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Spotlight on Telematics, Bus ETA and Back to School: A Conversation with Kemal Leslie

Posted on September 13, 2021 | by Alexis | Leave a Comment

Kemal Leslie, a strategic consultant to GoFleet, talks about Lord Selkirk School Division’s biggest pain points, and how GoFleet’s comprehensive and integrated telematics solutions solved some of their biggest back to school issues.

Tell me a bit about LSSD and the kinds of things they were looking for.

KL: They began working with GoFleet a few years ago to help them manage their bus fleet maintenance and location tracking. This also included management of driver operational safety.

How did Bus ETA factor into the equation?

KL: At that time, they were also looking at Bus ETA as a solution, where a student or parent of a student, for example, could know when the bus is on its way to pick up or drop off, as well as the whereabouts of that vehicle. This has become a more popular solution over the last, I would say, five or six years, where parents or students want to know when to arrive at the bus stop.

So it seems that Bus ETA also offers peace of mind?

KL: Well, for safety and security reasons, they received feedback that parents want to be able to track kids’ travel to and from school. They wanted an easy way to oversee their safety. That’s what the Bus ETA application really was about.

What were the other components of your proposal?

KL: At that time, GoFleet implemented not only their bus tracking and status reports, but had also integrated another solution called On Command Connection with their Geotab telematics system, which is a diagnostic maintenance offering under Navistar. Their maintenance provider can track their buses and advise if any need to be repaired based on automated scheduling and alerts from real-time vehicle data; their maintenance team can call in a repair just by looking at the status report that’s provided through On Command.

Finally, Transfinder became the next third party integration for this solution. It’s a mobile application that tracks where the student is; if they are on the bus, when the bus is arriving, that type of thing. The system actually utilizes Geotab telematics data to manage the reporting within the application where the student might be at any given time, or where the bus is in terms of its daily trips.

So in terms of the evolution, it started as a fleet management application to manage the hardware, the equipment, location status, etc. And then student tracking for parents was integrated to centralize everything within their GoFleet solution.

That sounds really comprehensive. What are some other applications for this system outside of LSSD?

KL: Well, the entire solution could serve many verticals really, either in part or as a whole integrated solution. The fleet management piece can apply to any industry that requires management of their own automated fleet — it could be heavy equipment, trucks, small vehicles — any of that can be adapted to use this functionality.

The same goes for the maintenance piece; to be able to connect to and manage the fleet without needing to bring in the vehicle, to have diagnostics established if there’s a problem with a unit and it needs to be called in. Those things can adapt to pretty much any industry.

And what about Transfinder?

KL: I think that the Transfinder solution, as it relates to tracking when a vehicle is coming to pick someone up, certainly has its application in schools. But it would also have applications for other transportation clients, really any type of privatized or public transportation, the TTC for example. There will always be people who could use an app to tell them when to expect their ride.

All in all, I think it’s a pretty robust solution; the equipment management piece, the maintenance piece and the transportation communication piece. Operators benefit from having a really strong, interconnected solution that provides important efficiencies.

Interested to learn more about how GoFleet’s solution could help your fleets unique needs? Contact us today by clicking the button below!

Part 2: Telematics Solutions That Work For Any Vehicle Year In School Transportation

Posted on February 8, 2021 | by Burhanuddin | Leave a Comment

In Part One we discussed how fleets, specifically in school transportation, have buses that include vehicle models of varying years. To read Part One click here.

In Part Two, we will discuss the specific solutions available on the market that school transporters and many other industries can leverage.

The following solutions work for an entire fleet regardless of the age of vehicles or fleet size.

Bus ETA

The Bus Expected Time of Arrival (Bus ETA) solution addresses the problem of time management between the expected time of arrival and when bus actually arrives. Parents and children can use the Bus ETA app on their smartphones to be aware of the bus’s arrival time and plan accordingly. Parents will now know where their children are at all times and reduce the number of frequent concerned calls.

