At Webtech Wireless, we partner with a range of companies because it helps us focus on our key products and services while offering you a diverse range of solutions.  For example, we have partnered with four of North America most prominent mobility providers to ensure you have the widest area of cellular coverage and that includes cross-border (US and Canada) coverage.

We also have resellers and distributor partners that sell our products and services and specialize in solutions for commercial and government fleet markets. Our OEM (original equipment manufacturer) partners embed our hardware products within their products, and leverage the software services we provide to develop and sell a combined offering to their customers.

While we have many partners, this story focuses on profiling three of our partners who have recently provided important integrations:

In-Cab Navigation from ALK Technologies

We partnered with ALK Technologies to bring enhanced in-cab navigation and routing capabilities to our MDT 3100 and Quadrant Manager. ALK CoPilot is an industry-leading truck-specific GPS routing solution designed to provide reliable navigation on truck-legal roads while keeping drivers safe. Fully integrated into the MDT 3100, drivers can seamlessly switch between Hours of Service and navigation.

Fuel Card Integration from FleetCor

We partnered with FleetCor because its fleet card products provided fuel card integration with Quadrant Manager. FleetCor is one of the global leaders in fleet fuel cards and this integration made it easier for our customers to better manage their fleets. For example, data from FleetCor and Quadrant Manager can be used to easily discover discrepancies between the location of fuel purchases and the location of vehicles.

“FleetCor fuel cards provide visibility into when fuel purchases were made and Webtech Wireless provides the location of the vehicle at the time of purchase. It makes the information trail complete for the fleet manager”, says Andrew Paul, VP Commercial Sales.

Traffic Scorecard Reporting from Inrix

“Death, taxes and traffic are often called the three certainties of life”, according to Inrix and, with the ability to provide traffic data points numbering in the trillions, Inrix has shown that it can handle at least the traffic part of the equation. Inrix has carved out a niche for itself as one of the pre-eminent providers of traffic data. What that means our customers is that we can offer utilize that data to increase the profitability and safety of companies operating fleets on busy roads and highways. For example, Coach Canada uses Quadrant reports that rely on Inrix data to ensure its drivers are driving safely. In particular, they can now report on the length of time the vehicle traveled beyond a pre-defined speed and driving behavior issues such as hard breaking or sharp accelerations, indicators of potential dangerous behavior by drivers.

Coach Canada, a leading Canadian commercial bus line, has achieved a variety of internal targets to monitor vehicle speeds, recently announced it had reached and exceeded its safe speed initiative and credited its improvement in overall safety and performance to our Quadrant Manager solution in conjunction with real-time road speed  and posted speed limit data from INRIX®.

Our partnership with Inrix and its successful implementation with Coach Canada have produced some very positive data: “We’ve seen a 90.4 percent reduction in speeding after implementing these Quadrant Features in 2012”.

Partnership Matters

All our partners provide unique solutions that are part of the distinctive GPS fleet management solutions we provide. We’re always expanding the products we offer and our partnerships play a key role in making this possible. For more information on our partners, please email us at info@webtechwireless.com.

Federally regulated rules and driver monitoring raise the specter of Big Brother with anyone considering a monitoring solution, but while some blatantly flout the law and force their drivers to work long hours, others lose sleep at night worrying about the safety of their drivers and operations.

Changes in HOS rules are rarely popular. The National Private Truck Council is currently running a survey and posing the question, “With the new Hours of Service rules effective due to take place July 1, 2013, what is your fleet’s estimated loss of productivity?”, but with the increase in accidents attributed to fatigued drivers, it’s no wonder that the US DoT continues to update its regulations. Safety trumps all.

At Webtech Wireless, we anticipate changes to HOS rules and provide regular software and hardware updates well in advance of change deadlines to ensure our customers never experience downtime and business interruption.

