Ruges Parts Center, which sells wholesale and retail parts in connection with a multi-franchised auto dealership based in Red Hook, has a fleet of 18 trucks. For the past year, parts director David Zitz has kept a close eye on what happens to those trucks when they”™ve left the premises. After a driver makes a delivery, Zitz knows not only how many miles he drove, but also whether the person drove over the speed limit, stopped for a break, took a circuitous route to the customer”™s location or left the truck idling for too long.
Ruges Parts”™ purchase and implementation of a GPS fleet-management system from ToTel-Net Logistics, a Kingston-based firm, might sound a bit Big Brotherish, but Zitz said none of the drivers has expressed any resistance. And the benefits of getting more control over fleet costs and better customer service make the monthly service fee well worth the investment, Zitz said.
Each truck has been outfitted with a GPS black box, which contains a data card. The black box tracks the vehicle”™s mileage, speed, time on the road, route, and even opening of the passenger doors, which is then sent to a company Web site via the SIM card. The dispatcher logs on and can track the vehicle in real time, as well as access maps that are continuously updated through the Internet for fail-proof routing.
At Ruges Parts, the system “keeps track of the delivery times to our key customers, so we can measure our standards of service,” said Zitz. “It allows for more accountability and control, improving customer service.” Drivers are held to a standard of accountability. “I”™ve had an occasion where a driver will say to me, ”˜Is it all right to take my lunch hour at the mall,”™ knowing full well I”™ll know he went there,” said Zitz.
Since the black box keeps track of the engine”™s performance and time traveled, Zitz also knows if a truck has been idling for more than four minutes, which is the company limit. “If I see they”™ve stopped for 20 minutes and never turned off the truck, I”™ll bring that to their attention and let them know they”™ve wasted fuel,” he said, resulting in savings on fuel costs.
ToTel-Net Logistics has about a dozen customers for its fleet management system, most of which are connected with a municipality. They include the city of Kingston, which is using the system for its buses, the town of Catskill”™s ambulance service, and the town of Lloyd Highway Department, according to company president Kenneth C. Backofen. Ulster County has expressed interest in using the technology to manage its 325 vehicles. ToTel-Net Logistics is also talking with two nonprofit service organizations that provide transportation to people with disabilities, he said.
Backofen said that for organizations with a fleet of five vehicles or more, the devices pay for themselves within 11 months. He said that his product is also priced very competitively, with the black box units selling for under $400 apiece and the monthly service fee priced under $40.
Another selling point is that the system provides an extra layer of security to drivers. It also contains 15 sensors, which can be customized for different uses: For example, a sensor could be attached to the drug cabinet in an ambulance to monitor access to pharmaceuticals stored in the vehicle.
The fleet management system is just one of several products ToTel-Net sells that combine cell phone and GPS technology, said Backofen. In a recent interview at the company”™s offices in uptown Kingston, he and Bob Glemming, a former software developer who is vice president of dealer development, demonstrated the personal tracking device the company sells to businesses and individuals, under the Business Protect and Family Protect trade names.
The entrepreneurs said about a dozen clients are using Family Protect, which was launched last April. One customer is Maureen Terwilliger, who met Backofen at a business networking event and bought the device five months ago. Terwilliger said the device, which is tracked from a home computer and instantly dials 911 when a button is pushed, is used by her entire family. She gives it to her 12-year-old when he”™s going on a field trip and to her teenaged son when he”™s driving to New York City. Her husband, who is an airline pilot, sometimes brings it with him on his flights. “If he”™s stuck, I can see where he”™s at,” she said.
Terwilliger, who works as a sales rep, said she also finds the device helpful in her own work. Taking it along on a sales call to an unfamiliar place adds to her sense of security.
Is Backofen concerned about new competition from cell phones coming on the market with GPS capability? No, because with standard cell phones “you have to wake up the phone to ask where it is,” said Backofen. “It”™s not transmitting the location unless the unit is activated.” In contrast, his product pushes information in real time to a Web site, and with the push of a button the user automatically calls a predetermined contact or security service, such as 911.
Backofen was a reseller of telephone services when he started ToTel-Net 13 years ago, after obtaining GPS mapping software from a French-based company. (His company is also a wholesale distributor for the software.) He and Glemming are constantly seeking new partners and applications to expand their family of tracking device products.
In December, they announced a strategic alliance with SmartWear Technologies, a San Diego-based company that sells radio frequency identifier (RFID) solutions. RFID utilizes a tag containing a tiny antenna, which transmits information by means of radio frequency waves to a reader. Large corporations such as Wal-Mart are using RFIDs to manage their inventory, and the technology is also being piloted to the airline industry to move and track baggage.
Backofen said ToTel-Net will combine RFID technology with its GPS capabilities to create products that enable items or people to be located anywhere in the world in real time. Right now, the sky”™s the limit. By combining GPS with RFID technology, “we”™re embarking on something we”™ve never done,” said Backofen. He is talking to a passport company in Ireland and exploring applications for using RFID tags to transmit information from paper medical records, which could be cheaper and easier than scanning them into electronic systems.
He is also looking into products for seniors, including a device that would instantly trigger a call to a contact should it hit the ground ”“ a way to ensure a frail person who falls gets help. Celebrities could be protected from would-be kidnapers and ranchers in Argentina could track and locate their cattle.
ToTel-Net and Smartwear are currently testing a combination RFID/GPS device on food shipments to Haiti. The device enables APIS, a nonprofit aid organization that is overseeing the shipments, to monitor them remotely and ensure that the food is being delivered to the people who need it, Backofen said.
One obstacle for wider application of the RFID technology has been the cost of the readers. But Backofen said this is becoming less of an issue, with the price plummeting from $1,000 a year ago to $200-$300. The RFID tags currently cost about $1, he said.
“We need to sit down and focus on what we can do to add value to our customer base,” Backofen said. “It takes time and perseverance and partnering with the right individuals,” added Glemming.