To learn more, visit: https://www.gofleet.com/product/Bus-ETA

Passenger/Driver Tags

Passenger and driver tags go hand in hand with the Bus ETA solution. Passengers can use these tags to scan when entering or exiting the bus and both parents and the school will be informed. It will reassure the school and parents of what the child’s location status is. When used by bus drivers, fleet managers can know exactly when a driver began a shift or confirm who is driving to ease reporting and organization.

To learn more, visit: https://www.gofleet.com/product/driver-id-nfc-technology/

ZenduMaintenance

ZenduMaintenance is an industry leading full maintenance management solution that ensures that fleet vehicles remain in safe and efficient working condition. By leveraging this digital solution that automatically collects engine data that is connected with the already in place GPS tracking solutions like Geotab’s GO9 device, the transition is seamless. It’s a quick and easy solution to reduce breakdowns by improving maintenance efforts.

To learn more, visit: https://www.gofleet.com/product/zendu-maintenance

GO Talk

While maintenance management solutions will reduce technical faults, it’s important to remember to also focus on communication solutions. Not only can these solutions keep drivers alert on the road with audio alerts, but drivers can also have two-way conversations if an unexpected event occurs. With GO Talk, school transportation drivers will be alerted of pickup or drop off changes as well as receive recommendations on how to improve driving habits in real-time.

To learn more, visit: https://www.gofleet.com/product/verbal-driver-feedback

ZenduCheck

With the ongoing pandemic, digital symptom monitoring solutions are in demand for schools that are open and are allowing for in-person education. By leveraging this solution within school transportation, fleets can ensure that drivers are not only healthy and symptom-free while completing their routes, but that children who are entering the bus are symptom-free as well. ZenduCheck works by prompting individuals to complete a screening survey and even works as a contract tracing tool if an individual is tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.

To learn more, visit: https://zenduit.com/protect-your-fleet-with-health-status-monitoring-solutions/

While this is just a short list specific to school transporters, these telematics solutions can be used by fleets with vehicle models of varying years and can include many others beneficial solutions. For more information on any of these solutions or for more information about how your unique fleet should be leveraging new technology that works with any model vehicle, contact us today.

Part 1: Telematics Solutions That Work For Any Vehicle Year In School Transportation

Posted on February 8, 2021 | by Burhanuddin | Leave a Comment

Many fleets understand how telematics solutions can benefit fleets, but often managers may be misinformed about how the solutions can be adopted by their fleet if their vehicles vary in age. Numerous solutions can be used by school transporters regardless of the make, model or year, continue reading to learn more.

Why Telematics Solutions Are Important For School Transportation Fleets

Safety is of utmost importance and depends entirely on the decisions that drivers make. However, in some industries, there is even more stress placed upon safety as it can affect the lives of others. When discussing school transportation, this is visible as the driving behaviour and vehicle upkeep can not only affect the life of the driver, but of the students boarding as well.

Safety and Telematics

When addressing fleet safety, telematics can help support drivers with feedback and coaching by implementing driver scorecards, reports and alerts to ensure they know how to make safe driving decisions.

When discussing fleet safety and maintenance management, fleets are turning to systems that monitor and alert teams when maintenance checks or repairs need to happen. This ensures that unexpected breakdowns are drastically decreased and repair turnaround times are increased.

Efficiency and Telematics

Boosting efficiency can help school districts that face tight budgets accomplish more with less. By cutting down on idling time, speeding and inefficient bus routes, more money can be saved to ensure students have adequate transportation to and from school.

While telematics may seem important to be used in all school transportation vehicles, sometimes fleets overlook it. Even though there are varying reasons as to why this is, many are simply misinformed about whether the technological advancements can actually be adopted and implemented.

Why School Transportation Fleets May Initially Overlook New Technologies

It’s not unheard of for school transporters, or any fleet for that matter, to have fleets that include vehicle models of varying years. With tight budgets, school transportation fleets are often seen to purchase new buses to replace older models that are no longer functioning. As a result, fleets have a variety of old and new buses, which in turn seems to cause a concern about whether telematics will be of use for the entire fleet.

