Unlocking Maximum Efficiency with Bus & Transport Fleet Management Software

Managing vehicle operations efficiently and productively is a great challenge today in the fleet industry, especially in mobile environments such as public transportation services. Passenger transport companies face many challenges. For example, vehicle inspections, route management, regulatory requirements, maintenance, and safety with over 100 busses running more than 100 routes every day.

In this blog, we explore the challenges faced in daily operations, plus solutions that maximize bus efficiency and safety with fleet management and telematics Astreon offers.

 

A typical day for a transit operator

bus transit driver

Let’s take a look at a day in the life of a transit operator.

Meet John, a driver at a local bus service company, who has worked for 5 years.

 

1.     Clocking in

After arriving at work, John prepares for the day, grabs a cash box, heads to an operation counter, and his route for the day.

 

 

2.     Inspection

John heads to an assigned bus and does a thorough pre trip inspection. He takes a couple of notes on paper checklist and makes sure the bus is safe to operate. It is mandatory to do a pre/post trip inspection such as the lights, tire pressure, doors, windshield wipers, fluid levels, brakes and etc.

 

Challenges

The company is using a paper-based inspection process, storing hard copies of all pre-and post-trip inspection forms in boxes. This process causes storage, data retention and data collection issues. The stored forms take up valuable space and are difficult to use for reporting and determining necessary maintenance and unplanned repairs. It’s easy for drivers to overlook some processes and they are not compelled to complete the inspection forms thoroughly. Overall, the paper-based inspection process is slowing down operations and creating a compliance exposure.  This type of process also increases maintenance and repairs costs as small issues not properly dealt with can turn into expensive repairs down the line.

 

Solutions

A mobile and cloud-based fleet operation management solution

Using operation management Driveroo, which is a mobile and cloud-based fleet operation management solution, drivers have full access to visual inspection workflows from their mobile devices. Driveroo can turn any paper form into a fast, mistake-free automated process to boost operations and lower costs. A driver can streamline the inspection process using the app with a visual, asset-specific interface that incorporates required checklists and captures details, voice, image and video. All drivers need to do is just follow the easy visual guidance and tap to check items, flag issues and share inspection data with a team or a fleet manager in real-time.

driveroo - operation management

3.     Operate assigned routes

After finishing the pre-trip inspection, John heads out for the day. The shift card is made up of multiple runs at multiple different locations for the day.

 

Challenges

Keeping operations on time smoothly and safely is a primary task for transportation services. The manual process could cause a delay due to traffic, weather, maintenance issues, and unexpected accidents. Those events require support from the back office to get the bus operation back to normal and in a safe manner. In addition, it is crucial for a fleet manager to monitor driver behaviour to prevent unnecessary accidents, violations and unprofessional driving behaviour, such as speeding, unnecessary acceleration, heavy braking, and acceleration while cornering. These actions often increase maintenance costs and contribute to an unsafe environment.

 

Solutions

Public Transportation Management 

Transit + bus management

Using  a Transit Management solution enables bus service companies and drivers to digitize all processes, reduce human error, reduce costs, and improve safety.

Nimbus is a public transport management system that combines location-based services with route and schedule management. It has specialized tools designed for route management and can create stops, optimize routes, distribute vehicles across routes, manage schedules, and track route performance in real-time.

A fleet manager can create routes, add schedules, and track vehicle movement in real-time. It also sends notifications to control late/early arrivals, deviations from the route and other conditions demanding immediate intevention such as an emergency.

Transit + bus management

With Nimbus reports, a fleet manager has access to Ride History and performance quality assessment in terms of routes and vehicles. Analytics allow companies to further optimize the operations of passenger transportation services.

 

 

 

 

Dash camera

Transit operators are responsible for ensuring smooth operations of a transportation service. Connected Dash Cameras capture critical driving incidents, such as lane departure, forward collision, and improper driver behaviour, and can alert users in real-time.

Dash Cameras can also be leveraged for the evaluation of drivers’ professionalism and rewards for drivers. Cloud-based dash cameras upload events to the monitoring platform to be reviewed by managers or safety and compliance to identify areas to improve and reward positive behaviour.

