The post Driving tips for your Fleet Drivers during Ramadan first appeared on Location Solutions.

About AV Living Lab

AV Living Lab is a technology startup, focusing on the city/government mobility transformation, technology-based public acceptance, and implementation of new technologies & business models in their real-life CityLab environment.  They are also the organizer of the City as a Lab Summit, where leading brands share their new mobility innovation work. The company has successfully implemented multiple (more than 30) proofs-of-concept, including clients such as Google, Daimler, Toyota, and Volkswagen concern.

About AV Living Lab

Nervtech is a high-tech R&D company specializing in vehicle simulator    technologies in the fields of biometric and cognitive driver evaluation, deep machine learning, and data integration. Nervtech is an advanced tool for driver and operator training in variety of driving scenarios. It is also a tool for automatic evaluation of drivers’ performance and collection of physiological and biometrical big data through a set of external medical grade sensoring equipment, synchronized with the simulation software

The post Creating The First Global AI-Based Driver Evaluation Hub first appeared on Location Solutions.

The post Case Study – AI Driver Evaluation Simulator first appeared on Location Solutions.

CRYO has been manufacturing gases in the UAE for years, their deliveries of gas cylinders in bulkers and tankers have always been a safety and urgency priority. 

The company transports their products to malls, shops, hospitals, and many other facilities rounding up to 750+ delivery spots! 

The Cause:

Transportation of high-value gases requires stringent requirements and compliance criteria to be followed; storage and safety conditions of cylinders need to be handled with extra care. In the event of a car crash, a sudden serve, a hard brake, or a tire burst the vehicle could topple with its cargo of industrial gases on the roads. That is why remote management of fleets is a must and a more automated approach to monitoring the transportation conditions of these materials must be utilized. 

Moreover,like any business, CRYO were looking at optimization factors to reduce the costs of their operations, minimize the fuel consumption and achieve the greater level of their fleet automation remotely. 

Along with that – driving behaviour was to be improved to achieve better performance, and customer satisfaction was to be enhanced. 

The Solution: 

The Location Solutions’ team provided CRYO with Dor2Dor application to allocate orders to appropriate vehicles while ensuring the customer delivery timings are respected. Delivery conditions are essential too, since transportation of gases needs to comply with safety standards, impeccable driving must be monitored and ensured at all times and with adequate applications and devices.

Dor2Dor system provides communication with the clients of CRYO – be that a mall or a hospital – regarding the delivery timings of cylinders and bulkers a day prior to ensure deliveries are done at their customers’ convenience. 

Driver Mobile Application

The system also plans out routes for each vehicle with multiple delivery points, saving time, steering away from traffic, and ensuring punctuality. 

The Dor2Dor system has helped CRYO identify the locations of their new customers via the driver’s mobile app which helped the operators to create the customer geofence automatically without any manual creation. This has helped them build their customer database with all the necessary information at their fingertips.

Some System Capabilities

Additionally, Dor2Dor has given the full visibility of CRYO drivers’ working hours, ensuring the staff are reaching the customers at their allocated timings.

Any deviations to the route were recorded in the system and reports generated  to identify the challenges in their daily operations – this way eliminating unnecessary diversions and assuring the only allocated sites are visited.

On top of all the benefits, the tracking component has provided CRYO with the driver behavior, vehicle abuses, and fuel consumption. Thus, ensuring the fleet is well-maintained. 

The post COVID pushes supply chain innovation in the GCC first appeared on Location Solutions.

Take a look to see what’s available to you in the new version of Fleet Forward Application Upgrade.We have included a Monitoring System , Reports, Notification and Jobs and Optimizations and Enhancements.

Here’s what’s new in the latest version in detail, the June 2020 release.

Monitoring System

Dashboard: The new option provides viewing the fleet performance in the form of charts and graphs. This helps to grasp the information easily.

Minimap for the unit on the Dashboard: More effectiveness to work with Units is now possible. Minimap for further operations will be viewable by clicking on the Unit and getting respective detailed information.

Reports

New type of report – Geofence: The new table shows which units and number of them visited the given geofence within the stated period of time. 