We Were Ready Then

Last December, we released an update of our MDT 3100 In-Cab solution to offer HOS Oil Well Waiting capability for fleets in the Oil and Gas sector. With Oil Well Waiting, drivers could track time waiting at a well site without it counting against their HOS time limit. This capability ensured fleets could remain competitive while complying with FMCSA HOS regulations. At the time, our Quadrant VP of Products and Services, Ernie Chatham said “This feature is designed with drivers in mind. It’s easy to use and the interface and workflow are simple, allowing for quick training, simple implementation, and immediate cost savings.”

We’re Ready Now

We’ve started letting affected customers know about the new changes to HOS rules for fleets operating in the US, so if you haven’t heard from us directly, you soon will. Here’s an overview from the US Department of Transportation.

30-Minute Mandatory Break – Starting in July, drivers of a CMV operating in the US cannot drive if more than eight hours have passed since the driver’s last off-duty or sleeper break of 30 minutes or more.  When a driver reaches the eighth hour into the work shift, before continuing the driver must take a 30-minute break.

Restart Rules - A 34-hour restart is a “valid” restart only if the driver ensures that the period includes two back-to-back nighttime rest periods from 1:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. The restart rules restrict how often a restart can be used. If a driver restarts more often than what’s allowed by US rules, the driver must indicate on the log which restart will be the one that’s being used as the valid restart.

For more information, see the US Department of Transportation web site.

Technical Support

If you have any questions about how the new HOS rules might affect you, please contact our technical support specialists:

support@webtechwireless.com Phone +1 (604) 419 8163

Toll Free (US/Canada) +1 (866) 945 4568

Hours of Operation:

Monday – Friday 6:00 am – 5:00 PM PT

Saturday 8:00 am – 4:30 PM PT

By Joel Waithman

Walt Fischer and Nigel Maund man the new Webtech Wireless booth at NAFA 2013.

Last week, along with Nigel Maund, Walt Fischer and others from Webtech Wireless, I attended NAFA in Atlantic City, New Jersey. I’m sure it’s a fun place in the summer, but in April there wasn’t much to distract me from the trade show (except perhaps a visit to the roulette table).

While at the conference, I attended an excellent presentation called, “Breakthrough Technologies and Future Trends for Fleet Telematics”, which described how telematics is going to impact fleet management in the next few years. The format of the presentation was a panel of four telematics specialists (responsible for huge fleets such as ARI) and a moderator. They fielded about ten questions and spent about ten minutes answering each question, except for one: The big question on everyone’s mind was distracted driving. This topic consumed a whole hour of the presentation time with many people from both commercial and government fleets weighing in on different points. Questions included, “How can we solve it?”, “Are we invading the privacy of the driver?”, and “What applications are available?”

So, gambling may be a fine distraction in Atlantic City, but no one’s gambling on distracted driving. One commenter compared cell phone use while driving to gun ownership. After all, a vehicle is potentially as lethal to operate, so some form of regulation is needed to ensure people use it properly. But is it the responsibility of governments to enforce? Some government operators suggested that unions might resist (unless required to comply by government regulations) while others embraced the idea (particularly commercial operators who shoulder a great deal of responsibility regardless of whether cell phones are used for private or company purposes). Everyone was aware of the Coca-Cola settlement of last year that set a precedent across the board for companies to monitor their drivers’ cell phone habits more closely.

On a lighter note, this year AT&T set up a demo car on the trade show floor equipped to demonstrate the risks of distracted driving. To try it, we put on special goggles that simulated a driver’s view and then we were given a cell phone to type on while driving. The demo could measure our level of distraction using graphs that measured speed fluctuations as we texted. People who tried the simulation were surprised by how distracted they became.

Joel Waithman, Channel Partner Manager - Webtech Wireless

These experiences reminded me how critical our Webtech Wireless MDTs with hands-free voice are to preventing distracted driving. Even our auditory alert warnings (such as on the Accelerometer) to warn of excess speed, braking, and other erratic driving behavior ensure safety by keeping drivers focused on driving rather than texting. There are many ways to be distracted nowadays, but it’s in no one’s interest to gamble on road safety.