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Astreon’s A.I. Dashcam is an all-in-one recorder designed to increase safe driving. It has all the features of a regular dash camera, and also supports intelligent driving assistance. It also has the advantages of a powerful telematics tracker, competitive price, and is an enterprise grade device.

Astreon’s’s built-in A.I. cameras help avoid unnecessary accidents, providing advanced active collision warning by intelligently identifying vehicles, lanes, and traffic ahead. Effectively predicting driving hazards such as tailgating, front & pedestrian collision, and lane departure.

ad plus forward camera collision warning

  • Front Collision Warning
  • Lane Departure Warning
  • Headway Monitoring and Warning
  • Pedestrian Collision Warning
  • Front Departure Warning
  • Blind Spot Detection
  • Stop Sign
  • Speed Limit Detection

 

higher AI accuracy

Intelligently identifying the driver’s behaviours such as using mobile phones while driving, being drowsy, distracted, and not wearing a seatbelt via the cabin camera. It also includes alerts that reduce traffic accidents caused by driver behaviours.

  • Phone Usage & Texting
  • Seat Belt
  • Face Recognition
  • Distraction
  • Fatigue

 

Driver Safety

Eco driving driver score

Professional and careful driving contributes to reducing fuel costs, extends vehicle service life, and improves fleet safety for passengers and drivers.

To improve drivers’ professionalism and performance, driving behaviour monitoring is a key service.

Eco Driving (Safety+) Astreon is an app that helps assess a driver’s performance. The solution evaluates driving skills based on penalty points for violations such as speeding, unnecessary acceleration, heavy braking, acceleration while cornering, etc.

Driving behaviour analysis helps operators or fleet owners discipline and educate drivers.

 

Eco driving

Eco Driving also has the following features;

  • Trip analysis
    • A detailed report on trips with a map and a violations table
    • The driver’s rating displayed regarding the trip duration in the form of a column.
  • Reports
    • Several types of reports for a comprehensive driving behaviour analysis: by a driver, group of drivers or units for any period
    • Export to PDF and XLSX files.

 

  • Driver Score
    • Eco Driving (Safety+) enables you to 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 top critical events that contributed to their scores.

 

4.     Final Trip and clock-out

John finished his final trip and makes his way back to the depot. He starts a post-trip check and reports it to a manager if there is any vehicle faults or damages. He returns his cash box and prepares to clock out.

 

Benefits of Using Bus & Transport Fleet Management

Using and combining powerful apps, software and telematics enable managers to quickly detect and educate ineffective drivers. Bus & Transport Fleet Management also helps companies reduce maintenance costs, improves safety and service quality. For drivers, Bus & Transport Fleet Management helps improve their driving skills, increases safety and morale.

 

Astreon – A leader in connected transportation solutions

Astreon is a Mobile Workforce management expert in custom software development and application development for Canadian Fortune 500 Companies. Our platform connects to over 3.4 million vehicles and our open platform offers options for over 20 business-specific companion application solutions. Our customers rely on our services daily as business process management tools and benefit from multiple add-on tools and applications such as Compliant ELD, Maintenance Management, Driver Coaching, Video Management Dashboard, KPI Measurement Dashboards, Logistics & Dispatch tools, plus many more.

Connect with us today to find out more about how Astreon can benefit your business.

Contact us today!

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

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How to advance driver safety and coaching

There are over 3.5 million trucks on North American roads that cross international borders.

According to the statistics from Nation’s trucking alliance, 90 percent of all consumer products and food are shipped by semi-truck throughout Canada, and approximately two-thirds come from the United States.

 

Trucking accidents in Canada

The OPP (Ontario Provincial Police) statistics show a significant increase in commercial motor vehicles (CMV) with collisions resulting in fatality. CMV-involved fatal crashes went up 40% last year in Ontario. Based on OPP statistics, 78% of CMV collisions occurred on provincial highways.

This leads us to believe that drivers have a low awareness of safety and employers are not taking these risks seriously.

