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Changing tracks
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Combining navigation and fleet management services may be an ambitious move, but Trafficmaster chief executive Tony [ales tells Roanna Avison why he believes it is crucial for continued growth.
In the UK Traffiemaster is known for its navigation products, but this is not its sole business. Trafficmaster is in fact a company 4 two halves — half in the UK and half in the iS. And while the UK half has a history in tavigation products, its US counterpart has 'ocused on fleet management.
'Ibis is about to change, however, as the :ompany has decided to extend its business nodels on both sides of the Atlantic.
In 2001 Trafficmaster acquired Teletrak. a )ioneer of fleet telematics in the US, which Lad been operating in the sector since the 980s. offering fleet traffic services before UPS vas around.
Tony Eales went out to the US in 2001 as chief xecutive of Teletrak, hut returned in 2005 to .ecorne chief executive of Trafficmaster.
"lathe US we've been solely focused on fleet .rvices for commercial vehicles with our Fleet )irector product," he says. "We have 5,000 fleets in the US using the system, ranging from plumbing and heating experts to transport companies doing long-haul road trips. We have a relationship with Ryder in the US, so we have an enormous amount of data and case studies about the savings from using Fleet Director."
Fitted as standard
Ryder fits the telematics box as standard on all its vehicles in the US and uses live vehicle diagnostics to monitor a truck's ongoing performance, give fault alerts, inform of service intervals and track mileage for tax purposes — in the US there is a requirement to report fuel usage per state.
"Together with Ryder we offer its customers a whole range of Ileet services and things like interactive maps and vehicle tracking," he says.
The big change for Trafficmaster is the move to offer the fleet management system to the UK and the navigation products to the US. The reason behind the move is the ability to offer fleet services and dynamic navigation services through one box.
"We have now launched our dynamic navigation product Smartnav in the US, and in October we launched Fleet Director in the UK," says Eales."Thi.s means that in the UK we have started fleet tracking and now combine that with the ability to give drivers dynamic navigation and speed camera warnings."
Because the navigation is server-based, rather than on board, it enables Trafficmaster to include all the latest maps.Trafficmaster will offer product versions with truck attributes such as weight and height restrictions in the first quarter on 2008. It will also be possible for operators with mixed fleets to assign different versions to different vehicles "Using the fleet product and the navigation will save professional drivers and business owners time and money."
The company has carried out surveys in the UK and the US on the return on investment (ROI) of these products. "Obviously this was before we brought the two together. Using Fleet Director we found 13-15% of fleets saw a reduction in fuel use and improved productivity. In the UK the dynamic navigation saved about 5% of driving time. We believe that the two combined will give increased benefits."
Cutting carbon Eales is keen to plug the environmental benefits of using its products,sayingTrafficmaster found I he average reduction in CO, emissions per CV in the US was about four tonnes, while in the UK it was about one tonne.
In the UK Trafficmaster has a relationship with Citroi.:.n: the manufacturer is fitting the equipment as standard in its Relay and Dispatch CVs, which come with three years' standalone vehicle tracking and navigation. Jointly, the companies are offering the ability to upgrade that to Fleet Director. "We can offer a month's free trial, so they can find out about the benefits without any investment or having to have any equipment installed," Eales adds.
In the UK generally, fleet market penetration is very low at about 5%. However Eales is keen to expand Trafficmaster's fleet business in the UK because the -ROI is huge".
"The reception we've had in the first few months has been positive and we've seen a lot of interest. But the fact that 5,000 fleets running 70,000 vehicles are using the technology in the US helps to show we know what were doing. And Trafficmaster is a well known brand.
"It is new technology and it may take a while for operators to be happy investing in it, but we can help them with so many aspects of their business.For example, if they get a job in they can see which vehicle is closest,send the information and the route details direct to the cab and avoid the traffic in the simplest of operations.
As one proof of the products' worth, Eales says Trafficmaster is an avid user of its own technology as its sales reps in the US will testify. A similar set-up is planned for the UK.
Synergetic savings One of the things Eales hopes to use as a selling point is the fact that using the combined navigation and fleet management product can help operators save costs in very small ways.
In the past, operators would have a yard and drivers would have to go to the yard to pick up the vans at the start of the day, then take them back at the end of the day. "But knowing they have vehicle tracking and they can monitor thc vehicle's usage means they can let the driven take the vans home in the evening negating the need for a yard. Obviously this doesn't wori for larger vehicles," he says.
Trafficmaster is expecting to expand it! direct sales team significantly in 2008 to contac existing customers and discuss Fleet Direeto: with them.
But despite these ambitious expansion plan on both sides of the Atlantic. Eales does no want to extend the company's reach any furthe at present."The US and the UK are big market and we have no plans to expand our sales office into Europe, although we offer cover an support for our customers whose trucks an vans are travelling on the Continent.
-And unlike many other navigatio companies we have real data on what roa speeds are likely to be at different times of th day on different days."
Eales does, however, have one other are earmarked for growth its partnerships wit truck and van manufacturers. "As well E Citroen we have relationships with MitsubislIveco and LDV, and hope to develop more i 2008 because that's a good way to raise ot profile in the market."