Recently, I wrote how fantastic it was to see “Our Customers Speak at APWA”. It got even better when I had the opportunity, along with 25 other fleet managers, to visit the Freightliner truck factory in Mount Holly, NC (just outside of Charlotte) as part of the 2013 APWA Snow Show. One way to make any fleet manager smile is to see a brand new truck, which is how we were greeted outside the front door of the Freightliner Truck Factory. There were many smiles out front as we looked at the brand new Freightliner trucks, which are used by both our government and commercial clients in a wide array of applications.

The professionalism and commitment to quality was evident from the very start of our tour. After a briefing by senior management, we were led in groups of six by an individual tour leader, each of whom had at least 20 years’ experience in the factory. We were each given wireless ear phones and each tour guide had a wireless channel to speak with us. Even when we were in noisy parts of the factory, we could hear exactly what was being said by our tour leader.

Lowering an engine onto a chassis

At the Mount Holly facility, there are over 1,400 employees working two shifts a day to produce 98 trucks every day. We started at the beginning of the chassis assembly. Each chassis is assembled upside down. This makes it much easier for employees to get gravity to work for them rather than fighting to install heavy components like axles. Each Freightliner truck is custom ordered and can be configured in single, dual, or tri-axle offerings.

All the chassis move slowly along the production line as they are built up to specification. At the end of the line, a giant overhead crane lifts and then flips the chassis over before lowering them onto a set of trollies that are part of another production line. At the end of the second production line a brand new Freightliner truck rolls off the line.

We toured many other parts of the factory. Robots start cab assembly by putting them together in jigs. They are then sent through a fully automated paint line before being wheeled to the cab assembly area where dashes, windshields, wiring, wipers, seats, and more are all put together.

Each assembled chassis and cab is uniquely identified by the last five digits of the vehicle identification number. If any quality issue comes up, it is immediately documented in a computer system using the VIN. Throughout the plant there are white boards, meeting areas, and even giant screens showing best practices, all of which are designed to speed up production while ensuring both safety and quality. I came away with several impressions of the factory:

People: Everyone we met stopped to smile and wave at us. A few times, employees even took a minute to speak to one of our group. This is a culture committed to empower individual employees to do their job, get better at it, work in teams, and share those experiences with team members to make the whole process better.

Excellence: From daily huddles to automation, I left knowing that Freightliner is committed to a quality product. From design to how our tour leaders answered our question, there was knowledge and pride in how and what they delivery every day to their customers.

Performance: Among all Freightliner truck factories in the US, the Mount Holly facility has the fewest trucks off line. This is a key measure of truck factory performance and not only did the Mount Holly facility have fewer off line trucks than any other, it had one half the off line days of all the other factories. Huddles are held every day and any employee can propose ideas to make the process faster or the quality better. Teams are empowered to make their own decisions and changes, while making sure that safety is never compromised.

I was impressed with the whole operation and the intricate level of details that need to be brought together to build each Freightliner truck. Freightliner’s focus on people, excellence, and performance reminded me of Webtech Wireless: We have the same focus to bring together people and diverse teams to deliver awesome experiences for our customers as they improve their fleet performance with our GPS/AVL implementations. Who knows, maybe the truck I saw leaving the factory will one day have a Webtech Wireless device helping the fleet manager responsible for the truck help deliver on the value that started at the Freightliner truck factory?

Business intelligence tools are designed to retrieve, analyze and report data, and anyone trying to manage a business these days knows this: Data is everywhere. But how do you make sense of it all? On a vast scale, Google’s ability to handle large data sets in an efficiently has contributed $54 billion to the U.S. economy in 2009. Handling data effectively is big business.

At Webtech Wireless, we measure success by how your business implements our telematics solutions. Telematics is data. Data is information. Information allows you to gathering stories about how well your fleet is performing, and knowing how to use these stories is key to running your business better.

What Is NAFA’s Institute & Expo?

