Bunzl Catering Supplies sign enhanced contract with fleet solution provider.

Bunzl Catering Supplies have extended their contract with fleet solution provider Microlise and supplemented its existing Proof of Delivery (POD) transport management solution with extra modules.

Modules

The firm, part of international B2B distributor Bunzl plc., have added Fleet Performance, Remote Tacho Download, Journey Management and Health and Safety modules to their current package.

Focused on the catering and hospitality sector where it sources, consolidates and distributes food packaging and hygiene products, the UK-based company conducts seven operating branches and a distribution centre.

In renewing and enhancing the partnership Bunzl hope they will make further improvements in efficiency, customer service and safety around its operational output.

"Extending the solution for us is a natural progression," said Phil Haskew, National Transport Manager at Bunzl Catering Supplies. "We have identified further workflow and customer service improvements we can make by introducing fleet utilisation, planning and health, safety and compliance management solutions."

Commenting on the deal, Nadeem Raza, Microlise's CEO said: "We are delighted to continue to partner with Bunzl Catering Supplies as they deliver a strengthened end-to-end cutsomer experience."

Fleet outfit give free access to SmartFlow Driver and Subcontractor Management Apps during pandemic.

Microlise has announced it will be making its SmartFlow driver and workflow management app free of charge to existing customers.

The app will be provided free of charge for the duration of the Coronavirus crisis, both to customers not currently using SmartFlow, and to those customers who already use the application, with any increase beyond typical usage incurring no additional charges.

Supply Chain

The announcement comes as increased levels of consumer buying, fuelled by Covid-19, adds pressure to a supply chain which is already at operating at a high-level. Furthermore, these heightened levels are expected to continue for longer than traditional peak periods.

SmartFlow, the firms says, is a simple mobile application that supports customers to track the location of temporary or third-party drivers, manage tasks, workflows and communications, and collect proof of delivery information. Users are able to provide the App to subcontractors or contract-based drivers, with set-up taking just minutes, with all the collected data feeding directly into the Microlise solution in place.




Commenting Nadeem Raza, Microlise CEO said: “Our customers are depending on our mission-critical systems as never before. We are doing all we can to support their efforts and have identified SmartFlow as a valuable support tool in the current climate. SmartFlow will allow our customers to add additional capacity, secure in the knowledge that they can manage the operational impact in an efficient, effective and transparent way. We are working closely with our customers during this time to proactively identify areas where Microlise can provide additional support - SmartFlow is just one offering that can be quickly deployed to support operators who need to bring additional drivers on-stream.”

Integration provides fleet operators with engine filter performance data in real time from within the Geotab platform...

Geotab, a global leader in IoT and connected transportation, and Donaldson, a global leader in the filtration industry, recently announced a new integration that will enable Geotab customer’s to utilize Donaldson’s wireless Filter Minder® monitoring system. A first-of-its-kind remote, wireless filter-monitoring system for trucks and heavy-duty equipment, Filter Minder provides real time engine filter performance data to help fleet operators optimize vehicle maintenance and improve productivity.
Wirelessly monitoring the condition of truck engine air filters, Filter Minder provides customers with visibility into the remaining life of engine air filters, plus additional performance data. Seamlessly integrating with the Geotab platform, which is utilized by more than 500,000 class 6, 7 and 8 trucks across North America, the Donaldson Filter Minder system works in tandem with a fleet’s telematics solution to help businesses save money through optimized filtration maintenance.
“With the cost of fleet ownership continually rising, we intentionally set out to offer a simple solution for fleet managers with visionary companies like Geotab to help optimize fleets,” said Nate Zambon, Director of the Donaldson Filter Minder product line. “By integrating our Filter Minder solution into the Geotab platform, fleets can now receive Donaldson’s comprehensive filter analytics along with the most advanced telematics data—from their laptop or mobile device—to help lower overall cost of ownership and improve individual vehicle or fleetwide maintenance processes and performance.”
Recently introduced, the Donaldson Filter Minder system utilizes a vehicle’s telematics system to send filter performance data to the cloud through wireless sensors and receivers and provides predictive analytics that inform fleet managers when filters are approaching the end of their optimal life.
“As a global company committed to optimizing fleet management at every level, Geotab is proud to join forces with a dynamic collaborator that shares our vision for a truly connected fleet,” says Scott Sutarik, VP Commercial Vehicle Solutions at Geotab. “Integration with Donaldson will enable Geotab to continue its mission to equip its customers with the most advanced telematics solutions, while helping us innovate for a cleaner future.”