Heat map layer in reports: Visual identification of  the clusters of parking’s, speeding’s, and trips when building and generating the report.

Custom fields in report tables: A new option to display the custom fields values in the separate columns of various report tables which is available for custom fields of units, unit groups, drivers, and trailers.

Notification and Jobs

Driver/trailer control notification: Now, we  can add comma separated multiple code masks or codes for the driver/trailer control notification . Unlike the one driver/trailer, now it is possible to control as many drivers/trailers as we need.

Using tags in commands: Option of using tags in all the commands to set various parameters and values.During the command execution the corresponding tag value will be set instead of the tag value itself which is similar to that of notification text.

Improvement of the Speed notification type: In order to search and track the movement of the unit without the assigned driver we can use the new option“Trigger if there is no assigned driver”.This is visible on the Speed tab when notification is created or generated.

Now it’s quite easy to  determine the vehicles with drivers who had not used iButton before the trip started which will be very much effective for tracking stolen cars.

In this case, if the set limit is exceeded and the “Trigger if there is no assigned driver” option is enabled,  a corresponding alert notification will be generated by our system if the driver wasn’t assigned manually or automatically.

Notification on approaching the units limit: New option of sending the email notification when the number of connected units is getting close to its limit

Optimizations and Enhancement

Optimization of the loading speed and memory consumption:Due to the duplicated metadata removal Location Solutions uses less server memory. Now the pages load faster with performance fixes as the web-part of the system is improved.

Track player redesign: The Track player now works faster and displays data more clearly with the new trendy interface.

Improved fuel consumption calculations: Filtration and smoothing order for fuel consumption was changed which will help to improve the calculation accuracy.

Resource content export:  Export the resource option has been provided with a faster csv download option.

• Geofences;
• Jobs;
• Notifications;
• Drivers;
• Trailers;
• Passengers;
• Report Templates.

The post LS2 Fleet Forward Application Upgrade first appeared on Location Solutions.

With the region’s ambitions towards groundbreaking economic development, increased solid demand for concrete continues to increase even during times of Covid19 as construction never truly stops.

Saudi Arabia alone is the largest ready mix concrete market within the region, given it accounts for more than half of the GCC’s construction projects, valued at more than $1 trillion by 2019. With such numbers, it is crucial for the concrete industry to capture the latest and most efficient technologies as it is the backbone for construction! 

Improved and supported by Location Solutions, this platform ensures all steps of concrete handling are accurately measured as well as monitored, and with its useful history tracks, it will ease the process of decision making when it comes to bettering your operations. The platform provides an information hub in regards to engine working hours and delicately measures idling time even in machines like concrete pumps. It also provides accurate readings of live location allowing the management to view where and when stops and drives are taking place.

Mixologic is being used by many, but maybe RMB’s use of the platform is the most prominent. RMB has been utilizing GPS tracking services as well as fuel monitoring among other features and has had significant positive results according to their General Manager Mr. Tim Senior

“For almost 20 years our Company’s operations were based on traditional supply techniques. With the implementation of Location Solutions GPS software and fuel monitoring system we now study in detail each of the 100,000+ deliveries which our Company supplies per year to our valued customers. RMB Readymix now uses the platform throughout various departments on a daily basis to ease and simplify our operational activities. Major cost savings have been achieved by reducing the vehicle idling time and from avoiding deviations off route.” – Tim Senior, GM at RMB

What are the prominent features in this platform that will add value to your operations?

Home Screen: 
The Home Screen exists in this platform to regulate and share information about your fleet for you to easily access and comprehend. It includes elements that put your operations in figures and numbers which eases the way for you to change, eliminate, and enhance activities.

For example:

• Average cycle time: the system organizes the data collected from the fleet and adds up the load, in route, and discharge times to calculate the average cycle each vehicle spends time on. This helps formulate an idea regarding the amount of work each vehicle and operator does and highlights room for improvement. 
• Plant Idling Time Per Trip/ Per Mixer: here, idling hours are highlighted for you to understand the time that could be utilized for work or for rest.
• Delivery outside the predefined area: here, geofences would already be in place to eliminate wasting time outside of designated areas and discharge in unauthorized locations.

