Trucker Tools has integrated the Verizon Connect Reveal fleet management platform into its Smart Capacity platform to enhance real-time shipment tracking. Verizon Connect Reveal tracks compliance and commercial drivers’ hours of service (HOS), and provides near real-time in-transit location updates.
The integration with the new ELD software and hardware offering will allow more than 100,000 commercial vehicles in the U.S. equipped with Verizon Connect to enable enroute location updates as frequently as every 30 seconds with data sent to the Trucker Tools platform, according to a Trucker Tools press release. The data is used by brokers and shippers to manage load status, delivery scheduling, and truck capacity planning.
The link with the Verizon Connect Reveal platform complements the Trucker Tools mobile driver app, which uses the embedded GPS features of the driver’s smart phone to provide near real-time in-transit location updates as frequently as every 15 minutes. “It gives truckers another option for automatically providing tracking data, and delivers to shippers richer, more comprehensive shipment visibility intelligence,” noted Kary Jablonski, Trucker Tools CEO.
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“This integration and the ability to track active loads helps truckers communicate status in near real-time, automatically. Drivers can set it and forget it, no longer bothered with manual check calls and texts,” Jablonski said. “They have the option of enabling tracking through their ELD or the Trucker Tools mobile app. In either case, it’s a time saver that provides accurate, ongoing updates and reduces driver stress.”
Erin Cave, Verizon Connect’s director of product management, said, “Customers will benefit from more timely, complete, and accurate intelligence on truck status.” In addition to automating tracking, Cave added, "customers will be able to see starts and stops, manage ETAs, better plan warehouse labor to coincide with truck arrivals, and gain insight into when that truck will be available for the next load.”
Access to Verizon Connect ELD data is completely permission-based, with the truck owner and/or driver maintaining full control over access. Once user permission is received, a pre-built API connects the Trucker Tools platform to the ELD, activating automated transmission of in-transit location data from the truck ELD unit. Data sharing is restricted to GPS-based in transit updates, and no other ELD or telematics data is shared. The Trucker Tools platform also has built-in rules and instructions that eliminates duplicative data and ensures accurate reporting.