AI-powered smart video solution can intelligently capture and classify video according to the severity of driving events.

Verizon Connect Integrated Video uses artificial intelligence (AI) to intelligently capture and automatically classify video according to how severe an event is, showing only what is relevant and important to business owners and operations managers, as well as machine learning to help businesses improve driver behaviour and protect the bottom line. Verizon Connect Integrated Video also provides real data insights to help commercial drivers stay safe on the road and protect them against false claims.

Additional features include a speed Overlay, which enables operations managers to easily view the speed of the vehicle directly within the video clip to determine if speed is the factor that caused the event; and Video on Demand, which allows operations managers to request 40-second increments of available footage.

"Delivering our commitment to customers means creating innovative solutions, powered by the latest technology that helps our customers move their business forward,” said Derek Bryan, vice president EMEA, Verizon Connect. “We’re delivering next-level solutions, powered by advanced AI and machine learning to help our customers be safe, productive and efficient all over the world.

Microlise, the telematics and transport management solutions provider announces the acquisition of TruTac Ltd.

TruTac is the leading UK provider of fleet compliance and management software for Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGV) and Public Service Vehicle (PSV).

The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed and as part of the acquisition, TruTac will remain an independent company as part of the Microlise Group. The acquisition underscores Microlise’s ongoing commitment to forge new partnerships and opportunities to increase product and service innovation to support its international customer base in the UK, France, India, Middle East, Australia and New Zealand. 

Microlise, headquartered in Nottingham, is the UK’s market leader of telematics and transport technology products, with over 500,000 connections around the world. Its Fleet Performance, Journey Management, Planning & Optimisation and Proof of Delivery products are used by fleet operators while its solutions are also successfully deployed by OEM partners including MAN Truck & Bus UK, JCB and Tata Motors in India.

Founded in 1990 and operating throughout the UK and Ireland, TruTac has successfully established itself as the leading designer and provider of fleet compliance software for HGV and PSV operators.  Its online product suite allows operators and transport managers to simplify and streamline tachograph and compliance management via one easy-to-use portal. TruTac’s range of products helps clients to protect their Operators Licence, reduce risk, increase fleet efficiency and reduce administration costs.

Nadeem Raza, Microlise’s Chief Executive Officer said: “We are delighted to announce this acquisition and we welcome the TruTac team to Microlise. This union strengthens our presence in both the HGV and PSV sectors, and complements our group offering of real-time fleet management systems to enable smarter and more accurate operational decisions. We have identified strong synergies between the businesses, particularly across the development of new products and services. We look forward to actively pursuing our ongoing mutual success.”

Terry Ramsey, Managing Director of TruTac added: “I am proud of everything TruTac has achieved in becoming the UK’s compliance software market leader and this is great news for both old and new HGV and PSV customers. Microlise and TruTac are guided by the same ethos and passion for transport and this union is a positive one. Combining our expertise will deliver greater customer and partner value across the commercial and passenger transport industries. I look forward to accelerating the development of new products and services and to entering new markets with a strengthened and complementary fleet management offering.”

Allison Connected Services now available as an Add-In on the Geotab Marketplace.

Geotab has announced its integration with Allison Transmission, the world’s largest manufacturer of commercial-duty automatic transmissions and a leader in electric hybrid propulsion systems. Now available on the Geotab Marketplace, Allison Connected Services provides fleet operators with real-time data and prognostics to support fourth and fifth-generation Allison transmissions.

Delivering critical transmission health information and prognosis, Allison Connected Services helps to extend the performance and safety of medium and heavy-duty commercial vehicles. Seamlessly integrating with Geotab’s award-winning platform, Allison Connected Services offers insights on diagnostic and maintenance information such as oil and filter life, clutch health and transmission information. Going one step further, drivers will receive recommendations from Allison Transmission on the appropriate next steps to address maintenance requirements, including guidance to the nearest Allison dealer to have maintenance items addressed quickly and efficiently.