Another intelligent way to make sense of a lot of data is to attend a trade show and that’s what we’re doing­­—this time we’ll be at the NAFA Institute & Expo Show Management running April 23 to 26 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Billed as a “Created BY Fleet Managers FOR Fleet Managers” event,

NAFA’s annual Institute & Expo is known as “the largest event of the fleet management industry”. It’s a great opportunity to network with thousands of fleet professionals and take part in cutting-edge training and education.

We recommend:

We’ve culled through their extensive list of seminars to recommend a few must-see seminars. As well, we found a link so you can easily download a schedule of the entire event (at bottom). If you’re planning on attending 2013 NAFA Institute & Expo, make sure you come see us at booth 728.

TUESDAY, APRIL 23

10:30 am “Thinking Ahead: Using Remarketing Trends to Forecast the Future”

TUESDAY, APRIL 23

1:00 pm “Breakthrough Technologies and Future Trends for Fleet Telematics”

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24

10:30 am “Make Better Decisions through the Power of Technology”

THURSDAY, APRIL 25

3:30 pm “Safety 101 – Using Insurance, Driver Training and Crash Analysis to Manage Fleet Risks”

FRIDAY, APRIL 26

9:30 am “Getting to the Top: How Fleet Managers Can Gain Access to Executive-Level Decision Makers”

Download the 2013 NAFA Institute & Expos schedule

Bob Levesque, Kevin Hensley, Scott Edmonds, Michael Williams, and Karen Mongeli

This week, the American Public Works Association 2013 Snow Show wrapped up in Charlotte, NC. The annual event brings together some of the best snow operators in Canada and the US to share best practices, learn about the latest technology, and discover how it can help during storm events.

We were really pleased that three outstanding Webtech Wireless customers were selected to present at this year’s Snow Show. At our customer hospitality suite, we gave each of our customer presenters a plaque in recognition of their contribution to us and the show. Below is a short summary of each presentation.

AVL in Winterer Maintenance Programs today—Way More than “Big Brother” by Kevin Hensley, Stormwater Supervisor, City of West Des Moines. Kevin has spent the last six years in public works and commented that the AVL project come under “other duties as assigned”. Kevin sees himself as an end user of the system. He highlighted the importance of reports to achieving their goals. They use InterFleet for inventory control of their salt, spread rates, complaint resolution, customer support, and contractor oversight. As we wrote in Big Brother, Kevin got employee buy-in starting with the maintenance people. Operators have access to InterFleet before every shift, where they sometimes replay parts of the previous shift to get an idea of what has been going on during a storm event. I loved Kevin’s comment, “This stuff amazes me to this day”. Overall, the City of West Des Moines has reduced salt usage by as much as 40%.

Implementation of MDSS and AVL Equipment by Michael Williams, Snow & Ice Program Coordinator, Kentucky Department of Highways. I learned that MDSS stands for Maintenance Decision Support System. This system gives very detailed road weather forecasts in a graphical mapping application that includes all major Kentucky snowplow routes. Michael demonstrated their MDSS by playing back some of the snow storm events from this past winter, showing where rain/snow lines were forecast and where they actually ended up. Their InterFleet deployment now has over 100 units reporting, and reports include the ability to show road temperatures. Some of the reporting features of InterFleet they use include stops, application rates, and dead head miles. Like the City of Des Moines, they are not concerned about being perceived as “Big Brother”. To counter that perception, they obtained employee buy-in using InterFleet to compare application rates and show operators in a similar area why they don’t have to put so much salt down on the road to keep the public safe. About 90% of the fleet drivers equipped with InterFleet are independent contractors. Their primary goal for implementing AVL is to manage material costs.

Reducing Liability and Improving Winter Operations Using a GPS/AVL Solution by Bob Levesque, City of Mississauga. Bob opened the third day of the 2013 APWA Snow Show with a great presentation on the many ways they have used InterFleet to assist them. As the sixth largest city in Canada, they have used InterFleet since the 2009/2010 winter season to keep contractors accountable, manage liability, ensure routes are completed on time, and minimize the amount of salt they use while maintaining safety and service levels. Bob asserts that in addition to saving a lot of money, using less salt reduces the environmental impact of the salt (chloride load). Every winter, Bob creates a salt management plan and uses InterFleet to help him manage his own operators and contractors (88% of the vehicles they track are contractor vehicles). The City of Mississauga has seen numerous operational improvements including driver accountability, route completion, materials management, vehicle dispatching, vehicle location, resource management, reduced claims, and citizen complaints. They have also reduced salt usage by 20%.

