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Category: Asset tracking

A Comprehensive Guide to Non-Powered Asset Tracking Solutions & How They Can Transform Your Business

Posted on by Yumi

GPS Tracking can be used for various purposes and different types of assets by offering several benefits, such as reducing operating costs and improving productivity.

Non-powered asset tracking is one of the asset types benefiting from the features of GPS Tracking. Non-powered assets include trailers, water tanks, heavy equipment, trailers, bins and other types of containers. These types of high value assets are not equipped with a power source and so non-powered asset tracking is the perfect solution to streamline asset management.

 

What is Non-Powered Asset Tracking & Why is it Important?

Non-powered asset tracking is a method of monitoring and tracking assets without the need for an external power source. Utilizing a small, mountable battery-powered unit, companies can track the movement of their high value assets anywhere they may be. This allows fleet managers to keep track of their assets without having to rely on manual processes or more costly solutions.

 

By using a centralized GPS tracking software solution, your company can consolidate location and sensor data of your assets into a single portal to streamline asset management, improve productivity, billing accuracy, and reduce loss.

In addition, it provides you with full asset visibility, including location, status, usage history, and asset maintenance in a web-based dashboard. The software can generate reports for you to get insights into your assets and help you schedule maintenance at right time.

Non-powered asset tracking can help businesses save time and money by reducing labour costs, increasing efficiency, and improving accuracy in inventory management.

 

The Top Benefits of Non-Powered Asset Tracking

Non-powered asset tracking is a cost-effective and reliable way to keep track of valuable assets. It eliminates the need for expensive and complex powered tracking systems, while still providing the same level of accuracy and visibility. With non-powered asset tracking, businesses can benefit from improved efficiency, reduced costs, and increased safety. There are several advantages to using non-powered asset tracking;

 

Visibility

Asset tracking devices provide dynamic data on the location of your high-value assets and sensor data like temperature. With a cloud-based system and integrated mobile application, a fleet manager can get real-time asset tracking visibility with detailed reports on their location while field workers monitor key data like geofence status, fuel level or temperature.

 

Enhanced security

Lost or stolen equipment causes downtime resulting in loss of revenue for businesses that lease or own equipment. Asset theft is on the rise globally.

Using real-time geofence alerts to create a virtual boundary that triggers an immediate warning detects potential theft or unauthorized use. You can prevent potential loss and impact on your business by taking immediate preventative action.

 

Optimize productivity

With centralized data, managers can see quickly where they are wasting assets and money.

In addition, asset management solution can reduce paperwork, simplify workflow and optimize processes by collecting data in one application accessible anywhere anytime.

Fleet mangers can make quicker decisions with real-time insight into the company’s assets’ current location, status, and availability.

 

Enhance Asset lifetime management

When it comes to asset tracking solutions, it’s not only tracking, but also monitoring mechanical health and asset status based on usage indicators. It provides you with a clear insight into the asset status such as fuel level, temperature, speed, and other parameters. This helps manage key activities like scheduling maintenance or delivering fuel on time.

 

Options for any asset type

Choosing the best Asset Tracking Device for your business can be challenging. Especially when solutions and devices vastly vary between providers. Here are some tested and reliable options which meet different equipment needs;

 

For Construction & Trailers

Solar-Powered 4G LTE-M GPS Tracker

Topfly TLP2-SFB

This GPS tracking device is designed to track the location of assets with a large internal battery  and Bluetooth technology for wireless sensors. This is the best mount and go type device for heavy equipment because it is built to withstand the harshest environments, vibration, and dust.

For Reefers

Our Solar BLE GPS Tracker supports wireless BLE sensors for reefer and door open.  This is a simple, cost-effective solution, which doesn’t require any wiring or a costly installation.  This device is purpose-built for this type of application.

 

For Agriculture

ATrack AS11_Cover2

Our rugged tracker supports both powered and unpowered applications and comes with inputs, outputs, and an optional BLE radio for wireless sensors. With an IP68-rated casing, it is designed to operate under extreme environments against water and dust. It is also equipped with GPIOs for varieties of application expandability and flexibility by connecting to a wide range of accessories.

How to Choose the Best Non-Powered Asset Tracking Solution for Your Business Needs

Choosing the best non-powered asset tracking solution for your business needs can be a challenge. With so many options available, it can be difficult to decide which one is best suited for your needs. To make the right choice, you need to consider factors such as cost, scalability, accuracy, and reliability of the system.

With Astreon, we offer seamless integration with Asset Tracking management and devices. We provide tailored Asset Tracking Devices that are compatible with dozens of enterprise systems. Our Asset Tracking Management system also provides dynamic data including the location & status of assets in the field. By customizing the solution with specialty applications, you can customize the solution to your specific needs.

Learn more about our Asset Tracking management solution at Astreon

 

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Tel: +1 (888) 647-4730
Email: sales@astreon.com

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Ways to Extend a Trailer’s Life and Save on Maintenance Costs

Posted on by Yumi

According to the data from INDEXBOX, U.S. Truck Trailer Prices rose 17% to $8,791 per unit due to the higher costs of raw materials that are used to make a trailer and labour shortages. This is causing challenges for the truck industry as inflation and lack of supply are causing haulage companies to extend their trailer life cycle beyond their normal operation.

 

What is the average lifespan of a trailer?

When you purchase a modern trailer, you can expect it to last at least approximately 8 years or about 40,000 engine hours. With proper maintenance, you can extend these averages significantly.

