that staff are storing inventory in the closest shelves to the loading and unloading bays for convenient access, leaving many shelves at the back of the warehouse underutilized. The BLE system accurately calculates the warehouse spaces based on the real-time inventory count to provide warehouse managers with a complete picture of the warehouse’s available storage spaces. There is a very good chance that warehouse managers will find ways to make use of the underutilized storage spaces and discover new potentials to expand warehouse capacity. 

 

  • Utilizing Equipment And Assets More Efficiently

Making the most out of material handling equipment and tools in the warehouse can significantly improve overall operational efficiency and reduce costs. Similar to tracking inventory, asset managers can attach BLE beacons to any kind of equipment and tools to track their usage. 

The forklift is one of the essential pieces of equipment in the warehouse, and by attaching BLE beacons to the forklifts, asset managers can track their locations and collect travel patterns of these forklifts. By analyzing the equipment usage patterns, assets managers can identify idle assets and reduce equipment idle time. 

It also helps asset managers optimize the storage location of equipment to make sure they are easily accessible by staff and workers. The BLE system presents a huge opportunity for creating an integrated operational platform that links equipment, personnel, assets, and inventory together and creates a streamlined warehouse workflow. 

 

  • Unlocking The Power Of Artificial Intelligence And Big Data

Artificial intelligence and the adoption of big data analytics will have fundamental impacts on warehouse operations and completely reimagines what the BLE system can do. 

By attaching BLE beacons on each moving asset, they can map out the entire warehouse path network and allow the system to utilize computational power and artificial intelligence to draw out the best routing for every trip. The system can predictively identify bottlenecks by analyzing historical trip data and patterns and reroute equipment operators to reach the destined zone. This could eliminate as many traffic conflict points as possible in the warehouse and put every vehicle and equipment on the most efficient route. 

Another crucial improvement of the AI-powered BLE system is combining multiple work orders into one trip to reduce unnecessary trips. The system can smartly identify any work orders that can be done within one trip and assign the optimal routing to operators to collect all patches along the way. 

With a BLE network in place, warehouse managers can observe a significant improvement in the facility’s capability to handle more orders because of a more streamlined inventory management solution that can automatically record every step of the inventory storage process. The data collected from equipment and inventory movement will be calculated and analyzed by the system to help warehouse managers identify equipment idle time, space availability, average travel time and a wide range of performance indicators. From there, warehouse managers can assess where there is room for further improvement and optimization.

BLE based inventory management and tracking solution is the future of smart warehousing management. Warehouse managers need a constant flow of information and data that is connected to equipment and inventory systems to effectively manage a constant flow of goods. Contact us to speak with a BLE solution expert to learn how we can leverage BLE technologies and create a customized solution package so you can achieve smart warehousing management. 

 

Contributors:

Alan Zheng, Content Writer 

David Herrington, Product Manager

winter operation programs, winter, snow plow, gps, telematics, winter operation departments

What’s On The Horizon For Winter Operation Departments

Posted on | by Victoria Gole | Leave a Comment on What’s On The Horizon For Winter Operation Departments

As the weather begins to get colder and with many cities around the world already seeing snow, it’s time for winter operation programs to kick their initiatives into full gear. For many departments this includes performing comprehensive research on how they can improve their efforts. 

Sound familiar? Keep reading as we will discuss the various factors that winter maintenance fleets must stay on top of and how new technology is critical in their success. 

 

How Some Winter Operation Departments Are Falling Behind 

Depending on several factors including budget, need or even manpower, some winter operation fleets fall behind in terms of leveraging smart technologies. What this means is that many fleets may not be utilizing new strategies, initiatives or technologies. As a result, certain operational efficiencies are automatically lost causing a decrease of productivity, optimization, and visibility.

What should winter operation programs look out for to know whether this is happening to them? 

First, they should look at the operations of their competitors or the industry as a whole. This is a critical first step to easily see whether you’re behind in certain areas. Fleets should look out for the following: 

  • How other municipalities or fleets can share mapping information publicly on a visible and modern map solution 
  • How other teams are maintaining workflow and reporting easily and efficiently 
  • Productivity or costs that are quickly diminishing 

Next, teams should research best practices online and see what the conversations surrounding new initiatives are. 

 

Things That Every Fleet Needs To Know About 

Things are constantly changing – it’s evident. However, it’s important to know what GoFleet, an industry leader in 360 fleet solutions, has observed and thinks is important for fleets to know about.