This poses the need for teams like GoFleet to share knowledge and insight to all-year inclusive vehicle solutions that fleets with varying makes and models can use.

Finding All-Year Inclusive Vehicle Solutions: Where To Start

As there seems to be miscommunication about model years being a requirement for using telematics solutions, our team has outlined four steps to take when searching for all-year inclusive vehicle solutions:

1. Evaluate Your Fleet Needs

Before purchasing a new system or solutions to implement, managers must evaluate the current tools they have in place, as well their goals with utilizing telematics. Whether it’s to increase safety, lower costs or boost efficiency, these must all be determined to ensure the right solutions are later implemented.

2. Do Your Research On Solutions

With your fleets needs in mind, it’s vital to research and find the right solution amongst the countless ones available while ensuring the age of the vehicle will not affect the success of the implementation. For example, if the priority is to cut down on fuel costs, looking for a solution to reduce idling time and monitoring driver behavior is the way to go. As well, it’s important to keep in mind that there are various solutions that work hand-in-hand with each other, in addition to being all encompassing.

3. Review The Costs Of Implementation

Fleets need to ensure that they make use of every dollar wisely. Setting aside and organizing the budget to adopt telematics may seem difficult, but it will result in great returns on investment.

Systematic maintenance will avoid expensive repairs and result in the buses having longer life spans. Longer vehicle life span will also result from increased safety, and the frequency of school bus accidents will in turn reduce.

Although these telematic solutions can be implemented into the fleet at an affordable rate, agencies like Sourcewell can offer competitively, solicited purchasing contracts to get you these solutions and equipment at a discounted price.

4. Speak With An Experienced Solutions Provider

Implementing telematics into your fleet can seem daunting, but by working with an experienced solutions provider you can rest easy knowing you’re in good hands. Working with GoFleet, an industry leader in this sector, will make the process simple as our team of industry specific specialists will ensure that your fleet receives a custom solution to drive your efficiency, safety and maintenance management as well as increase your ROI. To learn more about the right telematics solution for your fleet, get in touch with our School Transportation Experts.

To read more about the specific telematic solutions that can work for fleets with varying vehicle years, read the continuation in Part Two.

Taking Your Fleet Telematics to the Next Level

Posted on November 4, 2019 | by Anna | Leave a Comment

With basic telematics implemented into your fleet, you are now able to track the location, movement and speed of all of your vehicles, which helps your organization increase efficiencies, and effectively, reduce wasted time and improve costs.

So, what comes next?

Advanced Fleet Tracking
Once you have the basics in place, you can start to dive deeper into telematics technology in order to really fine tune and optimize your fleet operation.

Check out these major benefits your company can gain by implementing advanced fleet telematics solutions.

Increased Safety
By monitoring driver behaviour – things such as how fast your driver is driving and how aggressive their driving may be – you can use technology that allows you to talk to the driver and coach them through safer driving practices, thereby increasing safety for them and for your vehicle.

It has been shown that drivers who are aware that their driving habits are being monitored, are more apt to perform safer behaviour which not only increases their safety, but also reduces accidents and damage to vehicles and freight.

Increased Efficiencies
By using real time communication as an add-on to your basic telematics, and adding in some routing apps, you can manage driver routes more efficiently – if there is an accident, you would be able to re-route the driver and eliminate wasted time having them stuck in traffic with high priority loads on the vehicle.

By using some of these type of add-ons to your basic telematics, adding a few minutes more to your driver’s HOS (Hours of Service) can really increase your fleet efficiency and delivery rate.

Reduce Operating Costs
In being able to track even the smallest things, such as idling time and minimizing it, a fleet can increase savings by reducing fuel costs. Other things that can be looked at are tracking at a more granular level, such as live movements on a map, maps routing, stopping vehicles, accidents and who’s responsible, which allows for increased productivity thereby reducing costs.

Optimize Vehicle Performance
With advanced telematics, sensors can send out alerts about engine issues and other diagnostic problems. Further to that, the data can be used in a predictive manner to determine when service should happen on a vehicle and allow for advanced planning in order to ensure as much uptime for the fleet as possible and manage the expenses related to repairs.