 

Costs associated with fleet accidents

The average cost of a loss related to a fleet vehicle accident is between $16,000 and $75,000. This increases drastically if there is a fatality involved, according to an article from automotive fleet.

As an example, the average cost of insurance for semi-trucks has increase to between $12,000 and $16,000 in the U.S. and $15,000 and $20,000 in Canada.

 

The roadmap to an advanced safety program

It’s important to establish clear goals, and policies to demonstrate the company’s commitment to building a company safety culture.  This increases safety awareness among every member of your team and helps prevent future accidents. Not only improving drivers’ behaviour but the back-office can also contribute to creating a safety program for drivers. There are two effective approaches fleet companies can take to establish a safety culture in their business.

 

On the road: prevent incidents with video-based technology

Over 80% of all accidents involving passengers and trucks are the fault of passenger vehicles.

This is a significant number. Protecting your drivers is important, providing proof of not-at-fault ensures they continue driving (productivity) and that you are retaining talent (finding good drivers is always a challenge).

The following are major causes of CMV accidents;

  • Distracted driving
  • Road and weather conditions
  • Speeding and driving recklessly
  • Failing to properly train drivers

What can fleet companies and drivers do to avoid these causes? Here we explore how they can detect and change these behaviours and why video-based technology is a key to preventing incidents on the road.

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Today, Astreon’s A.I. Dashcam is an all-in-one recorder designed to increase safe driving. It has not all the features of a regular dash camera, and also supports intelligent driving assistance that allows companies to detect unsafe behaviours proactively.

 

 

ad plus forward camera collision warning

Astreon’s A.I. Dashcam captures critical incidents in super high definition. It also provides advanced active collision warning by intelligently identifying vehicles, lanes, and traffic scenes ahead via the ADAS camera and effectively predicts driving hazards such as tailgating, front & pedestrian collision, and lane departure.

 

higher AI accuracy

With a driver-facing camera, it is possible to identify the driver’s behaviours such as using mobile phones while driving, being drowsy, distracted, and not wearing a seatbelt via the cabin camera, and giving an alarm in combination with the vehicle operation status which comprehensively reduces the traffic accidents caused by driver misconduct.

 

At the office: Improve safety awareness with reporting and coaching tools

Identifying and addressing unsafe driver behaviour is the center of an effective fleet safety program. Using the data collected by a dashcam and telematics, you can analyze and assess driving behaviour. By leveraging Astreon fleet management software, you can get full visibility into countless useful data points across your operations from anywhere anytime. Reports from fleet management and analysis tools can help you approach actional insights to establish a safety culture.

dashcam monitoring

Our cloud-based web portal enables fleet companies to monitor live critical events such as accidents, crashes, or dangerous driving from any devices and those uploaded videos can be used for training purposes or insurance claims.

To establish a safety culture, here are some effective actionable plans;

Monthly reporting

Leverage advanced data from telematics and fleet management software. Reporting the rate of unsafe events or reckless driver behaviours can be the best benchmark to compare the monthly report which contains safety and efficiency data by month.

 

Show drivers video footage in coaching and training program

Showing actual video footage when an unsafe event occurred is the best way to educate drivers on safety and how to take the right action proactively. With Astreon’s cloud-based web portal, you review all important videos with the driver, providing a coaching and training program.

 

All-In-One Driving Recorder Designed for Safe Driving

Astreon’s A.I. Dashcam is an all-in-one recorder designed to increase safe driving. It has not all the features of a regular dash camera, and also supports intelligent driving assistance. It has the advantages of a powerful telematics tracker, competitive price, and low cost, secure installation.

Learn more at https://www.astreon.com/a-i-dash-cams/.

Contact us today!

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

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4 quick steps to prepare your fleet for dashcams

Transportation companies are now embracing advanced safety technology that was previously considered cost-prohibitive not providing a clear ROI that fleets require to make such an investment.