 

What can you do to extend your trailer’s lifecycle?

Every trailer has a maintenance schedule that should be followed. You should service your trailer at least every six months.

 

Tips on how to maximize a trailer’s longevity

Increase inspections and maintenance

In addition to the annual safety inspection and driver pre-trips, additional preventive maintenance inspections are recommended throughout the year. The more inspections, the less of a chance of a roadside breakdown and unexpected repair costs.

 

Check your tires regularly

Tire monitoring or inflation systems are recommended. Include a check of tire condition avoiding blowouts on the highway. These preventive measures save fuel, loss revenue from unexpected breakdowns, and lives.

 

Thoroughly wash your trailers

Always keep your trailer clean to reduce maintenance cost. A range of problems can be caused by unclean trailers including mold and mildew, cross- contamination, food borne illnesses, including rodent and insect infestation.

 

Lube it correctly

The correct lube in appropriate quantity is a must for proper trailer operation. Enough new grease must be added to purge the old grease. The debris that cling to old grease makes it ineffective. Adding new lube removes dirt and ensures safe operation.

 

Take time for brakes

The first sign that it’s time to replace your brake pads is if you hear persistent squeaking or squealing. Another sign is when you see the indicator light on, or when it’s taking longer to stop and the pads appear to be thin.

 

Ultimate Preventive Maintenance Measures

GPS fleet management

Combining more advanced digital tools and fleet management software will make monitoring your trailers easier. This will help extend their lifespan.

Astreon is one of the leading providers of fleet management solutions, such as GPS tracking, dashcams, ELD compliance, and trailer tracking.

We offer tracking devices purpose built for dry vans, reefers, flat beds, and more, helping you make the most out of your equipment.

Asset Management Software gives you deep insight into your assets. It enables you to control every aspect of your equipment from maintenance to fuel management and make use of cost-effective and reliable remote monitoring.

 

 

 

driveroo mobile maintenance

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Make the transition to automated digital processes with our new app, Driveroo

Posted on by Yumi

Are you tired of looking through stacks of paper on your desk to find a work order?  Are you a Fleet Manager working to analyze data based on paper processes and fighting to find improvements in your business?  Are you fighting to get field workers to fill out accurate pre and post trip vehicles inspections?

Paper based and manual processes create massive issues in any business. From lost forms, to non-compliance, to driving operating costs up, this just doesn’t work in today’s competitive landscape.

For repair technicians, repairs based on paper inspections is outdated and inaccurate.

Fleet Managers need access to reliable information to aid in making the best decisions for your Fleet.  Fleet metrics provided by a fully integrated Fleet Management solution is what you need.

 

Driveroo: A new mobile and cloud-based fleet operation management solution

Astreon is excited to introduce Driveroo, a Digital inspection application with built in workflows to automate and streamline business processes.  A proper solution to solve the manual process and paperwork headaches many businesses still suffer from.

 

Inspection management

Driverooo takes your business to the next level with streamlined digital workflows that improve efficiency and productivity, while providing immediate visibility to the condition of your assets.

The Driveroo app has many features that save time and money in the inspection and repair process, including text-to-speech functionality and electronic reports that streamline the inspection process. Driveroo provides the tools to present a clearer picture to clients, which helps to ensure that preventative maintenance does not lapse, leading to major repairs and/or catastrophic failures down the line.

In addition, the Driveroo app allows repair technicians to scan the VIN information instead of typing it in manually. Graphic icons of damaged parts can be used to help clients understand areas in need of repair. By visualizing every problem, you and your clients can see where the issues are and what needs to be fixed quickly.

 

Driveroo App Features at a Glance:

driveroo fleet tracking

  • Instant VIN scanner
  • VIN-based Inspection and financial transaction history
  • Speech-to-text customer contact
  • Email quotes to customers with photos
  • Automotive icons to streamline inspections
  • Turbographics to help customers quickly understand repair issues
  • Universal Mobile Receipt, (Communicate with customers through text, email, phone)
  • Customers receive an interactive repair report
  • Unlimited tracking of vehicles (subscription service)
  • Unlimited statistics (subscription service)

 

Other asset-specific inspections with Driveroo

Driveroo enables you to inspect other types of assets and fleets.

  • OSHA Compliant Forklift Inspection
    • Empower your operations to complete fast forklift inspections
  • DOT eDVIR Inspection
    • Streamline your inspection process to ensure DOT compliance
  • School Bus Pre-Trip Inspection
    • Ensure your school bus fleet is well-maintained, safe, and always ready for action
  • Vehicle Condition Report
    • Inspire customer confidence with detailed pre-purchase inspection reports.

 

Fleet and Asset Management

Driveroo can turn any paper form into a fast, mistake-free automated process to boost operations and lower costs. Driveroo enables you to customize exact visual representations of your vehicles, and tailors every workflow to fit your unique process with as many or as few steps that you need. It’s the easiest way to get the exact solution for your fleets.

 

Driveroo Astreon Bundled Features

eDVIR: Verified Inspections

Streamline the vehicle inspection process and ensure legal compliance. The intelligent mobile app empowers drivers to complete inspections without the paperwork – all in a few quick and easy steps.

 

Scheduled Maintenance

Design preventative maintenance schedules based on vehicle mileage or vehicle inspection data. Set up custom vehicle maintenance reminders for managers, drivers and everyone in your team.