 

Smarter Software Than Just GPS 

Certain software solutions are already widely used. Often this incorporates basic GPS tracking solutions to ensure the location and route of a vehicle is known. This allows on a basic level, for teams to monitor compliance and route completion. 

Where things get innovative, is when software is leveraged to utilize this GPS data to monitor more data. Pushing data into software with algorithms that leverage GPS information visually is how the data can be displayed publicly. Often this is via an embedded code on a website that automatically pulls real-time information that the fleet pre-categorizes to be available to the public. By doing this, it allows winter operations departments to be transparent so civilian drivers can better plan routes and ensure that safe roads will be used for travel. 

Additionally, this map data can be manipulated to show compliance on an internal level. Efforts can be reviewed for efficiency and steps can be taken so roads are cleared in adequate times. Reports can also be created to prove that compliance is met at all times. How is this possible? Geofencing – a tool which divides map locations into zones to section off tasks or designate tasks and routes. 

To summarize, connected software solutions allows for the following to be completed within winter operation fleets:

  • Vehicle optimization and fuel usage reports to ensure efficiency  
  • Fleet compliance to regulations in regards to snow clearing 
  • Driver behaviour reports to ensure safe driving is monitored 
  • Resource utilization reports to monitor quantity and location span of where resources are used – this can include fuel, salt and even sand 
  • Geofencing to track progress, next routes and restrictions 

 

Connected Hardware Options

Hardware may seem obvious, it’s not that simple. There’s more to hardware in winter department fleets than one may think. By leveraging connected hardware solutions and sensors to track pre-existing hardware, even more intel can be collected on fleets – this is a necessity for winter departments reviewing current operations. 

By leveraging connected hardware, more data can be collected. Meaning the above points related to software solutions can in fact be accurate so proper actions can be executed. Not only does this include GPS tracking such as the GO9 device, but also a dash camera system, driver ID system and much more. Integrating these products and connecting them internally allows for the following: 

  • The GO9 monitors HOS compliance, GPS location, engine performance and more
  • Dash cameras can monitor and record not only driving events or accidents, but whether the driver is attentive to the road ahead
  • Driver ID systems ensuring that the right driver is operating the proper vehicle and the timing of shiftwork 

For aspects of the vehicle that don’t allow for an initial connected piece of equipment like plows, salt or sand dispensers, sensors can be leveraged. Installing smart sensors to track various vehicle actions or tasks ensures complete visibility. In regards to winter department vehicles, sensors monitor when plow equipment is used – proper tracking of route and work commencement can happen as the sensor will detect when the plow is truly in operation (being down or up). As well, sensors can display a proper picture of resource utilization throughout a route and whether certain locations were over or under served. This ensures resources are not wasted to keep costs low. 

 

Have All Of This In Place? This Is What Is On The Horizon… 

If you’re one of the winter department operations who have all of this in place, it’s still important to stay up to date with future trends. This will ensure that your team is prepared with new tools and strategies in upcoming seasons. The following is predicted to be introduced: 

  • Intelligent camera technologies will use artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to improve data collection from equipment via smart city networks 
  • The environment will become a larger focus as electric snow plow vehicles are leveraged to reduce carbon emissions and lower operational costs 
  • Vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication will evolve on a 5G network that will provide fast lines of communication 
  • Operations can be automated as autonomous vehicles are introduced to eliminate human error and costs 

While much of the information stated above is directly related to winter operation departments, the same technology and thinking will be seen in other industries. If you’re interested in learning more about how your fleet, regardless of the industry, can improve or better prepare for future technical challenges, contact us today. 

Electric bus fleet

An Electric Bus Fleet: Going From 0 to 16,000 Electric Buses In A Decade

Posted on | by Alan | Leave a Comment on An Electric Bus Fleet: Going From 0 to 16,000 Electric Buses In A Decade

Across the globe, municipalities took the initiatives of shaping a greener urban future by quickly advancing and accelerating the bus fleet electrification process. Some cities have recognized the benefits of adopting electric buses in the very early stage of development. We are going to take a look at one city that leads the way in the bus fleet electrification field and explore how it accomplished this complex task. 

Looking for more information about why fleets are looking at adopting greener technologies? Read the first part of this article here. 