“We are proud to launch our partnership with Geotab as part of an ongoing journey to provide fleets with actionable information to support their fourth and fifth-generation Allison transmissions back to model year 2006,” said Branden Harbin, Allison Transmission Managing Director, Global Marketing. “With a shared commitment to powering the global connected vehicle ecosystem by giving customers the insights they need to manage their fleets, we are able to better equip our customers with tools that ultimately help lead to increased productivity, safety and performance in the trucking industry and beyond.”

Allison Connected Services currently supports 1000 Series™, 2000 Series™, 3000 Series™, 4000 Series™ and H40/50 EP™ utilizing 4th Generation Controls software from 2009 through 2017 and currently available Allison 5th Generation Controls software.

“As a leading OEM, integration with Allison allows Geotab to provide a more comprehensive offering to medium- and heavy-duty commercial fleets through a world-class partner,” says Scott Sutarik, Geotab’s VP, Commercial Vehicle Solutions. “With a solution that eliminates the need for separate apps and web pages when viewing Allison data, together we are delivering the kind of trusted, best-in-class fleet management products and services our customers have come to expect.”

Growth continues for market leading provider of video telematics.

Lytx^® announces results from 2019 that reflect the company's continued success and industry leadership. According to analyst firm Frost & Sullivan, Lytx has 60% share of the total video safety market - more than triple the share of its nearest competitor.

Brandon Nixon, Lytx chairman and CEO, said: "2019 was a phenomenal year for Lytx by any measure. It has been over 20 years since we created the first technology in the video telematics space. As we enter this new decade, our future is brighter than ever."

"Anyone can capture video from a vehicle," Nixon continued. "But we have billions of miles of data and experience across thousands of fleets that enable us to make an effective behaviour-change tool for fleets of all sizes. We decipher millions of hours of driving data a day and use it to deliver meaningful insights to clients that make a difference for their business. That's why more and more fleets are turning to Lytx. We understand the challenges they face day-in and day-out and innovate to exceed their expectations."

Innovation Fuels Client Success

Driving Lytx's growth and continued success is the company's relentless focus on customer-centred innovation, particularly in the fields of machine vision and artificial intelligence (MV+AI). Clients credit the company's advanced technology, commercial grade hardware, configurable and flexible solutions, all-in-one telematics offerings, exceptional customer service, and superior return on investment as the key differentiators that lead them to deploy with Lytx.

Today, more than 4,000 organizations, with fleets of all sizes and across all sectors, are experiencing the benefits of Lytx first-hand. In 2019, nearly 25% of new customers were fleets who switched to Lytx after using another video or telematics solution. The company also increased its base of protected drivers by 300,000.

A One-Stop Video Telematics Leader for Versatile and Converged Solutions

Lytx's product portfolio, which the company introduced in February 2019, is now established as the most robust, configurable, broadly adopted, all-in-one video telematics fleet safety and productivity solution on the market.

The Lytx Video Platform and DriveCam® Event Recorder are unmatched in capturing capability, built-in computing power and clarity of view. Lytx monitors billions of miles of driving data annually – processing video through both MV+AI-powered algorithms and validated by professional reviewers. This approach mitigates unnecessary information for clients and increases accuracy while exposing more risk and delivering specific incidents and insights directly to fleet managers' dashboards. Lytx clients receive the information they need to succeed and improve — no more, no less.

Mugundhan Deenadayalan, senior research analyst at Frost & Sullivan, said: "Lytx's diverse range of industry-first solutions, advanced machine learning and artificial intelligence systems, industry best practices, customisable product portfolio and unparalleled customer service have taken the company to a new level of excellence in the industry.

"Its practice of putting the customer first, developing superior science and technology, and leveraging the power of data and analytics to innovate and craft solutions is proven to improve driver behaviour, safety, and operational efficiency, thereby saving lives."

Looking Forward to 2020

In January, Lytx announced it had received the largest-ever investment in video telematics from global private equity firm Permira. This investment values Lytx in excess of $2.5 billion.

Lytx's ability to turn vast amounts of data into roadway insights through MV+AI only furthers its market leadership and competitive advantage in the $30 trillion global transportation economy. With over 120 billion miles of roadway data and the fastest-growing database of commercial driving data powering its advanced artificial intelligence algorithms, Lytx is uniquely positioned to continue leading the industry in 2020.