 

Proactive Driver Management

Empower your drivers and operators with a powerful, visual mobile app that’s easy to adopt and simple to use. Zip through reports, and put everything they need on their smartphone. Receive notifications of missed or incomplete tasks.

 

Geofencing

View the real-time location of your vehicles. Get alerts when drivers stray outside designated zones, or when vehicles leave a specified location without a completed vehicle inspection.

 

Document Management

Ensure that all licensing and registration documentation stays up-to-date. Securely store and manage any records online, and assign individual access rights to drivers, managers and other members of your team.

 

Asset Assignment

Assign vehicles or equipment to your team members and manage assignments in real time. Search by operator or by asset to access scheduled assignments. Quickly add, edit or move assignments and send automatic notifications to drivers and operators.

 

Safety and Incident Reporting

Quickly guide your operators through every step of important checks and reports. Driveroo Fleet is easy to adapt to your specific needs to make sure all checks are complete and all the necessary information is captured for reporting purposes.

 

Custom Fleet Dashboards

Analyze data and design easy-to-read custom reports to gain a deeper insight into your business operations. Make decisions driven by reliable data collection and thorough analysis of cost and efficiency.

 

Transform your business to digital workflow today

Driveroo top banner

Our mobile and cloud-based fleet operation management solution, Driveroo, enables your business to transform digital streamlining, including saving time and lowering operational costs.

Experience Driveroo at Astreon today to learn more and contact us to see it in action!

Contact us today!

Tel: +1 (888) 647-4730
Email: sales@astreon.com

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Why do rental companies use GPS Tracking? Why is telematics beneficial to the rental equipment business?

Posted on by admin

When it comes to the profitability of the rental industry, it depends on efficiently renting out assets, keeping them in good condition, and managing the asset’s life cycle.

To maximize profitability, a rental company needs to know when and whether their assets will be returned in what condition so that they can be checked in, maintained, and quickly put back on the rental list again.

Most rental companies struggle with asset management. If your company has not installed an advanced asset management system, you will face many issues. For example, it is more complicated to monitor and organize which asset from which location is readily available to be rented out if a rental company has multiple branches. It will end up costing tens of thousands of dollars if you lose even one piece of equipment. They are often not in an ideal condition when your customer returns your rental assets.

According to the report from National Equipment Registry, about 1,000 pieces of commercial equipment are reported stolen every month, which is equivalent to anywhere from $300 million to $1 billion loss per year for business owners.

The lack of an advanced asset management system will result in inflated maintenance and management costs. In order to overcome these challenges, GPS tracking is a must-have for all rental industries to manage and mitigate operational risks.

 

How a GPS Tracking works for the rental equipment industry

Maximizing profitability in a rapidly growing market can be challenging. In fact, the equipment industry in the U.S. is growing. According to the statistics from statista, the size of the U.S. equipment rental market is projected to be sized at approximately $53 billion U.S. dollars in 2022, a 10% of increase from its in 2020.

Along with its increasing market, operators in the rental industry are concerned about the safety and maintenance of their equipment. It is not easy to know how their equipment is used by their customers, or whether they return their rental equipment at the right time in the right place.

To manage and monitor all challenges, GPS tracking solutions help locate your assets using a pre-installed transmitter that tracks the location of the specific object using signals from several satellites and calculating the delay between each one. Today, GPS tracking is more powerful, accurate, and comprehensive by integrating with an asset management system.

GPS tracking integrated with an asset management system provides you with insightful, real-time data and reports that support you to improve safety and productivity.

Let’s look at the benefits of installing GPS Tracking in the rental equipment industry.

5 benefits of GPS tracking for the rental equipment industry

  1. Tracking real-time location & geofencing

Renting your assets to others is risky unless you have full control of management and monitoring. Heavy equipment assets are highly valuable and difficult to replace. With GPS Tracking for heavy machinery, trailers, and other high-value assets, you can monitor your assets’ whereabouts in real-time. You can also set up geofencing, which is a virtual border drawn on the map, in an asset management system. These virtual boundaries or areas can be drawn like a single-lane street or shaped size as a specific yard to help you monitor and manage your valuable assets. These geofences are used as a trigger for alerts when your asset enters/exits in or from the geofenced area. As soon as the GPS tracking detects the movement, it will send an alert. This information is crucial in preventing contract breaches and ensuring that equipment is exactly where it is supposed to be.

 

  1. Monitor equipment condition

Another benefit of using GPS Tracking in the rental equipment industry is automated maintenance. GPS Tracking will allow you to schedule maintenance based on the equipment’s runtime. This will help make sure that maintenance is done on time and increase productivity by maintaining the rental cycle of each asset.  Maintenance notifications of upcoming work can enable you to go perform maintenance on a customer’s job site to prevent costly breakdowns and unnecessary repairs.

 

  1. Prevent theft

As we mentioned earlier, about 1,000 pieces of commercial equipment are reported stolen every month which is equivalent to anywhere from $300 million to $1 billion loss per year for business owners. This can happen to anyone.

What if your customer paid in cash or with a fraudulent credit card and disappeared without returning your rental equipment? When your equipment isn’t returned and you come to collect it, the site will be vacant or the address or person you lent your equipment doesn’t even exist. These unfortunate events could happen to you. How can you prevent this from happening?

