Ctrack has brought to market a new fuel management solution with real-time activity triggers, as well as an on-the-road (OTR) driver terminal solution that facilitates onboard navigation and communication. It also added a 3-channel dashcam to its Iris video monitoring solution for rental, light delivery and heavy commercial vehicle and bus fleet operators. By Mark Botha.
While fuel monitoring systems for heavy commercial vehicles have been available for some time, light delivery vehicles and passenger cars have provided limited access to similar information. This led Ctrack to introduce the new NX35-C Beijer fuel management solution in cooperation with European company Beijer, which has access to an extensive database of vehicle manufacturers and models.
According to Eugene van Niekerk, GM product solutions at Ctrack, Beijer provides the company with product ID (PID) codes for the CAN data on these vehicles. These datasets include information on aspects such as engine load, cruise control and indicator use. Data pertaining to fuel consumption is extracted to offer information on both fuel consumption and fuel level on cars and LDVs.
“We have found that while we are able to obtain CAN bus information on certain vehicle models in Europe and the UK via the Beijer database, the same vehicle model in South Africa does not provide the same information as its European counterparts. We have no control over the information made available by the vehicle OEMs” he says.
Heavy commercial vehicle OEMs make available CAN Bus J1939 data in compliance with international standards. This enables third parties such as Ctrack to access and extract the information.
The company launched the Ctrack Fuel Solution to cater for medium and heavy commercial vehicles that does not offer CAN bus data.
The four types of fuel monitoring sensors in use today are fuel flow meters; CAN bus, float systems and capacitive fuel sensors. Ctrack regards the latter as the most reliable means to monitor fuel usage in long-haul fleets.
“We obtain our data on cars and vans through Beijer, but we introduced the Ctrack Fuel Solution for heavy and medium commercial vehicles. It is aimed at non-CAN bus vehicles and those models that don’t feature the J1939 protocol.”
Fuel constitutes between 40 and 60% of most transport companies’ total operating cost, and statistics show that 97% of telematics users cite tracking and fuel monitoring as the top reasons for using telematics in their vehicles.
In municipal fleets, transportation can account for up to 20% of total expenses. This figure is around 30% for the construction industry and up to 40% for mining and heavy commerce.
“Fuel prices are constantly on the rise and, nowadays, fuel savings can make up the bulk of the profit in these industries.”
Van Niekerk says the transport industry finds itself in a situation where prices are coming down, while the cost of running a fleet is on the rise.
“Truck load revenues are shrinking too, so it is imperative that we control the usage of this resource.”
Ctrack selected the capacitive sensor monitoring method involving the installation of a separate sensor in the tank. Specialised installation data is fed from this probe to the cloud-based environment for real-time data on fuel levels and usage.
A digital dashboard provides an overview of fuel consumption and of the number and percentages of fuel increases and decreases in each vehicle. The dashboard displays an overview of the percentage decreases, total number of increases and the average volume of increases and decreases.
“Once the fuel probe is fitted,” says Van Niekerk, “the tank is calibrated by means of a ‘SANS beaker’, a measurement provided by the SABS. This is to establish the exact capacity by volume of the fuel tank. If this is done properly, fuel readings will be 98% accurate and variations in fuel volume and level will register on the dashboard, in real time.”
The dashboard also shows the locations, on a map, where these decreases and increases occur, as well as the volume of increase or decrease, and the date and time at which they occur. The operator can view these variations either by vehicle or by driver.
Fuel usage figures are also available according to vehicle make, allowing the operator to “compare the performance of their Hino to their Mercedes,” says Van Niekerk. Also provided is the predicted range the vehicle can travel, based on the amount of fuel in its tank.
“The fleet operator now knows which of their vehicles must refuel at filling stations, and which have the range to return to the depot, where diesel and petrol are available at lower cost.
“But a variation of 5 l, for example, is minute and won’t register as a percentage, even when using the standard, float-type measurement which doesn’t present a one-to-one ratio. However, with sensor monitoring where you calibrate the tank, you can detect even the smallest variations, in real time.”
OTR fleet management
The On-The-Road (OTR) Driver terminal solution enables users of Ctrack’s Online or Max software to set up virtual driver pin numbers, which are required to start the vehicle. The virtual PIN is configured on Ctrack software and identifies the driver to enable driving behavior tracking.
The solution employs a driving display based on the Garmin Fleet 790 hardware and Ctrack’s proprietary fleet management software. It provides a means for the fleet operator to communicate with the driver.
The purpose-built IP67-rated device is a fleet telematics tablet with an embedded 4G modem and integrated dash cam. It features a multi-touch display and open-SIM cellular connectivity and runs on the Android operating system.
“Being Android-based, the system can be ported onto any hardware supporting this operating system,” says Van Niekerk. “It also offers always-on internet connectivity, WiFi, Bluetooth and nearfield communication.”
When used in combination with Ctrack’s NX35 hardware and a voice-activated Ctrack SIM card, the device can facilitate two-way voice or text communication with the driver.
“The terminal allows the driver to make and receive phone calls from the vehicle,” says Van Niekerk. “It is a mounted, fixed, hands-free device for safety reasons, and it features an auto-answer function.”
Outgoing calls can be limited to predefined numbers to restrict unauthorised calling. Incoming calls, too, can be limited to pre-programmed numbers.
The OTR solution records driving events on the move by means of a one-way, forward-facing camera built into the hardware. In the event of a driving incident such as harsh braking, the system saves a minute’s footage before, during and after the event to the device’s onboard memory.
Task manager
The OTR task manager function further enables the operator to allocate tasks to their drivers on the road via the OTR navigation solution. Should the driver accept the task, they would be navigated along the most economical route to where the task must be completed. The task’s progress can be monitored in real-time.
The driver’s availability to accept tasks is preconfigured through the OTR system and can be changed by the driver to reflect statuses such as “Arrived at Site”; “Job Completed” or “Broken Down”. En-route to the task location, the interface provides the driver with visual feedback on their driving in real time, to enable them to improve their driving.
Van Niekerk says the Android OS allows for the addition of functions such as custom forms, which include pre-vehicle inspection sheets, and the electronic Ctrack fuel fill-up form, where the driver captures the amount of fuel purchased, its rand-value and the odometer reading, among others.
“Available custom forms include pre-inspection sheets that allow drivers to record damage to vehicles. All this data can then be uploaded to the cloud-based system for further analysis by the fleet operator.”
Ctrack Iris
The customisable Ctrack Iris video monitoring and telematics solution offers the front and cab-facing, eight-channel Iris DVR video unit with infrared night vision and its own hard drive.
Users can now add to this solution a three-channel dash cam with artificial intelligence, offering an Advanced Driver Assist System (ADAS) and a fatigue monitoring camera.
“The 3-channel dashcam comes with standard dual-view, which is nothing new, but the forward-facing camera includes built-in ADAS,” says Van Niekerk. This feature includes proximity detection which registers vehicles in front of the truck as green (safe), yellow (close) and red (too close and dangerous).
“The operator can add driver status and fatigue monitoring as a third channel on the dash cam,” says Van Niekerk.
Ctrack MD Hein Jordt has stated that enhancing these product solutions emphasises Ctrack’s drive to support customer efforts to stay abreast of challenges in their business operations, allowing them to act and ultimately to save on cost, and to protect their assets.