"The precision of our technology is unmatched in the industry. With the scale of our data, we can train our cameras to see and recognize anything of value to our clients," Nixon said. "The power and capability of our MV+AI technology only scratches the surface of its future potential. It presents a massive opportunity for our clients as we continue to fine-tune our offerings moving into this next decade. The number of ways we can help improve fleet operations are boundless." 

Video telematics provider also unveiled the UK’s most dangerous roads

Lytx^®, a provider of machine vision and artificial intelligence-based video telematics, analytics, productivity and safety solutions for commercial, public sector and services fleets, has revealed the top fleet risky driving trends in the U.K.

Lytx's database contains more than 120 billion miles of driving data from more than one million commercial drivers worldwide, capturing over 64 million risky driving events globally each year.

According to data for the UK, the top five observed riskiest behaviours for fleet drivers are:

1. Improper following distance
2. Late response
3. Mobile phone use
4. Driving without a seatbelt
5. Failure to keep an out*

*Defined as failure to maintain proper space around the vehicle so that drivers have ‘‘an out’’ or escape route should the unexpected occur.

Lytx found these behaviours are directly related to potential collisions, proving that the elimination of habitual risky driving behaviours can have an immediate and lasting effect on the frequency and severity of collisions and near collisions a fleet experiences.

For example, a driver who follows the vehicle in front of them too closely – this being the most prevalent risky driving behaviour – is approximately 40% more likely to have a collision in the next 90 days than a driver who ensures proper following distance.

Similarly, a driver who demonstrates late response to a potential hazard is 80% more likely to have a collision within 90 days than a driver who responds within a proper time frame.

Lytx’s research also unveiled some of the U.K.’s riskiest roads, where incidents caused by dangerous driving are most likely to occur. These include:

1. Dartford Crossing on the M25 (Pictured).
2. Junction of the A45 and A46 near Coventry.
   
   

“The best way to eliminate risk in your fleet is to combine proven video telematics with driver coaching, as shown by the impressive improvements our clients across the UK continue to experience,” stated Damian Penney, vice president and general manager for Lytx Europe. “Video insights paired with personalised coaching helps eliminate risky driving habits and is what makes the difference between a good driver safety programme and a great one.”

We want to empower our clients with more than just data, but actionable and coachable video events that can improve driver safety, reduce claims costs, and help make sure every driver returns home safely,” Penney said. “We are proud of the strong safety results our clients achieve, knowing we’re helping prevent injuries and save lives.”

Route-planner start-up sees strong initial investment.

OptimoRoute, the route planner tech startup founded by former Yelp and Google engineers, announced it has raised a $6.5-million Series A round, led by Prelude Ventures. Participating investors include Congruent Ventures and Michael Stoppelman, former SVP of Engineering of Yelp and investor.

OptimoRoute helps companies of all sizes manage their mobile workforces, ranging from delivery to technicians. OptimoRoute’s industry-first platform includes system planning live dispatch, an easy-to-use mobile app for drivers and real-time order tracking for end customers. Users begin to see 10-30% year-over-year growth after introducing the system, while employees get more done in a day while also empowering them to do their jobs better and faster. 

Tackling the underlying 90-year-old “traveling salesperson problem” is one of the most intensely studied problems in optimization, and breakthroughs at OptimoRoute enable it to solve problems that are considered extremely difficult even for academic research engines. OptimoRoute is the first company to offer comprehensive pickup and delivery planning, up to a month in advance.  

Offering a fast user-friendly web interface and a simple pricing model, OptimoRoute has over 800 clients, and is used by everyone from large energy companies to small businesses. While 90% of customers are in the U.S., OptimoRoute is used in over 20 countries globally. Clients include Southern Star Central Gas Pipeline with 300 maintenance technicians; Telgian, which uses OptimoRoute to efficiently plan thousands of fire-safety inspections across U.S. each month, increasing the number of inspections by 70% while keeping the number of technicians the same; and Hardies, a Texas-based grocery delivery company using OptimoRoute, which is now delivering 14% more deliveries without increasing fleet size or working hours, but decreasing mileage by 20%.

“Prelude is excited to help OptimoRoute expand its reach and further develop its offerings for a multitude of mobile workforces,” said Victoria Beasley, principal, Prelude Ventures. “We strongly believe that OptimoRoute is set to have a huge impact on the route optimization market, saving time, money and resources, while also reducing carbon footprint, for their many diverse clients.”

