WEB-BASED fleet management and security systems from Delphi Corp, Kokomo, Indiana, and McLeod Software, Birmingham, Alabama, are among those developed to support the new hours-of-service regulations that became effective January 4, 2004.
“With many fleet operators' complex and highly distributed network of plans and clients, the opportunity of tracking information, drivers, and materials is a high-leverage financial and logistics issue,” said Robert Schumacher, business line executive for Wireless at Delphi Delco Electronics Systems.
“The Detention Module from McLeod gives carriers the opportunity to make up some of the expenses that have been incurred due to the hours-of-service rules,” according to company information. “McLeod customers that have LoadMaster and its Mobile Communications Module can now use the detention information stored in their system to automatically notify and bill excessive detention time to their customers.”
The Delphi system, FleetOutlook, provides a set of applications that run on Delphi's onboard truck productivity computer. MobileAria's applications are hosted at a network operations center that is secured with 24/7 monitoring.
To handle driver logs, the Delphi system automates input and storage of required daily data and provides for viewing, editing, and printing that uses MobileAria's Web portal.
For security purposes, Delphi uses a driver log-in procedure to authenticate driver identification.
McLeod's Detention Module is used to calculate detention charges for particular customers based on specific shipping or receiving locations. Integrated with the mobile communication's auto dispatch process, a new detention record will be created upon the receipt of an arrival message.
At the time of arrival of the load, the system will determine if the site has been designated as eligible for detention charges. If so, a record is added to the Detention Module History Screen to start detention monitoring. When the truck's departure notification is received, the detention history records status and departure time. The system updates the load record with the calculated detention charges along with the other charges in the billing record. All charges are then automatically sent via e-mail or fax to the customer.
The McLeod system can be set up to allow a designated amount of free time at each location before detention charges are accumulated. A warning time is also available so that within the free time, a warning message may be emailed or faxed to the appropriate parties. After the free time has expired, but before the departure from the location, the detention charges start accumulating. Two detention periods are available, with different billing codes and rates. In addition, the system's reporting capabilities can be used to identify trends by customer, location, tractor, or driver for investigative inquires. Manual updates can be made to the record, as needed.