Truck Topics

A New Technology: Tracker GPS

The Mid America Trucking Show in Louisville has traditionally been a popular venue for trucking-related manufacturers and equipment providers to debut their latest offerings to the trucking public. 

The most recent show in March was no exception and the Expediter Experience was proud to number among its exhibitors a company that is brand new to expedited freight and the trucking world in general, but is sure to garner a great deal of interest from both.

CP Handheld Technologies has entered the trucking industry full throttle and its Tracker GPS asset-tracking and management system is leading the charge. 

The trucking world is very familiar with the tracking technologies of CP Handheld's competition, but John Cobb, CP Handheld's CEO and co-founder, believes that his company has constructed a "better mousetrap." 

He says, "By using state of the art software and hardware, Tracker GPS is able to give its customers real-time visibility of its assets.  Because of our steadfast approach to customer service and our over thirty years of software development experience, Tracker GPS is the tool to secure a company's investments." 

Cobb says, "Tracking assets with real-time accuracy is becoming more important than ever with significant financial consequences and scrutiny looming.  Newly imposed rules and regulations have increased the administrative workload of companies and owner-operators.  The good news is that proven, sound, proactive asset tracking is now easy to implement using CP Handheld Technologies’ Tracker GPS."
 
Cobb continues, "We released the Tracker GPS system to the trucking industry on January 1 of this year and we've had a groundswell of activity and interest in the product.  It's  real time GPS tracking and web-based interface makes the Tracker GPS product a natural fit for the trucking industry."

Company history
While new to the trucking industry, CP Handheld Technologies, the parent company, has been utilizing its technologies in the retail automotive industry for the past five years.  The company boasts tracking $32 billion in assets which equates to over 1 million vehicles tracked per year, with an average growth rate of 18% per year.

"We've been writing software for ten years," says Cobb.  "Due to our experience in compliance work in the health care and retail automotive industries, our software is designed to meet many regulatory requirements and is continually being audited."

"We adapt and meet the customers' needs and the order of the day in each industry is regulation.  Trucking in particular has a need for accuracy in tracking and auditing is key." 

"We're taking an enterprise skill system and applying it to the trucking industry." 

The debut
One thing the Tracker GPS team enjoys doing the most is showcasing their product.  Characterized by their enthusiasm and passion for what they do, they fully believe that once the customer witnesses a live demo, the software sells itself.

Andrea Fowler is the Product and Marketing Specialist for CP Handheld and says that for the Louisville show, her company's booth included a large flat screen that displayed live tracking to demonstrate how the Tracker GPS is utilized. 

"Visitors to our booth were amazed at how accurate, quick, streamlined and easy-to-use the Tracker GPS is.  When we were doing our demonstrations, the onlookers were very surprised to discover that the information coming over the unit was a live feed, not some canned demo program."

Fowler explains, "The Tracker GPS system is not just for carriers, but for owner-operators and fleet owners as well.  It benefits the owners because they can know where their trucks are at all times. It also makes tracking and reporting for IFTA, maintenance scheduling and other general fleet management tasks so much easier."

"There are so many standard features in the system that can be implemented and it's all at one price." 

A new approach
"When we introduced the Tracker GPS at the Louisville show," Fowler relates, "people would use the term "ping" when asking how our system worked - they would ask 'how often does it ping a day?', or 'what do you charge for additional pings?'  With our competition's system, for example, if you want to locate a truck, it has to be pinged (a signal sent to the truck), then if the location needs to be determined an hour later, it has to be pinged again."

"A key difference in our system is that the Tracker GPS operates in real time and the truck is constantly reporting its location without the need to ping the truck.  And, the software can easily be changed to fit the specific requirements of the user.  As our customers' business changes, we can change the software. “It really is state-of-the-art technology."

She continues, "Since the truck show, we have had commitments from five expedited carriers that are very interested in the Tracker GPS.  Until now, these companies have been using a variety of systems but they see the value in what we're offering and they are giving the Tracker GPS system a trial."

The Tracker GPS technology

Vector unit
The Vector unit is the heartbeat of Tracker GPS. This unit provides a real-time connection to the Tracker GPS website. The information sent is used to calculate speed, distance, mileage, engine idle time and two-way messaging. The device is installed in a covert location in the vehicle to prevent tampering.

Backup batteries are available to notify of any powerless due to accident or device tampering. Integrating Tracker GPS into your organization is a simple turnkey process due to the simplified modular design developed by CP Handheld Technologies.

Messenger unit
The messenger unit provides an intuitive method of communicating with drivers. The messenger unit allows drivers to send and receive messages between the vehicle and home base.

Recently added features include: clock-in and out of timesheets, track jobsite hours and tracking duty status for drivers hauling hazardous materials.

Additional add-on components allow for real-time credit card processing, badge swipe, barcode scanning and printing capabilities.

CEO John Cobb provides an overview:  "We’re looking to build long lasting relationships and are doing so by providing flexible software solutions to fit each company’s needs.  One size does not fit all and the anomalies that make each company different make them unique and in many ways afford them a competitive advantage. Dismissing this in a one-size-fits- all mindset quite often forces the company to become inefficient." 

The cornerstone of Tracker GPS’s success is the company’s philosophy in customer feedback matters, says Cobb.  “Every feature and report in the software is the direct result of customer feedback…if we’ve streamlined your business and made you more efficient, we’ve accomplished our goal.” 

"All services provided by Tracker GPS constitute a turnkey package.  The service provider model allows Tracker GPS to maintain and update the software every 30 days." 

“Imagine having a subject matter expert continually telling you how to make something better time and time again.  For most companies, one pass is good enough. For CP Handheld, the more passes, the more refined and effective the software becomes.”

Cobb concludes, "We're a service company first and a software company second."

CP Handheld Technologies, LLC

Web: http://www.cphandheld.com

John Cobb, CEO
Phone: (812) 629-0240
Email: [email protected]
Andrea Fowler
502 451-4560