OptimoRoute has spent over 5 years on in-house R&D developing algorithms to help create and organize schedules, while optimizing routes. Everything from the road network and travel times, to how much room is left in the van, to hourly wages, contractor costs, working hours and skills are taken into account to produce routes and schedules that get the largest amount of work done, while keeping driving and waiting times down.

“We are thrilled to be working closely with Prelude Ventures and Congruent Ventures to help us grow and meet demand,” said Marin Šarić, co-founder and CEO of OptimoRoute. “Every business with employees in the field, whether it's drivers doing deliveries or techs doing jobs faces a complex task of deciding who gets to go where, at what time and in what order.”

Šarić added, “Small business owners end up spending a significant part of their working hours organizing and reorganizing people, sometimes many hours per day. In large companies, planning groups and departments are formed with a primary goal of creating a schedule, a process that can take weeks. With OptimoRoute, the planning processes are cut down from hours to minutes every day.”

OptimoRoute's international team of experts and engineers bring decades of experience from Google, Yelp and Facebook. They have won awards at international programming competitions, such as the International Olympiad in Informatics and the International Collegiate Programming Contest, and have published machine learning and information retrieval research in leading publications.

The system is simple and easy to use. Orders are entered or imported to OptimoRoute. Based on the entered constraints like travel durations, driver work times, delivery/service time windows, vehicle load capacity, driver skills and vehicle features the system proposes efficient routes and stop sequences. Users can manually change the routes and the platform allows for 5-week advanced weekly planning, optimal dynamic re-planning and the ability to do multi-day routing of personnel across multiple states with overnight stays. 

Leading tool hire company experienced a 56% reduction in overall risk year-over-year...

Brandon Hire Station, one of the U.K.’s biggest tool and plant hire companies, has significantly improved its drivers’ safety records after installing video telematics and analytics solutions from Lytx. Collisions and risky driving incidents fell by approximately 56% in one year, while following-distance events were down almost 75%.

Lytx^® is a leading global provider of machine vision and artificial intelligence-based video telematics, analytics, safety and productivity solutions. The company has also helped Brandon Hire Station to improve driver safety and use video evidence to make it simpler to resolve insurance claims in the event of an incident. Harnessing Lytx video, Brandon Hire Station can provide drivers with a video clip of exactly what went wrong during a risky event, which allows for a more productive and personalised conversation.

Over a twelve month period, Brandon Hire Station saw the following improvements:

• 56% reduction in overall risk frequency and severity

• 77% reduction in following distance <1 second
• 74% reduction in following distance 1-2 seconds
• 46% reduction in collisions
• 31% reduction in late responses
• 25% reduction in other distracted driving incidents

Increasing the safety of your field service workers

“Our drivers have responded brilliantly to the introduction of Lytx,” said Stuart Conway, fleet manager at Brandon Hire Station, and highly commended ‘Commercial Fleet Manager Of The Year’ at the 2019 Commercial Fleet News Awards. “Overwhelmingly, they saw it as investment in their safety and their future and in the safety of other road users too. I’d like to think the very strong results we’ve already achieved are only the beginning.”

As well as implementing its video and analytic capabilities, The Lytx Driver Safety Programme has delivered prescriptive and customised coaching insights to Brandon Hire Station’s fleet managers. Lytx leverages video, motion and engine control module (ECM) sensors to present a superior and accurate view of risk, with greater than 95% accuracy across more than 60 risky driving behaviours – helping to filter out the noise and helps fleets focus on what’s most important.

“One major factor in our decision was that Lytx reviews the 12-second clips captured and uploaded by the cameras, and only sends us what we need to see,” Conway said. “Some of the other systems send you 15 hours of footage a day and we simply don’t have the capacity to go through all of that.”

Brandon Hire’s safety improvements were recently recognised when the company was awarded Commercial Fleet News’ 2019 Most Improved Fleet. The company has also achieved silver accreditation from the Fleet Operator Recognition Scheme (FORS), and is aiming to achieve gold accreditation soon.

Moving forward, Brandon Hire Station is looking to develop its driver training further, as the company fully implements Lytx’s best-in-class Driver Safety Programme.