Today’s landscape has changed drastically. Dashcams have become the norm for carriers to protect themselves against false claims and improve drivers’ safety + CVOR.  The industry is finding the ROI is more quickly attainable. Over 80% of all accidents involving passengers and trucks are the fault of passenger vehicles. Protecting your drivers is important, providing proof of not-at-fault ensures they keep driving, attributing to productivity and increased wages for the driver. This also helps with talent retention. Finding good drivers is a constant challenge.

 

According to a survey from FreightWaves subscribers, 70 percent of respondents are currently using dashcam technology. However, many carriers don’t comprehend dashcam’s features, or how to leverage them. When it comes to the acceptance of new technology, it always comes with some misconception and confusion.

It’s critical for companies and drivers to understand the benefits and features, and to develop a preventive mindset when they implement advanced dashcams.

 

Here are 4 tips to help prepare your business and fleet for dashcams, and to avoid common mistakes;

 

1.    Involving drivers in the pilot

As a company adopts innovative technology, they should involve drivers in the pilot phase of implementation. Drivers’ input is the most useful resource to point out growing pains and establish a solid safety system during this phase. The company also should have drivers test in different locations to see if there are any regional challenges in various locations.

The company should identify any problem areas that can be corrected before implementation. Keeping your drivers in the loop is ideal.

  

2.    Conduct Q&A sessions

Building trust and transparent relationships with drivers is a key to minimize resistance to new technology. Conduct Q&A sessions, workshops, or meetings with employees to explain why the change is necessary, and what the features and benefits of the system are.

 

The most successful acceptance of dashcams is to share videos and assess and debate driver behaviours in dangerous circumstances. Drivers usually don’t mention to their peers what happened when they encountered critical situations so this is a great opportunity for drivers to acknowledge how other peers deal with dangerous situations.

 

3.    Managing & leveraging data

The dashcam collects and sends key telematic data to analyze and assess driving behaviour. Leverage this data for safety coaching events and driver assessment.

 

At Astreon, we offer driver coaching tools which assess driving habits, behaviors and safety. It evaluates telematic data and provides a score based on penalty points for violations like speeding, unnecessary acceleration, heavy braking, acceleration while cornering, reckless driving, etc.

 

4.    Rewarding positive action

Drivers rarely receive rewards, even though their work environment is often stressful dealing with inclement weather, congested traffic, dwell times, etc. Encouraging drivers with rewards and public acknowledged of their achievements makes a big difference with driver satisfaction.

Some drivers might think they are always being observed by employers because of the dashcams. To reduce this negative impression, employers should explain the purpose of implementation and benefits of dashcams, plus rewards that motivate drivers’ positive behavior and safety score.

 

Employers could

  • Share the video with the entire team and celebrate the driver who took positive actions in a critical situation
  • Acknowledge the driver’s actions in a company meeting, workshop or newsletter
  • Publicly thank the driver
  • Present a gift card

 

These rewards are wildly successful in all businesses. On average, incentive programs achieve a 35% increase in driver safety scores across the board. The result is safer drivers and reduced insurance claims through Gamification: where drivers compete on their scorecards, aiming to achieve a higher score than their peers.

 

Adopting innovative technology

The Fleet industry has radically changed as a result of innovative A.I. Enhanced Dash Camera systems, and lower costs of data and hardware. Video evidence is regularly accepted by insurers when submitting claims, proving your driver is not at fault, avoiding fines and preventing insurance hikes because of those fines. On top of that, some insurance companies offer a premium rate if you employ a dashcam system.

 

The key to successfully implementing new technology is to establish a transparent relationship, collaboration, and engagement with drivers.

 

All-In-One Driving Recorder Designed for Safe Driving

Astreon’s A.I. Dashcam is an advanced dash camera with a built-in A.I. processor to detect driving events such as lane departure, forward collision, and unsafe driver behaviour. It can alert the driver in real-time of dangerous behaviours, and upload events to a monitoring platform to be reviewed by a fleet manager as a coaching aid and for evidence.

Learn more about Astreon’s leading solutions here.

Contact us today!

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

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

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.

Contact us today!

Tel: +1 (888) 647-4730

Email: sales@astreon.com

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