iTRAK News - June 2008
Customer Spotlight – Suit-Kote Corporation
 For a company that has paved over 42,000 miles of roadway, running the business is not just about producing and laying asphalt. Suit-Kote Corporation of Cortland, NY has been using iTRAK Fleet Manager for the past two years to keep track of personnel arriving and leaving job sites, monitor workers’ hours, coordinate pick-up and delivery of construction equipment, and watch over their fleet of take-home trucks.
One of the biggest challenges, according to Zeke Quinlan, Suit-Kote’s VP of Operations, was controlling overtime. “About 150 of employees are in the field nearly every day, and it is critical that everyone works as efficiently as possible.” Quinlan estimates a payroll saving of at least 10% since starting with iTRAK in April 2006.
“On large jobs, we use iTRAK to tell when our trucks leave the job site and return to the plant for another load of asphalt,” said Quinlan. “That helps our plant operators prepare so the turnaround at the plant is as quick as possible. Also, when we haul equipment to or from a job site, we can let the crew know when the trucks will be arriving. Our unproductive idle time has dropped to almost zero.”
Another benefit is the ability to audit claimed vs. actual work hours. Quinlan’s staff runs fleet reports every week to make sure that accounting records match with the data from iTRAK Fleet Manager. If there is a large discrepancy, the accounting records can be adjusted right away—reducing the hassle of making corrections after the fact.
Suit-Kote has been a leader in the paving industry for more than 80 years, and operates more than 20 different facilities throughout New York and Pennsylvania. For the past two years, iTRAK Corporation has been doing its part to keep them on the most profitable path!
Product Update – iTRAK Messenger™
 Many customers using iTRAK Fleet Manager asked us for an onboard terminal to help drivers easily receive text messages from dispatch and to easily acknowledge receipt. We responded with the iTRAK Terminal, essentially a private email system serving every vehicle in the fleet, but also allowing communication to or from any other authorized user that has email access.
iTRAK Messenger runs over the same iTRAK device that performs the tracking function, so it is simple to install and economical to operate! Definable function keys and an optional keyboard input promote both flexibility and ease of use. Custom interfaces are available to support interaction with in-house dispatch applications.
For more information about adding iTRAK Messenger to your fleet, contact your Regional Sales Manager or iTRAK headquarters at 1-866-694-8725; or email us at itrak.sales@itrak.com.
iTRAK Feature Highlight – GeoFences
Think of a GeoFence as an invisible circle around any location where you want to monitor arriving or departing traffic. When a vehicle enters (or leaves) a GeoFence area, the iTRAK alert server will send an email to whatever address you designate, saying something like: Unit 81/Tom left Sherwood Foods at 7:43:12AM EDT1/17/2008. This is particularly helpful to monitor activities that take place in and around frequently visited locations such as your main plant, warehouses, refueling stations, and customer sites. GeoFences can also be used to determine when scheduled trips have been completed; thereby allowing assignment of additional tasks, or to notify supervisors of vehicle movements after hours.
GeoFences can be set up by logging into iTRAK Fleet Manager, then selecting Apps then GeoFencing then Add/Edit GeoFence, then click on Add GeoFence to begin. For each GeoFence you need to specify name, devices, radius, lat/lon, inside or outside alert, and the email addresses to notify (separate multiple addresses with semi-colons). Up to 50 GeoFences are allowed on each user account.
Here’s what the set-up screen looks like. Click on image to enlarge.
If you have any questions or need help setting up your geofences, call our technical support team at 1-866-224-8725!
Did You Know...? – Facts about GPS
 The Global Positioning System concept was developed by the U.S. Department of Defense in the 1970s, who named the project NAVSTAR GPS (Navigation System with Timing And Ranging Global Positioning System). The system is made up of 24 active satellites and a few spares. The first 11 satellites were launched from 1978 through 1985 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, and served to test the fundamentals behind the GPS concept. The full constellation of 24 satellites was not achieved until 1994.
Each satellite is built to last about 10 years. Replacements are constantly being built and launched into orbit. A GPS satellite weighs approximately 2,000 pounds and is about 17 feet across. For non-military users, the signals are transmitted on 1575.42 MHz with about 50 watts of power. The signals travel by line of sight, and will pass through clouds, glass and plastic but not through most solid objects such as buildings and mountains.
Selective Availability (SA) is a deliberate degradation of the signal once imposed on GPS by the U.S. Department of Defense. SA was intended to prevent terrorists from using the highly accurate GPS signals for criminal purposes. The government turned off SA in May 2000, significantly improving the accuracy of civilian GPS receivers.