You already know that a GPS Tracker allows you to monitor the exact location of your rental equipment. However, the right rental equipment tracking devices can do more than simply aid in locating lost or stolen rental equipment. It also can help you minimize the risk of damage to the assets if it is stolen by minimizing the time that thieves have them.

For example, if a GPS tracking device has geofencing or motion detection capabilities, it will instantly generate an alert if the device crosses the geofencing boundary or detects unauthorized movement. This alert system helps you to quickly identify a potential theft in progress and alert the authorities to the theft. Your quick action can reduce the possibility that the asset will be damaged or disposed of before the asset is found.

 

  1. Maximize equipment utilization

Keeping assets operating longer than they should and missing the right timing to replace them with new ones cause the cost to maintain them to skyrocket. With the right GPS Tracker, rental companies can see equipment usage and the GPS tracker helps them make more informed decisions about asset purchasing and selling.

 

A GPS Tracker integrated with an asset management system can help you stay on top of your asset replacement schedule and find the right time to replace your assets based on the maintenance milestones and their period of usage. The asset management system will provide you with crucial data and help you make the right asset management decisions to maximize equipment utilization.

 

  1. Improve invoice accuracy and billable time

Ditch the old manual tracking of run time and paper-based processes.

Using GPS tracking on your equipment improves your invoice accuracy and billable time. This feature is beneficial especially if you bill your customers based on the runtime of the equipment. You will know the exact amount of runtime from the data by GPS tracking and it will increase your invoicing accuracy.

In addition, monitoring runtime will eliminate human errors. It’s easy to bill your customer by the day, half-day, or by the hour with full and accurate data collected by an asset management system. Using GPS tracking and an asset management system automates everything and helps your work be more accurate and productive.

 

Need an advanced asset management system for your rental business? We are here to help you

Astreon provides a cloud-based system, seamlessly integrated into mobile applications featuring a wide range of IoT solutions. You can get real-time asset tracking visibility with detailed reports on their location. Astreon’s asset management system allows you to monitor your assets’ whereabouts with a click of a button to save time, reduce dwell time, with the added convenience of not having to physically look for your asset. It helps you reduce costs by ensuring that critical assets are available and identified quickly when you need them the most.

Contact us today for more information about our advanced asset management system.

Contact us today!

Tel: +1 (888) 647-4730
Email: sales@astreon.com

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Utilizing Big Data to improve critical fleet decisions

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When it comes to the word “Big Data”, you might think of the following words: data science, engineer, or machine learning. It might seem like big data has no impact on your business. Big Data is a game-changer for you to improve critical fleet decisions.

Big Data is a common buzzword and bringing massive industrial changes across the board, especially in fleet management industries. Big data has transformed fleet industries from post-problem solving to proactive and predictive problem-solving measurements.

 

What is big data?

Big Data is a large volume of data that can be used to address business problems by analyzing and extracting information from said data. For fleet management companies and organizations that manage fleets, these data points are collected by GPS Fleet Tracking Platforms, IoT(Internet of Things) and integrated vehicle sensors. The information from those sources includes driver performance and behavior, vehicles/assets locations, fuel usage/costs, maintenance and other key telematics data.

 

Why is big data important for fleet management?

Big Data is extremely important for organizations and their fleets. Utilizing Big Data enables fleet managers to make informed decisions about daily operations, such as driver performance and behavior, vehicles/assets locations, fuel usage/costs, and maintenance. Big Data mainly helps cost savings, risk mitigation and driver safety. Thanks to this technology, Fleet managers no longer require relying on spreadsheets or paper records. All data, such as engine status, vehicle speed, vehicle location, number of stops, fuel consumption, trip history, tire pressure, ETAs and more are saved in a cloud-based fleet management platform. With this insightful data, you can perform predictive analysis to prevent any future risks and reduce costs.

What is predictive analytics and why you should use them?

Critical decisions for corporations are based on data today. Predictive analytics is one of the value-added features that make predictions about future outcomes using historical data with statistical modeling, data mining and machine learning.

Fleet management predictive analytics is an ideal tool for

  • Driving risk analytics
  • Equipment usage analysis
  • Fleet productivity schedules
  • Future maintenance schedules

How can fleet industries benefit from predictive analytics?

Most advantages of using predictive analytics are accident prevention and driver safety. According to Automotive Fleet, a primary cause of preventable fleet accidents is driver distraction, which accounts for 25-30% of all fleet-related accidents. Costs caused by accidents typically represent 14% of a fleet’s total expenses, not including soft costs such as downtime and lost employee productivity, according to Automotive Fleet. This is a huge opportunity to cut fleet costs and prevent future accidents by taking advantage of Big Data.

Predictive analytics can improve the following;

 

  • Improve driver safety and behavior

Combining Big Data with telematics enables fleet managers to monitor and manage driver behavior and safety. This data includes driving route, real-time location, harsh braking, harsh cornering, harsh acceleration, fatigue, idling and other risky driving behaviors.

Fleet managers can evaluate this data to see the drive’s pattern and behavior and provide additional coaching if needed.

 

  • Improve routes

Without accurate and detailed data, it is difficult to know why delivery is taking longer than expected, or why certain routes are consistently causing problems. Having real-time data, like traffic, weather, or accidents can help fleet companies save time, improve customer service, reduce vehicle idling/wear and reduce operational costs efficiently.