Reduce your Carbon Footprint
It’s a hot topic these days more and more companies realize that not only is this good for business, it’s good for the planet as well. By reducing your fleet’s idling time and decreasing speeding (thereby reducing the amount of exhaust and CO2), not only are you increasing the safety of your fleet and drivers, increasing your efficiencies and reducing your costs, you are also helping to do your part in reducing emissions in the air for our future generation.

Streamline Compliance
With the Canadian ELD mandated for June 21st, 2020, it is imperative that fleets ensure they are compliant and implementing advanced telematics not only ensures this but provides many other benefits previously mentioned. In addition to the benefits, the cost of not being compliant is expensive and can be avoided with the correct telematics solutions in place.

Do you need to upgrade your telematics plan for advanced fleet tracking?
Some features are already built into your tracking device that collects the data and some solutions require you to step up to the next level of offered services and products.

In order to get the most out of your fleet telematics so that you can save your company time, money and increase efficiencies and safety, give GoFleet a call. We are here to help create a customized and fully integrated telematics solution that is specific to your needs and lets you get the most value for your money.

Advanced fleet tracking is much more than GPS services and with the telematics of the future, there are and will be so much more you can do in order to continually create the best fleet management company you can envision.

GoFleet – Connected Technology. Smarter Solutions.
Discover more about GoFleet and its Telematics Services

Bus Fleet Tracking Systems: A Success Story

Posted on August 21, 2017 | by Jimmy Song

Bus Fleet Tracking Systems are in High Demand.

Why are bus GPS tracking devices improving bus transportation?

The bus industry revolves around serving customers but unfortunately, riders complain of similar issues all around the world. These range from late buses, aggressive drivers, and accidents.

Buses with GPS tracking devices fare better than buses without; let’s take a look at a success story.

Smart Nation Singapore

Singapore is one of the world’s most advanced countries. One of its initiatives is called “Smart Nation“. Smart Nation’s mission is to empower people through technology and create a better society.

Improving transit is part of the Smart Nation initiative. The Singaporean transit system includes a fleet of trains and buses.

Buses are the popular choice because they cover all of Singapore, whereas trains only serve major centers. Despite its extensive coverage, Singaporeans “have a love-hate relationship” with their buses.

Many riders complain that buses take over half an hour to arrive instead of the scheduled 10 to 15 minutes. Other riders complain of uncomfortable rides where buses are overcrowded and drivers are aggressive. Singapore’s buses, however, improved in the following categories after installing bus GPS tracking devices.

Customer service

Bus fleet tracking systems provide data including real-time location, traffic, and weather. All of these data pieces create happier customers.

With the system, buses are now able to accurately report real-time location. This gives bus riders reliable information on bus arrival times and bus crowding. Customers found this info to be useful when planning their transit around Singapore.

Buses are also able to use this data to take dynamic routes. By relaying data such as congested areas and weather alerts, buses are given the smartest route to take, reducing wait time and customer complaints.

Smoother Rides

Singapore improved ride experience by collecting driver data from their bus fleet tracking system. Driving habits are assessed and reports are created to cut down on bad driving habits.

At GoAhead, one of Singapore’s bus operators, they have a policy of rewarding who they call “green drivers”. Green drivers are drivers who score less than 2 events per hour. These events – ranging from speeding to harsh braking – are aligned with creating a smoother ride experience.

This program worked – green drivers were given monetary rewards. Since July 2016, driver incidents were reduced by 150,000 incidents per month!

Better Society

Singapore’s bus fleet tracking system aligns with the Smart Nation mission of improving society.

Let’s look at the environmental impact. Buses started measuring fuel usage patterns, including idling. Idling is a key metric because it indicates when drivers are leaving their buses on while not being used. Bus drivers were coached to reduce idling, which led to reduced fuel wastage and greenhouse gas emissions.

