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Vehicle management, the smart way

T. E. Raja Simhan

CARGO theft is the latest threat to transport operations. Mr. Jana, owner of Sri Transport in Chennai, is a well-known transport operator, owning over 100 trucks. However, he is a worried man, because of frequent cargo theft in transit from his trucks.

Mr. Jana lost a few valued corporate customers -- his business associates for over two decades -- and with them substantial business. Neither the police nor Mr. Jana could identify the people involved, or even the locations where the t rucks halted during transit.

Fortunately for Mr. Jana and other transporters, there is now a solution available to keep track of their vehicles, and avoid pilferage while in transit.

The US-based @Road Inc. will soon offer Indian customers LocationSmart mobile resource management solution -- FleetASAP -- which will provide cost-effective Web-based vehicle management services. In addition, this will provide a complete turn-key solution for real-time location, messaging, scheduling, supply-chain management and vehicle telematics.

FleetASAP, powered by the LocationSmart technology platform, patented by the company, will combine global positioning system (GPS), wireless communication, Internet and XML (extensible mark-up language) technologies into a fully integrated network. This is designed to support delivery of location-enhanced mobile commerce solutions, says the company Chairman and CEO, Mr. Krish Panu.

According to Mr. Panu, FleetASAP works for any fleet size, ranging from one vehicle to a fleet of over 100 vehicles. ``With FleetASAP on board, and with the help of Internet, companies can manage their mobile assets, increase revenue and profitability,'' he said.

FleetASAP, as he explains, is an easy-to-use Web-based vehicle management and mobile-commerce solution for companies with mobile resources. The subscribers need to buy a small modem and an optional data terminal for each vehicle.

The FleetASAP package would cost around Rs. 14,000 per vehicle. All the subscribers will need is a PC with Internet access, and a programmed Internet location modem (iLM) which, when placed in a vehicle, automatically communicates the vehicle location, u pon request or at customer pre-defined intervals.

The Internet, which runs over @Road's password-protected Web site, will be available to Indian customers at $39 per month per unit tracked. A dispatcher or fleet manager needs to log on to the @Road web site, to view the vehicle's status on easy-to-view maps, or in report format, he said.

Subscribers can monitor the exact location of a vehicle, wherever in India, the speed at which it is travelling, and even where all fleet vehicles are headed. The equipment will also calculate and report information every 15 minutes, or at intervals dete rmined by the subscriber. The instrument continues to record the movement of vehicles travelling outside the wireless coverage area and stores the information for later retrieval.

The optional message display package in the vehicle includes pivoting bracket, connection cable and a user manual. There is a 24-button keyboard and easy-to-read text messaging. It also provides two-way text messaging between the dispatcher and driver vi a the Internet, stores up to 20 inbound and 40 outbound messages, and provides up to 10 pre-defined messages.

The LocationSmart technology mobile-commerce solutions include four applications -- mobile resource management (MRM), mobile content delivery (MCD), mobile commerce exchange (MCE) and mobile business intelligence (MIB).

The MRM application provides real-time location, monitoring, messaging, reporting and maintenance scheduling capabilities for businesses with fleet vehicles. The services will be offered through FleetASAP, as well as e-mail and corporate intranet access.

The MCD provides wireless Internet access to personalised, location-based information through any WAP (wireless application protocol) or SMS (short messaging system) enabled device linked by wireless to a vehicle installed at the @ROAD ILM -- Internet Location Manager. The @Road ILM will provide real-time wireless connection to the @Road repository of location-enhanced information and services, the wireless Web and corporate intranets.

The MCE will provide online auctions, marketplace services, forums and e-mail for location-based B2B transactions. The MBE will also provide fleet performance, vehicle diagnostic indications and maintenance intelligence for improved business management. @Road mobile business intelligence solutions will transform data into knowledge for business and personal use.

The MIB application will extract and compile data from multiple sources, and log key performance indicators, such as engine RPM, fuel consumption and cooling temperature and extend the communication of business to and from their mobile assets, by providi ng information on the location and status of vehicles to the company, and make appropriate corporate, business and location-distinct information available to various people, including the driver.

The charges for a one-time mobile platform installation will be $300 per vehicle, and a subscription fee of $40-60 per month. ``FleetASAP will reduce a company's cost in transportation by around 20 per cent,'' Mr. Panu says.

Welcoming the new technology, a city-based truck transport operator observes, ``the package cost is on the high side, while it should be quite low for transporters, who are mostly single-vehicle owners. Given the high cost factor, only big corporates and major fleet operators would opt for such a technology. In India over 80 per cent of the trucks are operated by single-vehicle owners''.

As Mr. Panu points out, initially, @Road will target only at the big transporters and large corporates, which have a sizeable fleet strength.

FleetASAP, launched in 1998, is currently available across the US and the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan. The company has over 35,000 subscribers.

US company comes to Chennai

@Road Inc., headquartered in Fremont, California, will expand its Indian operations with an investment of around $20 millions, which can go up to $30 millions. The company is also scouting for a joint venture partner to market its product s and services in the country.

To part-finance the expansion plans in India, along with China, Japan and Europe, the company plans a $100-million IPO on the Nasdaq.

The company now has a development centre in Elnet Software City, Chennai, developing mobile-commerce applications and services, based on the LocationSmart technology platform.

The Chairman and CEO of FleetASAP, Mr. Krish Panu, said Chennai would be a mirror-image of the US office, with the same technology available to Indian customers. The expansion will take place once the joint venture partner comes in. The company plans to increase the staff strength to around 80, from the present 20, in a year, he said.

The company has raised over $85 millions in five rounds, by way of stock offering, from venture capital and such corporate investors as ABS Capital, Galleon Management, Institutional Venture Partners, Intel Capital, Sirios Capital and US Venture Partners .