 

  • Improve maintenance and vehicle life cycle

Wouldn’t it be amazing if you know vehicle maintenance issues in advance and receive notification automatically when to act? That could be a huge help to save costs. By leveraging Big Data, you can monitor vehicle health and diagnostics such as engine status, fuel level, and mileage. With predictive analytics, your fleet management platform allows you to automate your regular scheduled maintenance work by tracking vehicle operation in real-time, by sending notifications to your team for a truly preventative and proactive approach. As the result, predictive analytics helps you mitigate the risk, assess costs, and manage fleets to reduces costs and improve life cycle management.

fleet manager monitoring fleet management software

 

  • Enhance fuel costs

Fuel costs are one of the largest components of total expenses. The fuel data collected from integrated IoTs’ sensors is transmitted to fleet management software and based on the data, you can detect fuel thefts or unreasonably large fuel burn incidents. According to the data from our customers, using fuel management decreases 90% of fuel thefts, 15% of fuel costs and optimize 30% of fleet efficiency.

enhance fuel cost fleet maintenance

 

  • Compliance

As of June 12th, 2021, fleet vehicles are required to use ELDs (electronic logging devices) to record driver duty information. These devices can be integrated into fleet management platforms and provide all data so that fleet managers track driver schedules and comply with the regulations.

Big Data needs an advanced and comprehensive fleet management software

Big Data is a huge benefit when being integrated with advanced and comprehensive fleet management platforms. Integrated sensors and telematics data don’t work on their own. An advanced fleet management platform sorts, analyze data and creates insightful reports which help with business decision-making.

Astreon offers the most Comprehensive & Advanced Fleet Management platform available for your Vehicles, Trailers, Machinery and Equipment, with over 2.9 million+ tracked assets globally. Our software is easy to use, fully customizable, and advanced. With our Fleet Management platform, you see all your assets on one screen in a simple to operate, powerful application. Our in-house development team is always developing leading-edge technology to allow us to exceed our clients’ expectations.

Contact us today!

Tel: +1 (800) 647-4730

Email: sales@astreon.com

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Why you need to integrate Last Mile Delivery with your Fleet Management Software

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E-commerce industry is booming as consumer buying behaviors have changed to largely online. Today, consumers expect cheap, free and fast delivery and this is becoming the standard in the e-commerce space. In order to meet consumer expectations and move past competitors, companies need to find a way to improve delivery efficiency but maintain their margins when funding their shipping logistics.

The most important part they need to improve is their last mile delivery process. Last mile delivery is where most logistics companies have the most room for improvement, mostly lacking tools or services that cater to these needs.

What is Last Mile Delivery?

Last Mile Delivery refers to the last leg of a journey of the delivery process when a package is moved from a transportation hub to its final destination, which is usually end-users.

This is the most crucial step in the delivery process because customers expect fast and free delivery, and this demand increases constantly in e-commerce as competitors constantly push these boundaries to maintain competitiveness. The faster and more efficient the last mile delivery process is, the more you can improve customer satisfaction which will ultimately boost sales.

What is the biggest challenge with last mile deliveries?

Have you had a package “out for delivery” but you felt it took forever, even spanning multiple days? That means the last mile delivery process is inefficient or inaccurate and the consumer suffers, not knowing when their package will arrive, driving unnecessary calls into call centres, and driving up frustration levels in consumers.

According to the report from EFT (eye for transport), customers are expecting the following services;

customer demands logistics

In order to meet those customers’ demands, companies have to find a way to improve the last mile delivery process. However, there are the last mile delivery problems for companies.

challenges with last mile delivery

Last mile delivery is both the most expensive and time-consuming part of the shipping process. Last mile shipping can account for 53% of a shipment’s total costs but this number is increasing as supply chain inefficiencies are becoming more costly (INSIDER). At this point, companies have to implement new technologies and improvement of the delivery process.

Technology solutions to improve last mile delivery

How can companies provide customers’ expected demands, such as next-day delivery, free shipping and full visibility?

Having an effective fleet management tool is a solid place to start.

Astreon’s Logistics Solution is a fully-featured and integrated module to manage tasks, pickups, drop-offs, destinations for all order management business needs. Planning, recurring tasks, routing, two-way communication, and a feature-packed mobile app are all included in this effective operating management tool.

Astreon’s Logistics Solution is the best way to improve last mile delivery process and efficiency.

Here are 6 ways Astreon’s Logistics Solution can solve your biggest last mile delivery challenges;

 

 

1, Delivery route planning

Your driver has to follow a route to deliver. Your driver could have multiple stops with few drop-offs in total, or face the congestion of traffic and in both cases, a lot of time and gas can be spent a lot.

With Astreon’s Logistics Solution, it optimizes delivery routes automatically considering time, location, vehicle type, traffic to recommend efficient routes. It monitors vehicles in real-time so any updates on traffic that could affect these routes are sent to drivers in real-time with new optimized routes and ETA. It also provides an option to visually compare planned and actual routes both being shown on the map so a dispatcher can decide the most efficient routes under a variety of situations.

logistics - Delivery route planning

 

 

2, Delivery process monitoring

A dispatcher needs to monitor all delivery processes to make sure all deliveries are completed and respond to any emergencies.

Astreon’s Logistics Solution enables dispatchers to track the delivery process in real-time and respond to emerging issues through phone calls or chatting with the driver so that they can act on any situation quickly and accurately.

 

 

3, Effective communication

Communication between dispatchers and drivers are important to make all delivery process fast and efficient.