Operational Panel:  Through a simple tape, the journey of every vehicle is illustrated for you to clarify the time spent in every step starting from Loading and ending with Back to Site. This feature signifies the long hours in every step making it easier to figure out the time wasted on certain tasks. It also helps closely monitor every vehicle’s journey and assure that it is being handled properly by its operator

Data Analysis: With the option to group data according to whichever element that is needed: mixers, plants, clients, or drivers, the user is able to extract detailed data per trip for the entire trip.

Idling Information: Whether the driver is turning on the vehicle inside or outside the designated plant, using the machine or keeping it on standby… all this information is available for every single vehicle regardless of how big the fleet is. 

You can see below the idling information for every vehicle in the fleet with work hours and driving hours highlighted separately before the use of Mixologic platform on the fleet.

After Mixologic was implemented and control was taken, you can see below the idling info and the significant changes that took place. 

The platform comes with a mobile phone friendly application that allows all your data to easily be accessed by you in the palm of your hands!

The phone application transmits higher security to the clients and shows real-time deliveries as well as the routes and much more.

Location Solutions looks out for you and continues to put your data ahead of the curve! Call us now to learn more about Mixologic.

The post Mixologic: Presented to you by Location Solutions first appeared on Location Solutions.

During this time our team is managing to work from home with the same stamina that is given in the office and even the same steep level of communication with one another as well as with our clients. Location Solutions wants to assure that the team is working best and that’s why we provide them with adequate resources to continue with actively pursuing their work goals and training. 

How is it possible to manage and assist to manage a fleet that is running under strict health and safety regulations at the moment while being at home? 

Other than steering away from contaminated areas, ensuring proper sanitization, and view live vehicles location at any time on your computer (discussed earlier on the blog), Location Solutions services prove more effective with more ways to connect.

With telematics, long distant management has always been the first selected option, yet with Location Solutions, the most accessible fleet management service is in the palm of your hand, quite literally. With the different phone applications, every function of your system can be updated, reached, and modified through a smartphone app. 

Accessing vehicle details is easy on your mobile App allowing you to view unlimited monitored information: 

Vehicle History on your phone App 
You are able to access and review all history details about your vehicle at any time of the day or any day of the week. The application highlights these details for you and can even notify you of changes upon your request. 

With this type of feature, knowing how accessible it is to monitor previous actions through only your phone app, you will rest assured that your fleet is well taken care of and your operations are running smoothly. 

Vehicle Details on your phone App 
Every vehicle’s details are also accessible to view and monitor starting with the installed sensors within them and more so to the vehicle itself. 

With this feature whatever maintenance issue can be predicted through your phone and might be averted simply because you viewed relevant detail on your phone. 

Live Map on your phone App 
Here, you are able to view the live location of all of your vehicles through only your mobile phone at any time in which your sensors are activated. 

Leaving you with the peace of mind that your vehicles are well at work or at rest when need be. 

Location Solutions phone applications are compatible with iOS and Android and have a dedicated customer service team to assist you with your queries or issues. 

We are looking out for you and will always have your comfort and the convenience of your business a priority. Get in touch now to learn more about our apps and what they can do for you.

The post Working from home – here’s how to maintain the management of your fleet first appeared on Location Solutions.

Owning and maintaining profitable large fleets come with a load of work, pressure, and costs. For a fleet owner to properly estimate the needed resource, upkeep, resale, and other expenses and plan for them accurately, numerous elements become highlighted. Here’s our input that you may take into consideration when planning fleet budgets for the next quarter. 

First and foremost, understanding where the costs lie and where they come from is essential in order to have a productive read; therefore, splitting the costs discussed into two parts: Capital Costs, and Operational Costs. Capital Costs are needed for ownership, growth, and depreciation; while Operational Costs are daily incurring costs spent on each vehicle activity alongside running them. 

