Your driver pulls up to the warehouse, finds the correct bay and backs in. It's a scene repeated thousands of times every day all over North America. It's as routine a part of any trucker's job as there is. But it's not only what happens during that time, but what happens before and after that delivery is made that determines how productive that driver is. How long did it take for him to get there? Where does he go next? How soon until he arrives? Will the customer be waiting? Will he be waiting?

GPS technology and onboard computers can take all that information, analyze it, calculate expected delivery times and even notify customers to reschedule if necessary. That, though, is just one small part of what GPS data technology can do today, and will do tomorrow. And yet, there are still more fleets not taking advantage of that data than those that are. But what if that same data could make your driver more productive? Could help that driver, and by extension your company, stay in compliance with the law? What if by simply knowing where your company's truck was at any given time, you could improve efficiency, safety and your bottom line? Would more companies take advantage? Sure they would.

Clem Driscoll, founder and president of C.J. Driscoll & Associates, pegs GPS penetration at 40-50% in the truckload sector today, with smaller carriers and private fleets using it less. “[For] private fleets, the market's not quite so mature,” Driscoll says. “We estimate 25-30% of long-haul private fleets use GPS. [For] local delivery fleets, of which there are all types, it's still probably 20%.”

Driscoll also points out that many fleets that do use the devices still do not take advantage of the opportunities available to them by using the data in real time, although that is changing as costs come down. “It's a technology that could be used in several ways,” Driscoll says.

Navigation is the big use for GPS data, of course, but with limited systems applying truck attributes and the lack of significant access to real-time traffic information, this is still an area with great growth potential. “Today, trucks are not being routed based on real-time traffic information,” Driscoll says. “What you have today is pretty good information on the major roads, but if the truck gets off and onto a local street, the information is not as good. “

DRIVER PRODUCTIVITY

But even as these uses become more popular among fleets, the next generation of technology is slowly working its way through the pipeline. Driver productivity and compliance with FMCSA's new Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010 (CSA 2010) are among the uses many providers are targeting with new software releases this year.

PeopleNet's focus in the future will be to create better driver workflow, says Kirsten Lester, product manager. “In the cab itself, every fleet wants its drivers to accomplish certain things,” she says. “What PeopleNet's focus has been is driver workflow. What time of day is it? Where is that driver? The ability to prompt the driver to do certain tasks is based off geofencing.”

“One of the things our customers want to know is exception data,” says Airclic CEO Rick Pontin. “They want to know how long it has been since the last delivery, if the drivers are going outside their geofence. If you can save an hour or two a day and you have twenty or so drivers, you're talking about saving headcount. You're saving four or five drivers.”

It's all about increasing productivity, he adds. “I'm a believer that in life, or as a leader of a company, you don't get what you expect; you get what you inspect. And GPS allows you to inspect.”

Requirements to comply with CSA 2010 regulations are changing the rules for GPS usage going forward. A number of providers are offering solutions geared towards verifying electronic logs in compliance with the new regulations. “Electronic driver logs require this data,” Lester says. “Those fleets [that are using that] are definitely at an advantage at that point [implementation of CSA 2010].”

DATA DELIVERY

As more uses become evident, the delivery of that data becomes more important. While location data won't change much, the way it is delivered will change.

“I think a really key industry imperative is to open up our platforms to mobile applications,” says Lester.

Back in the fall, SkyBitz introduced an application through its Insight Asset Management Tool in cooperation with Kore Telematics that provides information in real time back to the driver on any mobile device. “It's that advancement of mobile devices that has allowed us to bring that technology forward,” Craig Malone, SkyBitz senior vp-product development, says. And continued advances in the area of mobile technology make possible further uses for location-based data.

“I think we'll see an increased use of smart phones for fleets, especially for smaller fleets, to minimize cost,” Driscoll says. “The smart phones can be tied into the vehicle, so while the phone will [generate] the information, it will be displayed on a screen inside the cab.”

“There are a lot of additional benefits to come from exploiting the information customers already have,” Malone says. “What we're doing with our web applications is we're climbing that chain, going from reporting data to reporting knowledge data. That information can allow you to apply business logic.”

“GPS [systems] are everywhere these days, so it's hard to imagine the data improving much,” Ray West, director of product management for TMW Systems, adds. “The ability to use that data throughout systems continues to increase, for example, electronic logs, ETA data, etc. At some point, GPS usage will become the cost of doing business and no longer an option.”

As systems “learn” how to interpret the data, analyze it and deliver it back in real time to the driver, be it through onboard computers, cell phones or even newer technologies, it becomes more useful.

“Accuracy of GPS [location] is not really the issue,” says ALK founder Alain Kornhauser. “There is little need for greater accuracy in GPS. What is needed is better information about the road ahead, especially in response to changing conditions [i.e., congestion, short-term detours, weather], not necessarily for the driver's explicit knowledge, but for the routing algorithms to provide the driver with a better way to go and ETA.”

AN IN-CAB MARKETPLACE

According to Tom Flies, senior vp-product marketing at Xata Corp., the increasing use of geotagging of GPS information has potential uses within the industry as well. Geotagging is a process of adding geographical identification metadata, usually latitude or longitude information, but also time and date stamps, to photographs, videos and web sites.

“We're starting to see some of it on the consumer side with geotagging,” Flies says. Flies likens the future of data use to our present use of tools like Google and phone applications. When you search for restaurants in Google, for example, you can input your location and receive a list of area restaurants, even sorted by type of food if you prefer. The big difference here is that drivers would not enter the information. By using geotagging, the GPS would send the location information to the software, which would cross-reference it with preset preferences.

“Rather than using just GPS, you're taking all the events…and instead of just one report, we're putting” together a complete picture of events, Flies says. “Using GPS and being aware of a driver's preferences, like where they like to eat, or even preferences for the truck, for example, you can look for a shop in the area that has a bay open for preventive maintenance or a favorite restaurant for the driver to eat at.

“We're taking buyers and suppliers, bringing them together and creating a marketplace around drivers. Instead of becoming a batch marketplace, it's becoming more real time,” Flies adds. “Think of it as an eBay on wheels.”

And that is just one change coming to the cab. Another is what Rick Turek, CTO of Maptuit, calls “driver communities” and “fleet communities.”

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