 

An 16,000 Electric Bus Fleet In Shenzhen, China

Shenzhen, a modern metropolitan city located in southern China, owns the world’s first and largest all-electric bus fleet. All 16,000 city’s public transit buses and 22,000 taxis are operating 100% on electric power. This fast-growing city is also the home to the largest electric vehicle manufacturer, BYD. 

The Shenzhen Bus Group, the major bus transit agency in Shenzhen, estimated that by converting the entire fleet to electric, they are able to conserve 160,000 tonnes of coal per year and reduce annual CO₂ emissions by 440,000 tonnes. However, it’s important to note that Shenzhen didn’t have any electric buses let alone an electric bus fleet prior to 2010.

So how did a city grow from zero to 16,000 electric buses in just under a decade? There are many reasons and factors that contributed to this green accomplishment. 

 

Growing Environmental And Health Concerns

Stepping into the 21st Century, China faces growing public concerns and criticisms about the deteriorating urban environment and air quality due to a spike in the concentration of lung-damaging particles called PM2.5. This increase is primarily attributed to the industry’s  heavy expansion, increased private vehicles on the roads, and a profit-focused economic development national strategy. 

Heavy pollution often leads to smog, an unfavourable intense air pollution condition that could have detrimental effects on human and ecosystem health. The situation worsened year after year, forcing the government to take action and introduce policies to reduce urban carbon emissions. 

Converting the entire country’s bus fleet into an all-electric fleet is an important first step in mitigating carbon impacts and restore the environment on the government’s agenda. 

Shenzhen has been selected as a pilot city to experiment with the fleet electrification project, primarily due to Shenzhen being a quite innovative city in China and the upcoming 2021 Universiade games. The city has been onboard with this ambitious plan of replacing all city’s 16,000 buses with electric buses, and hopefully, pave the way and serve as an example for other cities in China. 

 

Governmental Support Of Transitioning To Electric Fleet

One of the key factors for any transit agency to transition into an electric fleet is getting wide support and funding from the local government. Electric bus units are often more expensive than the conventional buses in terms of purchase prices and upfront costs. However, as battery prices are rapidly dropping due to technological innovations and lowering manufacturing costs, it is highly likely that we will see more affordable electric bus models launched into the market in the near future. 

 

Investing In The Right Infrastructures

Investing and establishing electric bus infrastructures is an essential practice in supporting and accelerating the adoption of electric buses. Knowing how to strategically place charging stations across the city directly impacts the electric bus network’s operational efficiency. 

Shenzhen took a pioneering approach by installing charging stations at bus depots for overnight charging and also built charging stations at bus terminus so vehicles can charge periodically when they layovers. This ensures buses have enough battery energy to cover the entire day operations without the need to be taken out of service in the middle of the day for a lengthy full charge. It also maximizes vehicles’ utilization rates to make sure they spend more time on roads serving customers rather than being parked at charging stations, waiting for a charge. Additionally, the city opens these charging stations to other city-service vehicles, such as taxis, to improve charging infrastructures’ utilization rates. The results are astonishing, as these infrastructures accelerate the transitions of all 22,000 city taxis to a fully electric fleet.

 

Enhanced Manufacturer’s Support

A primary key concern raised by many transit agencies is whether the electric bus can have the same life expectancy as the conventional bus. The degree of battery degradation has a direct impact on the vehicle’s operational range and overall system productivity. Though most of the current electric bus manufacturers promised a vehicle lifecycle of 8 to 10 years or 100,000 miles, similar to what a conventional diesel bus can deliver, hesitation and indecision still exist among transit agencies over the reliability of electric buses. 

Shenzhen Bus Group was confronted with the uncertainty associated with the bus battery performance at the early stage of the transition process. However, this uncertainty was solved by negotiating with vehicle manufacturers for a lifetime warranty of the vehicles’ battery. It’s important to note that one of the main reasons why the vehicle manufacturer was willing to offer a lifetime warranty is because they were able to manage the financial risks through continuously innovating battery technologies. Having strong foundational technological support from the manufacturers is an essential pillar to ensure the fleet electrification process can succeed and sustain in the long term. 

The success of the bus electrification project in Shenzhen, China, highlighted that the bus electrification process relies on the support from multiple key stakeholders, strategic infrastructure, asset allocation and management. 

Now, the following question remains: how can data be collected to not only track progress towards a greener future, but to ensure typical fleet management occurs?