There was much to learn at the 2013 APWA Snow Show. In addition to these talks, InterFleet was shown in the opening keynote address and in Implementing New Technology into Your Winter Maintenance Program. Our thanks to everyone who came to the show and especially to Kevin, Michael, and Bob for the amazing things they do with our solutions.

Known as the “truck-decapitator”, a bridge in Durham, North Carolina found wider fame last fall when it was featured in an Atlantic Cities article on aging infrastructure. An accompanying video, ­“The Toughest Bridge in the World”, featured a montage of ill-fated trucks (set to music from the film Rocky) getting peeled like sardine cans as they career under the century-old railway bridge. To make matters worse, wilting commentary from amused readers specifically targeted the hapless truckers. There were also some helpful suggestions, but none thought to propose a GPS navigation system that could route truckers away from these kinds of dangerous roads.

Bridging the Knowledge Gap

Many small and independent trucking companies, in a misguided attempt to put cost savings ahead of other concerns, purchase off-the-shelf GPS navigation systems that don’t provide enough detail for truckers to avoid these disasters. They’re buying consumer GPS navigation systems designed primarily for cars where there is little concern about height clearances and other routing conditions needed by commercial truckers.

The situation is serious enough that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is now distributing visor cards to truck drivers warning them that consumer-oriented GPS navigation devices pose life-threatening risks to truck drivers. FMCSA also faulted trucking operators with ineffective driver training and therefore advised operators to get their drivers trained on industry-standard commercial grade GPS navigation systems.

Truck-Specific GPS Navigation

In a complementary article in Overdrive (March 11, 2013), U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer stated that trucks using inappropriate GPS systems, which don’t support routing around “low bridges, hazmat routes and other information relevant to truckers”, are the chief cause of bridge strikes.

FMCSA Recommends

Michael Scott, Software Engineer at Webtech Wireless says, “We have chosen to integrate our MDT 3100s with a truck-specific GPS navigation solution that supports the kind of truck routing the FMCSA wants truck drivers to use”. He’s referring with our partnership with ALK Technologies to enhance our Quadrant® In-Cab solution by adding ALK CoPilot® In-Cab navigation.  Michael went on to point out that while we meet all the requirements the FMCSA recommended for “safe use of GPS navigation systems”, drivers still need to be alert to road signage. “No GPS navigation system absolves drivers from responsibility on safe routes”.

By selecting a GPS navigation system intended for use by professional truck and bus drivers, ensuring drivers are properly trained in its use, and remaining alert to changing conditions, you can expect to navigate safely to your destination.

Apart from long hours on your feet and a lot of glad handing, tradeshows can also be opportunities to attend great presentations on topics that you might not otherwise have access to. This spring, Webtech Wireless will be in attendance at a record number of trade shows. From April 07 to 10, 2013, we’ll be out in force at the APWA (American Public Works Association) Snow Show in Charlotte, North Carolina. This show features a number of great presentations describing cutting edge GPS/AVL technologies. Here are the highlights.

Using and Implementing AVL and MDSS

On Sunday, April 7, 2013 from 1 to 2 PM in room 203 A, Benjamin Hershey, Director for Meridian Enviro. Tech. in Grand Forks, North Dakota will describe some new uses for AVL technologies within the maintenance, ITS, and road weather service provider areas, and how to adapt existing equipment to provide new traveler information to improve snowplow operator safety.