All iTRAK systems contain the latest state-of-the-art GPS receivers, including WAAS (Wide Area Augmentation System) capability that can improve accuracy to less than 3 meters on average.
Who's Who at iTRAK...
 Admin Support – This dedicated group based at our headquarters handles a large number of different tasks, including new order processing and acceptance, questions relating to existing orders, new user set-up, fleet and unit changes, billing, and all other administrative issues. Call the admin staff at 1-866-694-8725 or email them at admin.support@itrak.com.
Technical Support – Rich Geving and his team will make sure you derive the maximum benefit from your iTRAK system. They can help with installation questions, answer technical questions, and help performance issues. Live hours are 6:00 AM - 5:00 PM Mountain Time, with on-call technicians available after hours. Call 1-866-224-8725 or email technical.support@itrak.com.
Sales Team – Based in regional offices throughout the U.S., our team of Regional Sales Managers stands ready to set up product demonstrations, provide current pricing, help calculate return on investment to justify your iTRAK purchase, and organize post-sales training. You can reach the sales team by calling 1-866-694-8725, or emailing itrak.sales@itrak.com
Sales Corner – Calculating Return on Investment on iTRAK
The iTRAK ROI Calculator takes into account six different factors, each of which can save you money, increase your top line revenue, or solve a critical business problem. The calculator is an Excel spreadsheet that lets you enter the specific parameters for your business (e.g., number of vehicles, cost of wages, miles driven). Once the data is entered, it will automatically calculate the payback time for the initial investment, plus it will show you how much money you will continue to save—every month thereafter!
Click on image to enlarge.
Here are some of the key benefits that the ROI Calculator takes into account.
Reduce Unnecessary Travel – Dispatching mobile workers more efficiently can eliminate long and unnecessary trips across town when a closer vehicle can be identified. iTRAK Fleet Manager shows dispatchers the last reported position of every vehicle, allowing more logical and efficient task assignments. In addition, tighter monitoring of driver activities will reduce unauthorized or wasteful driving. Rising fuel prices have driven up the cost of travel per mile, dramatically increasing the economic impact of minimizing unnecessary travel.
Reduce Unproductive Idling – The DOT estimates that medium-duty trucks typically burn approximately 2/3 gallon of fuel per hour while the engine is idling. Coupled with the fact that many states are enacting environmental and anti-noise laws, it is critical to minimize excessive engine idling. iTRAK Fleet Manager can blink a vehicle's icon when idling thresholds have been exceeded, and can send an email alert when idling reaches unacceptable levels. A reduction in idling of just 30 minutes per day can pay for the tracking system for that vehicle. (Example: The truck will burn 1/3 gallon of fuel in 30 minutes; at $4.00 per gallon, this equals $1.33 per day, or about $40.00 per month—far more than the monthly recurring cost of tracking!) The saving is more significant as fuel prices rise, and the effect is more pronounced in larger trucks that burn more fuel per hour.
Lower Payroll Costs – Inefficiencies in fleet operations can translate directly into higher payroll costs. By closely watching vehicle movements and task assignments, dispatchers can reduce manpower required to perform tasks. Specifically, if jobs can be assigned and handled more efficiently, overtime pay can be reduced or eliminated.
Minimize Lost Equipment – Companies that deploy mobile assets in the field for extended periods of time sometimes lose track of those assets. This challenge is most common in industries such as construction, power utilities, and equipment rental. In most cases, the lost equipment is eventually located, but the cost of its disappearance can be significant. For example, if a specific type of equipment is misplaced, the company may need to rent a replacement unit. Or, if the owner is a rental company, it loses rental fees while the equipment is missing.
Earn Discount on Insurance – Knowing where every vehicle is, how fast it is traveling, and where it has been, can significantly reduce the risk of accident, misappropriation, or other mishap. Some customers have reported to us that their insurance carriers have rewarded them for this additional mitigation of risk by granting a discount on their commercial insurance. With insurance rates rising to nearly 4% of gross revenues, a 15% discount can save $30-50 per vehicle per month--or more!
Perform Additional Jobs – Significant improvements in the efficiency of fleet operations can be achieved by knowing where all mobile assets are located relative to a service requirement. The increase in efficiency will translate into more available man-hours per day. This extra time can be used to perform additional jobs thereby generating additional revenue. Since fixed costs are already paid for, these marginal (add-on) jobs will tend to carry higher-than-average profit margin.
Ask your Regional Sales Manager for a copy of the iTRAK ROI Calculator, or request it via email: itrak.sales@itrak.com.
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