Saturday, June 10, 2006
Tracking trucks: with these high-tech systems, your trucks are always within range
Becki Fredrick and Peter McDaniel work for concrete producers of different sizes, but they have one thing in common: They're both using wireless truck tracking systems to improve efficiency and save money.
Sometimes called telematics, these systems rely on computer software and a communications network to bring truck location, activity status, and in many cases, engine fault codes, to personal computers at one or more central dispatch offices.
The communications medium can be a low band two-way radio, a Global Positioning System (GPS) using satellites, or cellular telephone technology. Several manufacturers, including Mack Trucks, Trimble Navigation Limited, Qualcomm, International Truck and Engine, and Caterpillar, recently have begun marketing new truck and equipment tracking systems or have upgraded their existing offerings.
McDaniel, who is distribution technology manager for Chandler Concrete Co., of Burlington, N.C., oversees more than 200 ready mix trucks from 22 plants. All use some type of truck tracking system. Twelve of the plants and 90 trucks are outfitted with a communications system and software from Distributed Networks Inc. (Dinet), of Oceanside, Calif.
Using a keypad and terminal in the truck, drivers enter truck activity status, such as "Loading" or "To Job." That information flows via two-way radio to a central Diner server, then moves into Command Series dispatching software that places the trucks in the proper place on the truck tracking system.
A dispatcher can tell where all trucks are at any time because the software contains map zones with all possible destinations for concrete pours. Based on the time intervals a customer wants between trucks, the dispatcher can calculate cycle times.
As each truck feeds the status information to central dispatch, Command Series software creates a truck demand graph that charts the number of trucks available on the vertical axis versus time on the horizontal axis. A dispatcher can calculate his available trucks versus demand and tell if he has extra trucks, or not enough, and can deploy trucks accordingly.
More efficient
"Before these systems, when a truck left a plant, the dispatcher for the most part didn't know where it was, and he didn't know how many trucks were on the way back to the plant," says McDaniel. "All they knew was the truck was on the way.
High-tech products for cars and light trucks
A car is a complex machine with a variety of mechanical and electrical systems. The automotive aftermarket was founded on the fact that these systems will fail from time to time and need to be repaired or replaced.
This isn't new. What is new is that vehicles continue to become more sophisticated, with electronic and computer controlled engine management systems. Integrated with a vehicle's electrical and mechanical systems, these newer systems mean that vehicles today are more complex devices that require high technology to deliver the fuel economy, pollution control and performance expected by customers.
High technology replacement parts for electronic engine management systems--and other high-tech parts, like fuel injection--have become one of the industry's most crucial components.
NAPA Echlin's future lies in servicing these high-tech systems. Whoever services them will most likely get that vehicle's conventional mechanical and electrical system repairs as well. Because these systems are still so new, and because their technology is so advanced, high levels of training and technical support are essential. You also need to feel confident that the parts you sell contain the latest technology and will perform as the vehicle owner expects.
Your business has never been more dynamic or more challenging than it is now. Competition is fierce; margins are tight. You must expect more, and get it, if you want to succeed in today's marketplace. These days, you demand the best from yourself, from your team and from all of your business partners. You have to. NAPA Echlin welcomes that challenge.
NAPA Echlin encourages you to insist on the best from us in every way that is important to your business success. Give us your business and NAPA Echlin will exceed your expectations.
NAPA Echlin's heritage has always been rooted in the quality of its products. Throughout its history, NAPA Echlin has designed and manufactured products with only one goal: to make them the very best. Because NAPA Echlin uses the finest materials and improves on OE specifications whenever possible, all NAPA Echlin products deliver maximum performance and reliability.
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