With Astreon’s Logistics Solution, drivers can communicate with their dispatchers and notify them of any circumstances considering delivery via a feature-packed mobile app. It also allows drivers to add a comment and take a photo to let dispatchers know their delivery completion.

 

 

4, Customer notifications

Customers are not as patient as you expect. Remember, they want free, fast delivery. As the customer demands graphs show, Customers need next day delivery and full visibility. Keeping your customers updated is considered a key to improve customer experience.

Astreon’s Logistics Solution enables you to keep your customers updated by offering not only tracking status but also talking to the driver directly or SMS notifications. Customers will always be notified of the forthcoming delivery and can track couriers via locator links too.

 

 

5, Reports and notifications

Identifying weaknesses before it is becoming critical issues, as well as monitoring KPIs are important to improve last mile delivery process and efficiency. To identify the issues, you need data to analyze.

With Astreon’s Logistics Solution, you can monitor key metrics, such as service time, fuel consumption, mileage, routes and route costs, fulfillment time, delivery interval, estimated departure time, estimated arrival time by teams, drivers, day, week, or even by the hour of the day. You can also download or preview reports. By taking advantage of these insights, you can track your company’s last mile delivery supply chain and find time allocation and possible improvements.

 

 

6, Driver’s Mobile app

Astreon’s Logistics Solution’s mobile app is designed for couriers and delivery drivers. Making your smartphone a fully-fledged working tool is easy – install the app from App Store/Google Play, authorize via the driver’s phone number, and you’re ready to go. Through the app, drivers receive detailed information on orders, as well as their pick up locations and planned routes on the map. All additional details – attached files, clients’ contact data, etc. – are present as well. The inbuilt chat function allows to communicate with an operator through text messages and send images.

During delivery execution, a driver can set order statuses (confirmation/rejection), attach client’s electronic signature or add new photos to order.

 

Astreon Logistics – Dispatch Solution

Our service allows you to perform a wide range of tasks in the area of logistics and delivery – transportation arrangements, delivery route optimization and cost-saving. Astreon’s Logistics – Dispatch Solution comprises a web-version for dispatchers and a mobile application for drivers.

Web version is an effective management tool designed for order placement and editing, distribution processes control, route planning and optimization, delivery progress control, notification on the events on the route, and service configuration.

iOS/Android app for delivery personnel features a user-friendly interface where your couriers and drivers get detailed information on each order, planned routes and sequences of delivery points, a built-in chat for courier-dispatcher communication, and a status-based system for quick updates on the delivery progress.

Need more information? Visit our Logistics page.

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Tel: +1 (800) 647-4730

Email: sales@astreon.com

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Why geofencing is crucial for fleet managers to save thousands of dollars

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What is geofencing?

Many industries use geofencing technology. For example, geofencing is often used for marketing to send a targeted email to customers who are near geofenced areas or ride-sharing services can alert passengers when there is a driver in their area. Geofencing is also useful in freight and logistics industries.

Geofencing is a virtual border drawn on the map in a fleet management system. These virtual boundaries or areas can be drawn like a single-lane street, shaped size as a whole country, or outstretched as a highway to help fleet managers monitor and manage vehicles. These geofences are used as a trigger for alerts when your vehicle/asset enters/exits in or from the geofenced area. As soon as the GPS tracking detects the movement, it will send a fleet manager an alert. It helps fleet managers to automate and simplify fleet management.

geofence

How does geofencing work?

To leverage geofencing, fleet managers need to create a virtual boundary around a specified location in GPS enabled map-based software application. The geofence will then trigger a response when an authorized device enters/exits that area.

drawing geofence

How does geofencing help fleet managers?

Managing all your company’s vehicles and assets is a primary task for fleet managers but it is much easier if your company uses geofencing.

Utilizing a fleet management system automates the fleet manager’s tasks and creates more manageable operations. Below are the geofencing features fleet managers can benefit from to improve the efficiency and productivity of their valuable fleet assets.

 

Real-time alerts

With geofencing, fleet managers can receive alerts in real-time. When a driver enters/exits to/from the geofenced area, it will send you a notification. This helps fleet managers manage driver’s log time so that you can manage when a driver arrives or departs from the location. It also helps fleet managers monitor the fleet’s fuel and vehicle usage by checking how long a vehicle is outside or inside of the geofenced area.

Efficiency & productivity

Geofence provides you with valuable data and insights: the avg. time delivery duration, downtime, operational cost, fuel expenses and more. You can generate reports which contain various insights, like which vehicles are overutilized and vice versa, which routes are most expensive or efficient, and driver behavior like aggressive driving. These data sets help fleet managers make important business decisions, such as the timing of a worn-out vehicle replacement, frequency of vehicle maintenance, training for drivers, etc.

Communication & safety

Are you using manual confirmation when your driver reaches their destination? With GPS Tracking and Geofencing, you will be able to monitor the real-time location and be alerted when they enter the geofenced area.

Geofencing is the best tool when it comes to safety. As we mentioned earlier, if there are any unauthorized movements from geofenced areas, fleet managers will be notified and be able to monitor where a valuable asset is in real-time. You can prevent theft and act quickly against any unexpected emergencies.

Payroll management

Geofencing is not only tracking vehicles/assets, but also used for payroll management if you pay your drivers on an hourly basis. You can record accurate driver logs by creating geofenced perimeters around your job sites so that fleet management software can start recording the working hours. It gives fleet managers accurate logs of when drivers start/finish working and how long they worked.

