GPS technology can do more than help drivers find their way.
by Larry Anderson
Thursday, January 1, 2009

When prices spiked last year, high delivery costs grabbed everyone's attention. Even as fuel prices go down, no one knows how long it will last. With overhead up and reimbursement down, the lesson has been learned: HME providers simply must minimize delivery costs.

Technology related to global positioning systems (GPS) can help, and the benefits extend way beyond gasoline cost savings.

GPS technology is familiar to most consumers in the form of vehicle navigation systems — provided by companies such as Garmin and TomTom — that direct drivers of rental cars in strange cities and show up on Christmas lists.

The technology can also enable managers of small vehicle fleets — including HME providers — to keep up with where their vehicles are and how they are being used, in short, to have better control of their delivery system. With control come cost savings and other benefits.

But how do employees feel about being tracked and monitored? Not a problem, says Andrew Kaboff, founder and executive vice president of Celltrak Technologies, a supplier of a GPS-enabled system. "There is no Big Brother feeling whatsoever," he says. "Years ago that was a concern, but now field staff appreciate having contact and having a system that shows they are doing the job — it has a positive effect."

"These systems enable users to react easily to anything that happens on the road," says Sabrina S. Mosley, product manager of UPS Logistics Technologies. "If anyone calls with an emergency, they can add a stop. They can react to any situation as it happens."

What the Systems Do

A GPS system likely to be used by an HME provider comes in one of two forms, either as a "black box" installed on the vehicle to track its locations and activities, or as a GPS-enabled cell phone that tracks the driver instead of the vehicle. Both transmit signals across a wireless network such as those provided by Sprint Nextel or AT&T.

Tracking the vehicle not only shows its location but also provides information on how long it is stopped, whether it is left idling, how fast it is driving and whether it is taking the most efficient route.

The system may also operate remotely to disable the engine, provide diagnostics, operate power windows (if the keys get locked in) or otherwise interact with the vehicle. Drivers in vehicles equipped with black box systems would typically communicate with the office using voice or text messaging on their cell phones.

When a system uses a GPS-enabled cell phone to track the driver, it is usually part of a "field automation tool" that operates as an interactive software program on the cell phone. In addition to tracking driver location, the system enables the driver to report back to the office, fill in computerized forms, answer questions about a delivery and receive information about a change in scheduling.

In some cases, route changes sent to the GPS-enabled cell phone can reconfigure the driver's route to accommodate the change, and the cell phone can act as a vehicle navigation system, providing voice commands to direct the driver.

Whether the GPS signal comes from a black box or a GPS-enabled cell phone, providers can track delivery locations using a Web-based mapping system, sometimes incorporating satellite maps, along with software that allows interaction with the driver and/or vehicle.

The Web interface also enables users to draw "geofences" around areas on the onscreen maps, creating alerts when a driver enters a customer location, goes outside a service area or otherwise goes off course.

Benefits of a vehicle-mounted GPS system include the ability to monitor whether a vehicle is traveling too fast or is left idling, both of which can waste fuel. The system can also decrease insurance costs by keeping speeds low, reducing risk to the vehicle, restricting travel to authorized areas and recovering stolen vehicles.

Tracking miles and planning ahead can aid with vehicle maintenance. Tracking unauthorized trips and how long a stop takes can increase vehicle utilization, and strategic route planning can increase the number of deliveries in a day. A big benefit is the peace of mind of knowing exactly where vehicles are when they are out of sight.

Using a GPS-enabled cell phone with field automation software can also improve customer service by allowing the driver to report when he is running behind schedule, for example.

Data entry from the field can reduce entry errors and improve the timeliness of information. Any information the driver enters directly into such a system means less paperwork back at the office and improves workflow. Information on driver location and the ability to dispatch the closest driver can help to plan routes and make dynamic changes as new stops become necessary.

GPS Options Abound

Fleet management technology is used commonly in a variety of industries, so there are plenty of choices for HME providers. However, it is a rapidly changing market and providers should research the history and longevity of any vendor before investing in a system — and search out a system that best fits their needs and budget.

Here are just a few of the GPS system options available:

  • RMJ Technologies is a reseller of various GPS-related products, including The Dispatch Link from Universal Tracking Solutions (UTS), a black box device that is installed under the dash of a delivery van with an antenna to communicate with the AT&T wireless network. Information on the vehicle's location is downloaded every two minutes (or less frequently for a lower price) and can be tracked using a Web-based mapping system.

    "The system interacts with the vehicle's on-board navigation system device and enables the HME provider to send messages to the driver on the navigation device, download routes or add additional stops to a route and use navigation tools to maximize efficiency," says Jerome Toliver, RMJ CEO. Installation is about $550 per vehicle, plus a $35 per month service fee. The technology works with off-the-shelf navigation systems such as TomTom or Garmin.

    A less expensive option offered by RMJ Technologies is the Vehiclepath GPS Fleet Tracking system that offers similar functionality but without the ability to interact with the navigation system, available for around $300 and a $25 monthly fee.