In addition to making Singapore greener, buses are also safer. Many buses installed Mobileye, an anti-collision device that alerts drivers of impending collisions with cyclists or pedestrians. This provides peace of mind, as Singapore is one of the world’s most populated areas.

When implementing a successful bus fleet tracking system, Singapore’s buses are a great example of providing better customer service, smoother rides, making for an overall better society.

For more information please check out:
Real-Time Bus Tracking and Fleet Management Solutions

Sources:
The Motley Fool: 6 Ways Singapore Could Change Under the Smart Nation Program
Channel News Asia: Digital Tools Help Bus Operators Cut Accidents, Bad Driving Habits
Smart Naiton Singapore: Many Smart Ideas One Smart Nation
Work Singapore: Public Transportation in Singapore
Business Day: Rewards for Light-Footed Go Bus Drivers

GPS Tracking Equipment: The Optimal School Bus Solution

Posted on August 29, 2014 | by Devin Johnson

The Optimal School Bus Solution: GoFleet’s GPS Tracking Equipment

In today’s economy, many school districts are facing budget cuts without sacrificing the students’ safety. School district transportation fleet managers are responsible for all of the children every day from the time they step foot on the school bus. State laws are extremely strict in regards to school buses because they want to ensure that the safest driving and operational procedures are being followed. GoFleet’s GPS tracking equipment can be used to help reduce costs and improve school bus safety.

School districts with GoFleet’s GPS tracking equipment are impressed with how helpful the data is for school bus management. Fleet managers are able to answer daily questions about school bus operation. If a school bus driver’s driving was in question, fleet managers can provide accurate information about the school bus’ speed, arrival and departure times, and location information.

GoFleet’s GPS tracking equipment data can be used to help school districts monitor many things. It can track how late the school bus is and pinpoint the buses exact location if it breaks down. It will also record bus idling times so that routes are able to be adjusted and made more efficient. This will help reduce the miles traveled and time on the road. Making the routes more efficient will save time, reduce fuel usage and lower operational expenses. Most importantly, the GPS tracking equipment will help keep the children as safe as possible. If a problem ever occurs on the bus, the school district will know the children’s location immediately.

Transportation managers share many of same issues as commercial fleet managers. Without GoFleet’s GPS tracking equipment, it is difficult to obtain accurate information about how long each stop took, routes driven, driver’s location and keeping up with bus maintenance. With GPS tracking equipment, school bus managers can easily monitor the buses, ensure child safety, keep the parents happy and reduce overhead. The fleet management system, will help the school district uncover many hidden costs that can reduce wasteful spending including excessive idling, underutilized buses and inefficient routing.

For more information about how GoFleet’s GPS tracking equipment can improve your school districts’ school bus system, Contact Us.

New York Emphasizes School Bus Fleet Safety

Posted on November 4, 2013 | by Victoria Gole | Leave a Comment

School Bus Fleet Safety Programs Keep Kids Safe

In school bus crash data collected by New York State’s Education Department, information surfaces that the greatest danger to students and bus drivers on the roadway is other drivers: whether it’s people rear-ending stopped busses, or sideswiping busses while cutting corners on narrow subdivision roadways.

The data also shows that the instances of students being seriously injured in a bus crash are quite rare. It also shows that school buses are generally the safest way to travel to and from school.

This can be attributed to proper fleet safety programs taught both in school and during training, along with a myriad of other factors.

New York State employs a bus inspection program as part of their overall fleet safety policy, under which each school bus is subject to a review more rigorous than the mandated vehicle inspection for passenger cars. Last year, according to the state Department of Transportation, more than 130,000 buses were inspected and 5.8% of the buses inspected were temporarily pulled off the road for repairs.

Keep in mind, the criteria for these inspections can be so strict, that everything on a bus is, or can be, an out-of-service ticket item.

Employing proper fleet safety can help keep your assets and everyone on the road safe. Reduce insurance costs and find out how GoFleet’s Fleet Safety Program can help your business prosper by calling 1.888.998.1122 or by emailing our sales team here.

Read more about School Bus Tracking Systems.