This data can be used when your admin calculates payroll. It’s paperless, faster, and more accurate.

Improve customer service

Geofencing can help your company improve customer service by providing them with alerts and keeping them updated. Delivery on the time is a major factor to improve customer service. You can use GPS and geofences to optimize routes for faster delivery. Moreover, it allows fleet managers to ensure that employees are staying on task and meeting delivery objectives by setting alerts. This keeps fleet managers updated on how far your drivers are to their final destination.

Astreon Fleet Management System

Astreon offers the most Comprehensive & Advanced Fleet Management platform available for your Vehicles, Trailers, Machinery and Equipment, with over 2.5 million+ tracked assets globally. Our software is easy to use, fully customizable, and advanced.

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Cargo theft in North America – 4.4 billion USD in economic losses

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How GPS Tracking mitigates risk in the global supply chain.

Since COVID-19 hit the world and has affected in-store shopping, many people are opting to use online shopping.  This can lead to supply chain disruption due to the higher demand. This demand is accelerating other risks, “cargo theft”. Cargo theft is a significant risk in global supply chain when it comes to global transportation by land, air and sea. In fact, cargo theft increased by 23% in the third quarter of 2020 from third-quarter 2019 in the U.S. and Canada.  It was an estimated total of $33.77 million in stolen cargo across U.S. and Canada according to the statistics by AJOT .

If you are wondering where cargo theft is happening and what products are targeted, here are some interesting facts according to the reports from TT CLUB and SensiGuard

 

Cargo theft by location in North America

U.S. – Cargo theft by the state

  1. California: 23%
  2. Texas: 11%
  3. Georgia: 10%
  4. Florida: 9%

 

Canada – Cargo theft

  1. Ontario: 75%
  2. Quebec: 19%
  3. British Columbia: 2%

 

Cargo theft trends

According to the report from TT CLUB, it shows that most cargo theft type was Hijacking at 69% followed by theft of vehicle at 10%.

Regarding the location of the theft, it mostly happens in-transit at 74%. The cargo theft of food & beverage accounts for 33% of the top commodities stolen.

cargo theft trends

GPS asset tracking

Cargo theft is a headache for companies with multiple warehouses and operational lines of business. It is challenging to keep track of all vehicles/assets and take care of unexpected events. Without appropriate action, you are at higher risk of losing credibility with your clients as well.

How GPS telematics help detect and mitigate cargo theft

The No. of businesses tracking assets is expected to exceed 114 million by 2025 as we mentioned in a recent blog. This is a significant increase in demand for location-based and asset tracking services in the next few years. The industry started taking advantage of the benefits of GPS tracking.

 

What exactly GPS tracking can help?

 

Real-time tracking

With GPS Tracking, you can locate exactly where your vehicles/assets are when they are stolen. Based on the data from GPS Tracker, you can also check travel history so you will know where your vehicles/assets were stolen, how they traveled to the final destination and where they are now.

Geofencing

GPS Tracking has an amazing feature, Geofences. It is a virtual border drawn on the map in a GPS tracking system. You can create a geofence area where you would like to mark yards, clients, even routes. You draw the geofence border like the photo below. Once the geofence is created, it is used as a trigger for alerts when your vehicles/assets enter or exit from the geofence area. As soon as the GPS tracking detects the activity, it will send you an alert. In case of theft, once the GPS tracker detects unauthorized movements, you will receive alerts so that you can immediately act against the event.

geofence

Insightful GPS data

GPS tracking software provides you with insightful data you can use to protect yourself against future theft/attack. You can analyze reports that tell you what happened, where, and why the event occurred. Based on this insight, you can plan preventive measurements to mitigate risk. For instance, you can change the route based on the location where the theft happened.

Dash camera – GPS Telematics

Dash cams attached to your vehicles can be a huge lifesaver in terms of theft. Some dash cams have built-in or optional GPS receivers. Not only video recording, but also dash cams have features that will be able to detect motion or impact. Dash cams will send alerts if there are any unexpected events in or outside of your vehicles.

dash cams

The most advanced telematics platform

Astreon has 30 collective years of experience in the custom software development, SaaS, and wireless industries. This has provided us with a unique outlook in today’s IoT industry as we develop and implement simple, powerful and easy to use applications for our partners.

We are one of the leading providers of solutions in the IoT industry. We are consistently introducing new wireless platforms, shaping the future and changing the way people do business. We provide you with the services and applications that you need to be more productive and responsive to today’s increasing industry demands.

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Asset tracking systems are expected to be used by 114 million businesses globally in 2025

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Asset tracking systems are expected to be used by 114 million businesses globally in 2025 – This has placed a huge demand on the logistics industry to prevent supply chain disruption.

A new study from Juniper research has estimated that the numbers of business tracking assets in 2020 reached 90 million, and will exceed 114 million by 2025. The research forecasts that $33 billion will be spent on asset tracking in 2025 globally.  This is a measurable increase in demand for location based and asset tracking services in the next few years.

 

Supply chain disruption

Keeping track of assets is challenging for Logistics companies in supply chain operations.  Especially for companies with multiple warehouses and multiple operational lines of business.  With the recent growth of e-commerce and online shopping, logistics companies face difficult operational challenges as they adjust to this new growing trend. Increasing capacity, adhering to regulations, and managing the complexity of the supply chain are just a few examples.   One key solution is tracking and optimizing the usage of assets through KPIs and Management tools.