Under Capital Costs: 
Buying Vs. Leasing 
In case you are running a fleet on a leasing contract, try to hire multiple sources to rent from instead of just one – or instead of only the cheapest one. By doing so, potentially, 10% of your leasing costs would decrease. As with everything in fleet management, there is often a balance to be struck between front end prices and ongoing costs.

Depreciation
Value reduction costs almost 40% of the total costs, and there are numerous ways of which to decrease that. When selecting the vehicles in your fleet, choose ones with strong predicted used values. After acquiring them and beginning to use them, plan ahead for maintenance times and fees. When employing operators for your vehicles, invest in a valid training on how to use and look after the vehicle. Look ahead of reselling them, to assure you don’t lose any time. 

When it comes to documents, work closely with your finance team to understand the value of each step and weigh out the probabilities, make sure registrations papers and other official documents are timely maintained. 

Under Operational Costs: 
Although it is difficult to measure operational costs so accurately, it is still possible to decrease them conveniently. 

Fuel: 
Even though fuel prices vary greatly, and most times out of your control, some elements still allow you to manage it. For example, by selecting fuel-efficient vehicles, fuel consumption will remain low compared to other fleets. Choosing the right type of fleet vehicle for the job is also important. For high mileage, diesel is the best, but whatever the fuel, buying it cheaply (either using a fuel card or specifying certain stations where possible) and keeping the vehicle in good condition will certainly help.

Maintaining those vehicles is also major when it comes to managing fuel; for instance, deflated tires increase fuel consumption by almost 15%.
Planning out the routes of your vehicles is also a big game-changer in saving fuel cost, for you would be able to avoid traffic, encourage highways, and monetize the use of the vehicle. 

Overweight vehicles tend to also spend more fuel; therefore, keeping weight management under control will bring a higher return on investment for your fleet as well as road services. 

Idle time, a major issue in productivity and fuel waste, can be tracked with many different gadgets and platforms. By training your operators and motivating them first and tracking their vehicles second, you can rest assured that this will not be an issue to your fuel spendings. 

Insurance: 
Figure out your risks ahead of complying with insurer policies and be certain to assess them properly with the insurer and your fleet management team. 

Service Maintenance and Repairs:
Already mentioned here a few times, yet needs to be stressed more. Maintenance of your vehicles is one of the, if not the, most important elements of better financial savings on your fleet. 

To simply keep this in check, purchase packages with fleet management service providers or leasing companies; they will be servicing tires and general wear-and-tear without having to explain the inputs and outputs of every single step. 

Rather, there are many options of platforms and systems that monitor all vehicle parameters and ping you in time for maintenance check-ups or wear downs. 

By consolidating data into one centralized, enterprise-wide fleet program you will be able to monitor and reduce financial investment, and as a result, better manage lease costs and terms; manufacturers’ incentives; daily or monthly asset utilization; business and personal mileage; external maintenance and fuel usage; CO2 emissions cost-per-mile; parking fines and the total cost of ownership (TCO).

The post Decreasing Fleet Management spending? Here’s how… first appeared on Location Solutions.

On-demand food delivery fleets have already been taking effective action globally and especially in highly infected countries like Italy, where a few startups have already been appropriating a ‘contactless’ food delivery system – in which, payment is made online, and food packages are left on the doorstep of the buyer limiting the need for contact or exposing oneself to the driver and vice versa. 

Airlines around the world have been severely affected due to the fact that passengers are avoiding boarding airplanes for fear of contamination and contacting the virus. In reaction, certain airlines declared unpaid leave for many employees as well as canceled flights to most cities in China, Bahrain, Iran, and other cities in highly infected countries. 

With changes as rapid and as major as these, the fleet industry is also expected to take precautions to limit the spread of the terrible virus as well as keep the working force away from possible health threats. With possibilities like vehicles in the FMCG sector traveling up to 4,500km with unlimited stops per week and bus drivers carrying 40+ passengers at a time, the responsibility to take genuine precautions grows heavy. 

At times like this, the utilization of telematics is as essential as ever especially in fleet management. With vehicles along their operators are moving across countries and meeting with countless individuals delivering goods or transporting passengers, and while sanitizing and keeping social distance are essential, there remains a need for supervision and monitoring especially with certain areas with the virus being so contained. 