 

The Role of Telematics in Electric Fleets

Electric Vehicle Suitability Assessment: Bringing You The World’s Largest Electric Vehicle Real-World Range Dataset

Electric vehicle adoption cannot succeed without telematics. From the preparation and consultation at the beginning of the process to the fleet scale management in the later stage of adoption, telematics plays a critical role in every part of the journey. 

The EVSA (Electric Vehicle Suitability Assessment) is a systematic data-driven process that informs fleet managers about which parts of the fleet are suitable to transition to electric. Through leveraging the world’s largest electric vehicle real-world range dataset and analyzing the current fleet’s unique driving profile and historical patterns, the system can make personalized recommendations of fleet electrification blueprint and best implementation practices. 

For transit agencies, not all buses in the depot are suitable or cost-beneficial to be converted to the electric bus immediately. Buses in newer conditions or those that were recently bought by transit agencies certainly should not be phased out before reaching the end of their lifecycle. 

Range and the availability of charging infrastructures are some key considerations for transit agencies when it comes to fleet planning and deployment. They are more likely to pilot and deploy electric buses on shorter bus routes or routes with sufficient charging infrastructures. The EVSA has the best ability to know which route is fitted for electric bus operations after analyzing thousands of similar real-world scenarios, giving fleet managers the full confidence to implement plans.  

Costs of fleet electrification are always a major concern for any business, including transit agencies. The EVSA will provide fleet managers with a clear comparison between the costs of operating the existing fleet and the costs of operating an electric vehicle fleet. Fleet managers could determine which approach or strategy they should be undertaking that best suits their budget. They are also able to view the initial expense and long-term savings of adoption to the electric vehicle fleet, paving the way for presenting these data to city council for approval. 

 

Largest Set of Supported Electric Vehicle Models

The electric bus market is rapidly expanding as new vehicle models are introduced into the market every month. To provide the best possible support of the entire fleet operation, fleet managers need a telematics solution that supports all types of electric vehicle models in the fleet. That means telematic solutions must keep up with the growth of electric vehicle markets by continually adding vehicle support every month. 

A winning solution should evolve with the changing market and support a broad range of electric bus models, so transit agencies can purchase any model they want without any constraints. 

 

Highly Customizable Software Platform

Similar to other industries, transit agencies desire a high degree of customization on the telematics platform to add features to cater to their needs. The telematics solution providers have to offer customers a wide selection of add-on features and software integration capability so that transit agencies can migrate their existing features such as automatic passengers counting solutions, crowd monitoring systems, and a variety of transit-oriented software systems to the new electric fleet management platform. Telematics offers new exciting features such as battery degradation monitoring, energy use tracking, and temperature impacts on range real-time analytics tools to provide comprehensive electric fleet support. 

 

Electric Vehicle Charge Assurance Dashboard: Guarantee A Smooth Operation

Service reliability is a vital metric for transit operations. No transit agency wants to see one of their vehicles break down or declare out of service in the middle of passenger route due to low battery. The Electric Vehicle Charge Assurance Dashboard is a useful tool that enables fleet managers to monitor vehicle charging status in real-time. Fleet managers will get an alert if the vehicle wasn’t plugged in or charging didn’t start correctly. The dashboard also warns fleet managers of any electric vehicle that didn’t reach the specified battery level due to a charging issue, allowing fleet managers to take preventive actions such as taking the vehicle out of service early. 

 

The Future Of Electric Buses

As battery technologies continue to improve and evolve, we expect to see buses with improved range and longer lifecycles in the future. The extended range will open up new opportunities and provide more flexibility to transit agencies in terms of route planning and work assignment. 

Expanding charging infrastructures and developing new charging technologies can also significantly improve operational flexibility and vehicle utilization rates. Wireless charging provides a glimpse into the visionary future of electric bus charging solutions. The wireless solution involves charging pads positioned at terminus and bus layover points. Whenever the bus stops on the charging pad for a brief layover, the bus automatically adds energy to its battery through an air gap. This flexible “on-route” charging solution allows buses to complete unlimited cycles of trips without the need to return to the depot for a lengthy full charge. It is a transformative technology that allows electric buses to operate routes of any length without range concerns. 

There is no doubt that the electric bus is the future of public transit. It is our answer and response to the worsening global environment, declining community health, and increasing social burdens. Transitioning to renewable energy is the mission of our generation. The electric bus is just the beginning of this challenging journey.

Contact us to speak with a fleet electrification expert to see how we can leverage telematics technologies to help your fleets go electric.