Without having the benefit of an asset tracking system, and the benefit of KPI’s & reporting tools, it’s difficult for businesses to figure out what causes disruptions in supply chain.  Managers need data-based insights into manufacturing and logistics processes to optimize the supply chain efficiently.

One effective way to solve this challenge is tracking assets and obtaining all data from every asset to analyze asset utilization. This is why many businesses use asset tracking systems today, with consistent increased demand for these services.

What is driving this growth in the logistics industry?

Utilizing asset management systems allows logistics companies to reduce their inventory and stock management costs and helps them use their existing assets more efficiently by tracking and managing assets in real-time.  As a result, the deployment of asset management systems leads to significant cost-saving and immediate ROI.

 

Tools to provide optimum asset utilization

With asset management systems, managers can see which assets are under and overused. If assets are not being used efficiently, this leads to increased operational costs. If assets are overused, this might cause an increase in maintenance costs and frequency. For companies with larger fleets, they can track and monitor all assets. With this data, managers have accurate information to make key decisions on maximizing utilization, scheduling maintenance, and reduce extra costs.

 

Reduce equipment downtime

By leveraging the reports and alert notifications from asset tracking systems, you can track and monitor all assets’ data, including real-time location, mileage, breakdowns, fuel thefts, unauthorized use, dwell time, asset life cycle and more. By automating reports and creating custom notifications, you immediately know of upcoming maintenance for each asset providing notice and time to schedule maintenance and allocate assets accordingly.   This helps reduce or eliminate unnecessary maintenance and repair costs.

 

The right asset tracker for your clients

Effective asset tracking gives businesses an advantage that propels them ahead of the competition. Astreon is a global platform with Resellers, Partners, and Clients all over the world. Astreon provides dynamic data including routing & dispatch, location, status and key sensor state of all assets in the field. Astreon has turnkey tools to quickly and easily allow your business to hit the ground running.  We provide application hosting with optional white labeling services, hardware devices, connectivity, marketing and technical support. Everything you need to get started is here. Contact us today to become our partner.

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How GPS Tracking can improve construction operations

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GPS Tracking can be used in various industries and they take advantage of features of GPS Tracking. It not only tracks objects but also maximizes the productivity and efficiency of your vehicles and assets. Today GPS tracking services become a key management tool for the construction industry.

Why GPS Tracking for the construction industry?

Your equipment and vehicles are vital to your business. It is important to have all of them available and efficiently utilized. Without proper maintenance, your equipment can experience breakdowns.  Without GPS Tracking, your business experiences missing equipment or theft, impacting productivity and safety. Here are factors construction industry can benefit from GPS tracking;

Monitor & track your assets

This is a major feature when it comes to GPS tracking. Literally, it tracks your assets and locates where your valuable assets are in real-time. If your asset is missing, you can track your asset using data sent by a GPS tracking tag.

Not only tracking your assets, but also monitoring your assets can increase security and reduce theft.

In fact, up to $1 billion in equipment, materials and appliances are stolen from construction sites every single year, and less than 25 percent is recovered, according to the National Equipment Register. With GPS tracking, any unauthorized movement or activity will be reported to you and you can act quickly.

Improve safety and save money

Working in the construction industry can be life-threatening. In fact, 20 percent of worker deaths in the United States are in construction according to the statistics from United States department of labor. GPS tracking devices play a huge role in preventing critical accidents and increase safety. GPS tracking devices can provide reports and notifications regarding the driving habits of their workers. It can also establish a baseline score across all drivers in your fleet based on their driving habits. It is an easy and intuitive way to provide coaching to your drivers by analyzing and highlighting the top critical events that contributed to their scores.

Here are statistics with regard to the medical costs and possible saving by coaching safety to construction workers;

  • Construction companies save $4 to $6 for every $1 invested in safety programs
  • In 2019, the average cost of a medically consulted injury was $42,000, while the average cost per death was $1,220,000
  • On average, construction companies spend 3.6 percent of their budgets on injuries, but only 2.6 percent on safety training
  • 55 percent of workers believe they need more safety training, and 25 percent worry about being injured every day

Construction safety

Source: BIGRENTS

Safety can be improved by not only workers but also by the quality of equipment. Using GPS tracking comes with other benefits, such as capturing and reporting fuel information and comprehending equipment/vehicle’s life cycle.

Efficient use of equipment

Using equipment efficiently helps save money. When your heavy equipment is idling, it means you are losing profits and it results in increasing wear. According to On-Site, it says that “Manufacturer Komatsu estimates that an average machine’s idle time is 40 percent. It is estimated that an hour of idle time has the same impact on an engine as driving approximately 40 kilometres (25 miles) because the combustion process is affected. Idling increases the likelihood of the oil temperature dropping below 100 C, which can cause water to build up and result in fuel dilution and increased acids, all of which accelerate engine wear.”(On-Site) .

GPS tracking software can provide a powerful dashboard to plan, control, and manage the costs of vehicle maintenance. Leverage those data, and you can reduce idling.

Astreon Asset Tracking for construction

Protect valuable fleet assets. Enhance asset management. Increase profitability.

Effective asset tracking gives businesses an advantage that propels them ahead of the competition. Astreon provides dynamic data including the location & status of assets in the field. Control every aspect of your equipment from maintenance to fuel management. Make use of cost-effective & reliable remote monitoring. Embrace flexibility and extensive support for a wide range of tailored devices & sensors.

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