Attendees and exhibitors mingle at the TMW Transforum conference in Orlando, FL, where ALK Technologies announced that its navigation and routing technology has been certified for use with a number of TMW Systems' software products. (Photo by Aaron Marsh)

Technology

ALK's PC*MILER 29 certified for use with TMW software

Sept. 20, 2015

TMW customers can tap ALK's routing, mileage and mapping for fleets

Navigation software provider ALK Technologies' latest version of its PC*MILER routing, mileage and mapping software, PC*MILER 29, has been certified for use with a number of products from its sister Trimble company TMW Systems' transportation and fleet management portfolio.

"We have all these customers that are using ALK's PC*MILER solutions — some for many years — and they want to move up to the latest version, because each new version has dramatically improved data and features," said Dan Popkin, senior vice president of enterprise solutions. "But TMW Systems, for example, can't just 'throw in' something that hasn't been thoroughly and rigorously tested.

"There used to be a long lapse between our new product release and the certification announcement, but that's one of the things we're seeing is that that certification lapse has just been reduced, reduced, reduced" as the companies streamline their work together, Popkin told Fleet Owner.

The TMW software products that are tested and approved for operation with PC*MILER 29 are:

• ExpertFuel version 8.3;

• TMWSuite version 2016.15_07.0135;

• TMW Operations version 16.10; and

• TruckMate version 2015.

PC*MILER 29 includes an hours of service (HOS) manager that factors mandatory HOS break times into the route plan, which ALK says "can significantly improve asset utilization with clear understanding of actual travel times and estimated times of arrival."

ALK also notes that PC*MILER 29 allows users to search for and display points of interest along a route. Dispatchers can select from refueling locations with Pilot Flying J diesel fuel prices that are updated every half hour.

To protect goods from conditions that could potentially damage a shipment, PC*MILER 29 includes customized routing options like avoiding ferries and roads above a specified elevation. According to ALK, the latest PC*MILER product offers updated info on hazardous roadway restrictions, data enhancements, and routing improvements throughout North America.

For more information about ALK's and TMW Systems' products, visit www.pcmiler.com and www.tmwsystems.com.

About the Author

Aaron Marsh

Before computerization had fully taken hold and automotive work took someone who speaks engine, Aaron grew up in Upstate New York taking cars apart and fixing and rewiring them, keeping more than a few great jalopies (classics) on the road that probably didn't deserve to be. He spent a decade inside the Beltway covering Congress and the intricacies of the health care system before a stint in local New England news, picking up awards for both pen and camera.

He wrote about you-name-it, from transportation and law and the courts to events of all kinds and telecommunications, and landed in trucking when he joined FleetOwner in July 2015. Long an editorial leader, he was a keeper of knowledge at FleetOwner ready to dive in on the technical and the topical inside and all-around trucking—and still turned a wrench or two. Or three.

Aaron previously wrote for FleetOwner.