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Shipping north of 60:
Global tracking system gives remote fleet managers peace of mind
Corinne Lynds
With the promise of complete route visibility and improved driver safety, tracking tools such as GEOTrac International Inc.'s satellite-based communication system are putting fleet managers at ease.
The Calgary-based GEOTrac's technology provides dispatchers in the oil and gas, transportation, freight forwarding and mining industries with the control they need to monitor the exact location of their fleet or shipment worldwide, 24/7.
"From road to boat, across any number of satellites or modes of transportation we can track a piece of equipment from start to finish and tell you exactly where it is at any given time," says Kevin MacDonald, vice-president of marketing and communications at GEOTrac.
A relatively young company, at just three-years-old, GEOTrac has developed a communication system using a network of low-orbit satellites. The system enables fleet managers to easily track their vehicles and equipment, and to keep in constant contact with drivers.
Different from the likes of Star Choice or Bell ExpressVu, which provide service along the earth's equator, GEOTrac uses satellites that have complete global coverage of even the far north, right up to the Beaufort Sea.
"We're not interested in trying to provide services to local fleet traffic here in Calgary or any major city for that matter," says MacDonald. "There are already so many companies that do that. We want to work in remote areas where other satellite networks can't reach. That’s our niche."
And so far, GEOTrac's strategy is working. The privately owned company already has a significant number of installs in the oil and gas, transportation and freight forwarding industries in Canada's far north.
Yellowknife-based BBE, a supply chain manager for the Ekati Diamond Mine, is currently test driving three GEOTrac units in Inuvik; Baker Lake, Nunavut; and en route from Yellowknife to Edmonton.
Stuart Russell, BBE's vice-president of business development, explains managing logistics in northern Canada comes with a host of unique challenges. "Up here it's not uncommon for our projects to involve barges and ice runways."
To date, BBE has one GEOTrac unit on a drilling rig in Inuvik, the Baker Lake unit on a Delta Commander truck, and the third is in use on a transport truck that travels back and forth between Yellowknife and Edmonton.
"GEOTrac's technology gives us the ability to know exactly where a shipment is. This is nice to know, but in the North, it's more than just a nicety. We're dealing with ice roads and barge routes that have short seasons. If we know exactly where a shipment is, we know whether we're going to be able to make that window, and put plans in place to address any changing conditions as they arise," says Russell. "For example, we're currently working on a rig move to East Serbia. The ice-free time (when the shipment can be unloaded onto the beach) is short, and if we miss the window, the client may lose a year. Knowing where goods are at any given time and being able to track their progress could mitigate this problem."
Getting started
Companies, like BBE, that use the GEOTrac system, begin by installing a smart modem, antenna, mobile data terminal in or on the truck or piece of machinery they are looking to track. This gives them access to the web-based Asset Control Centre (ACC). Updated every 15 minutes, the ACC enables them to pinpoint, on an electronic map, exactly where their driver is. Each smart modem costs $800 and has a $46 per month airtime fee.
GEOTrac also offers two-way text messaging. "The mobile data terminal is not very big; it's about two inches wide by about six inches long and it's a touch-screen," explains MacDonald. "Located in the cabs of the trucks and connected to the modem, drivers can send two-way text messages to each other, either truck to truck, or to an actual dispatcher."
The two-way smart modems, which cost $1,200 to purchase, also have a distress feature on them. If a driver has got into an accident or run into some other kind of trouble, he can quickly send a distress signal to the dispatcher or manager. GEOTrac has also recently added a feature that enables distress messages to be forwarded to a cell phone, so even if a driver runs into trouble when there isn't a dispatcher in the office, someone can be reached to deal with the emergency.
Staying in touch
Twilight Oilfield Hauling (Grand Prairie, Alta.), a transportation company specializing in the transport of oil and gas drilling rigs, can't say enough about the two-way text messaging feature.
"For us, it's great. We can get a hold of a driver anytime we need to, find out if he's traveling or sleeping, and with the distress signal feature we know that he's safe too," says Gary Heaven, operations manager at Twilight.
He points out there are significant administrative benefits to the technology as well. "Not only do we have an activity report of how far and how fast the truck has traveled, but we also have all of the driver's information, licences, certificates...on record in the computer. As these items are about to expire, the system notifies us and we have the time we need to get them renewed. It's not the usual surprise and last-minute run around we used to deal with all the time."
Quickly becoming well known in Canada’s far north, GEOTrac's communication system is also ideal for long-haul applications where a truck might cross a number of different satellite networks. Because the low-earth network is global, there isn't anywhere a truck could go that would be outside of GEOTrac's range.
Ultimately, the technology gives fleet managers the information they need to get their products delivered on time while keeping their customers informed. It also takes some of the worry out of doing business in Canada’s more remote areas.
Corinne Lynds is editor of AutoPlant, published by Rogers Media, and a freelance technology and business writer.
[Sidebar] Text messaging offers benefits to remote fleets
GEOTrac is one of the only companies in the world that provides two-way communication in remote areas such as the Canadian north. Many companies provide expensive satellite phones that can cost up to $15,000 per month, but coverage may be unreliable.
The advantages of text messaging over satellite phones include:
• much lower airtime costs;
• a permanent record of communication. Satellite phones on their own have no way of keeping a record of the call;
• quick response touch screen buttons, which are safer for drivers to use than satellite phones, some of which can be distracting to operate;
• easy-to-use mobile data terminals which provide drivers with peace of mind when they're beyond the cell phone coverage network;
• broadcast e-mail. It's currently only available through text messaging. Most satellite and cell phones don't provide that service.
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