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Data system follows truck

7th August 1997, Page 15
7th August 1997
Page 15
Page 15, 7th August 1997 — Data system follows truck
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by Steve Banner • A new data collection system designed to tell fleet managers where their vehicles have been, the routes they took, and journey speed and mileage, has been unveiled by Leeds-based software house Minorplanet.

The truck-mounted AEM 1000 unit stores all the captured information until the truck returns to base. The data is then automatically downloaded into the transport manager's PC by a low-frequency radio link.

Data cartridge

"This means that you're not relying on the driver to plug in or remove a data cartridge," says Andrew Tillman. Minorplanet's chief operating officer. "If you depend on human involvement, you start to lose control; and the driver cannot switch AEM 1000 off."

The radio transmitter/receiver has a 250-metre range, and Tillman says it does not require a licence. Minorpkinet's software allows the data to be presented to the manager in various ways. For example, the journey can be replayed on screen on a 1:250,000 digital map showing everything from motorways to unclassified country lanes— though not individual city centre streets— indicating the time spent at each stopping place.

Alternatively, a detailed or summary report can be printed. The former gives the start time and the truck position minuteby-minute, or at time intervals set by the operator, giving road names and motorway junctions. It also shows the position relative to villages, towns, and cities—eg 3.0 miles S of Peterborough, Cambridgeshireand relative to any delivery points or destinations the haulier has keyed into the system.

It also gives speed and cumulative mileage. For example, it will inform the user that at 11:54hrs on 1 August his truck was on the Al5 three miles north of Market Deeping in Lincolnshire travelling at 30mph with a cumulative mileage of 18.5 miles.

If required it can monitor other functions—load area temperature, the number of times the tail lift was operated, or how many times the cargo area doors were opened. for instance.

AEM 1000 can tell where the vehicle is at any given time by reference to the GPS satellite network. Using satellites simply to determine positioning does not cost the haulier anything, points out Tillman.

Data is not transmitted directly to the depot while the driver is out on the road (unlike systems such as Marconi's Startrak). and the package cannot be used to track and trace trucks from a distant location. Tillman argues that in most cases hauliers don't need a constant real-time update of vehicle activities—and airtime costs money.

It costs £100 to install an AEM 1000 unit in a truck and it takes 40 to 50 minutesplus a rental charge of £50 payable monthly for the next 36 months. "There is no charge for software updates. but we do levy a ,E200 licence fee annually," Tillman explains.

When the rental agreement expires. Minorplanet will seek to replace the existing units with an updated package that will take into account three years' worth of further research.

Refinements could include the ability to download data from outbased vehicles over a landline at the end of each working day. There's also the future possibility of integrating AEM 1000 with the new generation of electronic tachographs.

Although it will identify instances where drivers have gone several miles off route to, say, sell a dozen pallets to a "dealer", Tillman stresses that AEM 1000 is not intended as a spy. But it will allow the transport manager to see if the driver followed the quickest possible route, especially if used in conjunction with scheduling and routeing software. And it could help determine how useful that routeing software is.

It can also help in the case of disputes over delivery times and whether goods turned up late or not, and whether a driver was kept waiting to tip.

"We've got local authorities trying it out," says Tillman. "If somebody rings and complains that a particular road hasn't been gritted, then the authority can use AEM 1000 to help deter mine if it was or not. We've also got a cable TV cable-layer using it to ensure that equipment is being laid on schedule. It could be used as a check against overtime payment claims, and to see if and when a driver took his statutory breaks.

Future reference

Around 150 companies are either trying the package or have bought it, says Tillman, including Spring Ram, Polypipe, Glaxo Wellcome UK Distribution, Dodd's Transport, and Alfred Hymas. The system is said to store up to 10,000 trips for future reference, and Tillman promises that pan-European digitised mapping will be available in three months' time.


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