    The cost of such a system can be further reduced by increasing the interval when the GPS system gives off a signal to the wireless provider. For example, a system that gives off a signal every minute would cost $30.95 per month, but a system that gives off a signal every five minutes would cost only $23.95, according to Toliver.

Field Service Automation

  • Sprint Nextel provides GPS navigation and tracking systems to help improve fleet operations and increase vehicle utilization rates, including the Mobile FSA (Field Service Automation) system on a mobile handset. It allows HME providers to track field personnel and drivers, automate remote data entry, improve order management and inventory tracking and monitor delivery status, all in real-time, says John Higgins, the company's director of business solutions.

    Push-to-talk technology enables immediate communication between the field and dispatch personnel, augmented by the supplier's NextMail product.

  • Celltrak Technologies offers a GPS-enabled cell phone that is tied into a Web site to monitor all delivery activities. The GPS component feeds data back about the where the driver is, while the Celltrak application can get addresses, directions and phone numbers from a database and fill in forms on the handset screen.

    Drivers can signal when they are finished and traveling to the next stop. Route optimization using maps helps to improve driver efficiency, and the computerized forms make it all paperless.

    The company says there is a four-month ROI on the system, which can be set up for $2,500 to $5,000 for training and implementation, and a $30 per month license fee per driver (in addition to the cost of a GPS-equipped cell phone with a data service plan).

  • Another alternative is Roadnet Anywhere, an on-demand Web-based application from UPS Logistics Technologies that provides HME companies a low-cost transportation management option using cell phones. HME providers can view a map of exactly where their drivers are on the road, create routes, dynamically add orders to routes and balance customer requests.

    Roadnet Anywhere combines route optimization with GPS tracking and offers operational reporting features to help improve customer service and boost the bottom line, the company says.

    The system has three modules: a route planning module that incorporates appointment times and servicing time; a dispatch module that enables providers to see what is happening in real-time, whether it is a traffic situation or a customer cancellation; and a history module that enables customers to analyze trends using a snapshot of what happened.

    The subscription rate for the service is $55 per vehicle per month, and the application runs on GPS-enabled cell phones. The product targets smaller users, about 10 vehicles and below, and 15 percent of the current customer base is in the HME industry, according to the company.

  • TeleNav's Track system combines GPS navigation, job dispatch and wireless completion of forms in a cell phone interface to boost productivity. The software system can also be used with hardware discretely mounted in a truck and powered by the vehicle's battery (but not offering driver interface).

    Using the TeleNav service, the device — whether a cell phone or a black box — pings every five minutes to generate dots on a map in the Web interface back at the office. Historically specializing in GPS technology, TeleNav partners with — and sells its services through — third-party suppliers such as Sprint, AT&T and T-Mobile. The company's expertise is in software delivered over wireless networks.

    The tracking service is a Web-based command console that is assigned to a specific account and tied into the cellular devices assigned to the account and shown on the map interface. For the black box vehicle tracker, costs involve a one-time hardware purchase charge of $399 per unit; a one-time setup fee of $37 per unit and a vehicle tracking service charge of $33.98 per month per unit.

    For the TeleNav Track Premium service involving a handheld cell or smart phone, the user would need to buy the device and service contract, pay a $19.99 per unit one-time charge for setup and a $21 monthly fee. The HME provider would also pay for a monthly data plan from the cell phone company.

    The system integrates vehicle navigation and allows the user to custom-design wireless forms, including choosing fields to be completed by the driver. The system also offers integration with back-office systems such as QuickBooks and Oracle, often using off-the-shelf modules.

    "Even smaller companies can afford to integrate without large upfront costs," says Keith Halasy, senior marketing manager, B2B products, TeleNav.

Still More Choices

  • The GPS AnyPlace Internet-based fleet management system includes a tracking device from SecuraCom as the hardware component of a system that offers theft detection and recovery and live tracking using a Web-based back-end server. It supports carriers such as AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon and others. Using the system, clients have seen an increase in productivity, reduction in fuel costs and better vehicle maintenance, says Gary Ryan, owner.

  • Another GPS system is the Halo Qube vehicle tracking device from Absolute Wireless. The device receives automatic time/distance activity updates, records location, speed, direction and mileage, records ignition and battery on/off events and connects into other devices for messaging, navigation and telemetry monitoring.

    "It reduces fleet maintenance costs because total fleet mileage is reduced and driving behavior is improved," says CEO Oscar Castano.

    Absolute also offers the Navman M-Nav 650 wireless messaging and navigation unit that is integrated into the in-vehicle tracking system. Users can send job details to the driver and also information such as trip destination. The system automatically plots the best route and guides the driver, turn-by-turn, to the destination.

Read the sidebar, "Abundant Home Care Sees Gas Mileage Increase with GPS Tracking System," for a case study of what GPS did for Abundant Home Care of Poway, Calif.

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