Here’s how fleet managers can make use of certain features that may already be installed in the fleet system to help fight against the virus: 

Geo-fences 
While geofencing has many uses in delivering goods or preventing fuel theft and other operations, it can also be beneficial today by using it to eliminate contaminated areas from the usual routes taken. That way limits exposure of operators and goods to the virus. 

RFID 
Through using Radio Frequency Identification, fleet managers can enable cleaners with cards and assure they stay in each vehicle long enough to sanitize it. Encouraging a virus-free bus or machine with an in-hand device that is already available. 

Live View of Vehicles 

If a manager is not available to be physically near a construction site or a pickup location, he or she can simply look at the habits of working hours and limit them accordingly. That way, with working hours shortened, all operators will be at a reduced risk of catching the virus, and the project will not be compromised as the time at work is efficiently distributed and reduced. 

With these, and many other ways, your responsibility towards your operators as well as your society remains thoughtful yet responsible toward your business. 

The Location Solutions team is taking every possible precaution to limit the chances of contacting at all and remains serious about following through with operations. We hope you would, too! 

The post COVID-19: How fleet managers can take this pandemic seriously without compromising on projects first appeared on Location Solutions.

The gulf is no stranger to rapid growth, and with the colossal amount of advanced technology, the region is expected to jump the slope. With concepts as vast as the Internet of Things, 5G, Augmented realities, and many others, the transportation industry among all industries will definitely be reshaped entirely and is expected to bring forth the best possible uses of such technologies. 

The concept taking everyone in every trade by a storm is the incomparable 5G networking system that is not only allowing the fastest decisions to be made in critical time yet but is also allowing multiple decisions in multiple dimensions to be taken simultaneously. How is that possible? In the not-so-far future, autonomous driving is a reality and with that, 5G and Artificial Intelligence go hand-in-hand in grouping numerous vehicles into one route under one speed; meaning that emissions and traffic accidents will decrease as a matter of course and essentially eliminate traffic, fuel waste, and fear of driving around big vehicles. 

Not only will driving itself be altered in its essence but monetizing and tracking every parameter in vehicles will become incredibly instant and updated in a matter of seconds – this means “live tracking” will become more literal than ever. Of course, it all boils down to a proper infrastructure built welcoming the technology and understanding its challenges. When it comes to a properly build base, the GCC, and specifically the UAE, is a native to it – building proper roads to welcome vast change in no time. Telecommunications companies in the area have already begun establishing, dispositioning, and growing 5G technology and are in talks of providing personal 5G telecom services.

Other breakthroughs that will possibly be shaking the fleet management industry, both autonomous and dependent, soon are grid-scale batteries. Relying on sustainable energy resources has been a long-awaited dream for mankind, only because the resources are unreliable and unpredicted. However, with solutions that allow storage of energy at peak production times and deploying it later when needed, these issues will be of the past. 

The region has already made its commitment to the improvement of battery efficiency and using it in the new Abu Dhabi’s Virtual Battery Plant. Harvesting energy in multiple forms and at a large scale is no longer a possibility but a valid and workable solution! 

A much-needed change that will compellingly transform the world’s biggest problem at the moment is the eradication of depending on fuel for transport. Currently, the use of fuel-dependent vehicles is too large scale that it is negatively affecting the planet as a whole; in this regard, the GCC is, as always, a pioneer in taking a step towards change. In recent times, bikes, electric vehicles, and even electric air pods have been highlighted in the regional news; and for that, in alignment with the expectations to have very limited fuel emissions in transport, electric transportation is going to be heavily relied on. 

Careem, Tesla, and Toyota are leading the change toward that change in the UAE, and soon to be the GCC region. As it is expected, that this area will be the first of many in the world to be efficiently running on durable energy resources sooner than the rest. 

With that, Location Solutions is surely taking the lead in bringing forth these technological possibilities first-hand to our clients. Doing so, by advancing our existing solutions and aligning them with futuristic ideals in the tech world.

The post Technological trends in the region, here’s what they can do for you! first appeared on Location Solutions.