AVL in Winter Maintenance Programs Today‑-Way More than “Big Brother”

Later that afternoon (Sunday, April 7, 2013) from 3:30 to 4:30 PM in room 208 B, Kevin Hensley, Stormwater Supervisor for the City of West Des Moines describes how AVL systems have advanced since the early days of track and trace use only. “Since the start of our program we have evolved into more of a multifaceted system which is used for everything from inventory control to contractor monitoring”, he states. He will also describe how to create an environment where employees understand the benefits of this technology and explore new technology and not be afraid to take some risks

Snow Plow Tracking without AVL

On Monday, April 8, 2013 from 11 to 12 PM in room 203 A, Mike Kennedy, Director of Eng. Operations for the City of Minneapolis describes how to create a snow and ice control performance tracking program that doesn’t rely on AVL. The City of Minneapolis, Department of Public Works began development of a snow plow tracking and performance monitoring program over the winter of 2012-2013 Automatic Vehicle Location technology. He describes how to use iPads and GIS Online mapping technology to monitor route progress cost-effectively and report snow and ice control information graphically.

Implementation of MDSS and AVL Equipment

Later that afternoon (Monday, April 8, 2013) from 2 to 2.50 PM in room 203 A, Michael Williams, Snow & Ice Program Coordinator for the Kentucky Department of Highways describes how to determine your needs for an MDSS-type weather service and AVL program.

Reducing Liability and Improving Winter Operations Using a GPS/AVL Solution

As mentioned in last week’s blog post, Mississauga Brings Winter Smarts to APWA, on Tuesday, April 9, 2013 from 8 to 8.50 AM in room 203 A, Bob Levesque, Works Operations for the City of Mississauga will describe the success they’ve had with their InterFleet GPS/AVL solution since implementing it in 2010. He’ll show you how to evaluate a GPS/AVL solution to improve your fleet operations and reduce your liability risk, manage contractors, and anticipate common pitfalls in choosing and deploying a GPS/AVL solution.

Join Us at the APWA Snow Conference

Springtime is time for trade shows and we’re taking it on the road. From April 07 to 10, 2013, come to booth 712 at the APWA Snow Show in at the Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, North Carolina and talk to us about our government and Public Works centric GPS/AVL solutions. Hope to see you there.

Images courtesy of City of Mississauga

Today marks the first day of spring and, with winter storms still ravaging the continent, most North Americans want to put winter firmly behind them. But for some, winter endures in relatively balmy Charlotte, North Carolina, host city to this year’s American Public Works Association (APWA) Snow Show. On April 7, more than 1,500 “snowfighters” will descend on Charlotte for four days of networking, technical tours, and educational programs. For those attending, one highlight not to miss is hearing Bob Levesque’s success story from the City of Mississauga’s Works Operations department. I phoned Bob to get a sneak preview into the issues he’ll be describing in Charlotte.

Risk Mitigation is Foresight

Bob shows me a picture of a sidewalk plow. It looks like an ordinary urban winter scene in Ontario—a plow, a parked car, a small brick fence by a neighbour’s front yard. Bob sees much more than I do. “If the plow operator isn’t careful”, Bob points out, “he or she could shred the side of the car at the curb”. Then he points out that the neighbour’s decorative brick fence is encroaching on City property and that there are other unknown hazards hidden in the snow.

There are other types of liability too. In the days before Works Operations had implemented their InterFleet GPS/AVL solution (2010), it was very difficult to prove that the department had plowed a street to standard in the event of a complaint or a law suit. “Now we have hard data,” Levesque says, underscoring a certain level of shared responsibility between the City and its residents to take care in winter conditions. “Citizens have to dress appropriately for winter conditions, and we have to provide due diligence in keeping a minimum standard for cleared roads and sidewalks.”

He cites another time when he received a call from the police department about a particularly icy hill. Bob was able to respond immediately by dispatching a salter truck to the hill, thereby preventing a car pile up. With several more examples, Bob convinced me that the best use of a GPS/AVL winter maintenance solution is foresight—knowing what’s going on in real-time allows Operations to make better and quicker decisions about situations before they escalate.

“Our goal is to catch a missed street and dispatch a plow there even before it gets back to the yard.”
­—Bob Levesque, Operations, City of Mississauga

Faster than a Speeding…Snow Plow?

Everyone wants his or her street plowed first and fast, and that puts a lot of pressure on Public Works departments. It comes as something of a surprise then that one of complaints plow operators get is speeding snow plows! Bob attributes this to an optical illusion created by a truck with its plow blade down, “It may be going only 25 mph, but it appears to be going much faster”.  He also describes that the salt controller is attached to the speedometer, so a genuinely speeding snow plow would leave an erratic trail of salt in its wake (perhaps the source of citizen complaints?). Nonetheless with GPS/AVL, the department has speeding covered too as InterFleet can provide reports showing vehicle speeds along routes.

Winter Light Up

Before next winter, Bob plans to take advantage of InterFleet’s Winter Light Up program to ensure that fleet and drivers are ready to go for next year. “Getting prepared ahead of time is going to help in the long run”, says Levesque. Aside from the usual readiness preparations needed after a long hot summer—plows ready, drivers retrained, contractors engaged, and so on—there are sometimes unexpected surprises. “Last year we had a plow reporting in from somewhere in Europe”, Bob says adding that older vehicles are sometimes sold at auctions over the summer months and this one had apparently gone overseas with its Locator still installed. I’m just thinking, “now that, I want to see on a map—with breadcrumbs”.

Come Down to Charlotte for the Snow

If you’re attending the APWA Snow Show in Charlotte, make sure you catch Bob Levesque’s presentation, Reducing Liability and Improving Winter Operations Using a GPS/AVL Solution.

We work with AT&T in the United States to offer complete solutions to AT&T customers. Recently, Oscar Chavarria, Webtech Wireless Inside Sales Representative traveled to Houston, TX. Working with AT&T Mobility Application Consultants Mclean Babineaux, Bryan Vest, and Kurt Liebendorfer, we offered a lunch and learn session to over 40 AT&T account representatives.

Our mobility account representatives, like those from AT&T, are often the first people that potential customers go to for information. In 2013, we are participating in a series of road shows to help our mobility account partners understand the depth and breadth of our product offerings and capability to help their customers. Oscar demonstrated that our platform provides four commercial solutions:

• HOS (Hours of Service) and Transportation
• Fleet Monitoring
• Trailer and Asset Tracking, especially for yellow iron construction equipment
• Temperature Monitoring

His presentation also outlined the biggest business challenges that our customers overcome with our solutions:

• Improving asset utilization
• Using location information to maximize overall fleet efficiency
• Reducing administrative costs for HOS
• Demonstrating why temperature sensitive cargo in transit matters
• Reducing administration tasks for drivers so they can focus on driving and being productive

Many of the AT&T representatives were interested to learn about three of the major industries we service:
Transportation: We look after electronic Hours of Service, fuel tax reporting, lower operating costs, increased fuel economy, and automated dispatch to save time every day for drivers. We also offer solutions for trailer tracking and temperature monitoring of cargoes.

Construction:  Strike, one of the largest pipeline construction and maintenance companies in Texas, uses our solution on over 1,000 assets. Whether it is $500,000 “dozers”, generators, light towers, or pickup trucks, customers know where their assets are at all times. We prevent theft, maximize equipment utilization, which in turn increases billings, reduces operating costs, and ensures billing accuracy.

Oil & Gas Servicing: As we have proven with Troyer Ventures, a Webtech Wireless solution can increase revenue without increasing staff. Know where your vehicles are at all times while automatically dispatching them for the next customer and automating Hours of Service so drivers can provide service to their customers instead of completing paperwork.

While the AT&T account managers gained a lot of new understanding of what Webtech Wireless offers its customers, what they really appreciated was how easy it is to do business with us. Whether you are an AT&T account rep or a business owner with a fleet challenge, a simple email or telephone call is all it takes to get the process started. We look after the rest and focus on making it easy to work with us. We’ve solved business challenges for thousands of customers and we want to help you.

Thanks to Mclean, Bryan, and Kurt for facilitating the event and to Oscar for sharing the knowledge of how we make it easy for fleets to be productive.