Telematics: GPS and So Much More by Don Archer
T
he Venus flytrap is unusual in that it is one of only a handful of plants in the world that are carnivorous, it eats meat to survive. All plants need nutrients to stay alive, and the majority of them get what they need from the soil. But because the Venus flytrap thrives in sandy, acidic soil, where the necessary nutrients for growth are scarce, it had to evolve. Long ago, it had to make a decision to either die of starvation or adapt and change. It chose life. One of the biggest challenges many tow company owners have is adapting when the need for change arises. Specifically when it comes to recognizing when it’s time to get out of the truck and start working on their businesses. In the book, “The E-Myth,” author Michael E. Gerber wrote that the reason most small businesses don’t work is that they are run by a “Technician,” someone who’s an expert in his craft. He explains that the problem with this is the “Technician” gets comfortable in their role and fails to give much thought and attention to the other roles necessary for success, which Gerber explains are “The Entrepreneur” and “The Manager.” He says, “A real business is one where the founder has created a system so that the business can run itself without the founder’s constant presence.” Many in the industry believe that this is impossible, that towing is somehow unique. They argue that, with all the moving parts a towing business is too complex to run itself. Some are even so hardheaded as to believe that working on their business instead of in it is akin to giving up. If you truly want your business to be more profitable, if you want it to become something you might eventually sell—or simply hand down to the next genera-
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tion with zero guilt—then you’re going to have to make some changes. One step in the direction of change might be to incorporate the use of telematics into your business. If you’re like me (before I did my research), you probably don’t even know everything telematics can integrate into your business. Maybe you believe it to be only GPS tracking, nothing else. While it’s true that without GPS there would be no telematics, telematics can do so much more than just tell you where your trucks are. Telematics defined is “any integrated use of telecommunications with information and communications technology. It is the technology of sending, receiving and storing information relating to vehicles—by way of telecommunication devices.” The following is a primer (in no particular order) on what various companies offer tow bosses in the way of telematics software, fleet tracking and more.
Beacon Software Beacon Software Co. provides dispatchers the ability to view and dispatch trucks on a map in real time, send and receive information about a call from any device and automated motor club billing … no more submitting invoices on the various motor club portals. Beacon electronically receives calls from all major motor clubs, integrates with 19 different GPS companies, works on any device and does about 8 million calls per year. “One way tow company owners streamline their business through the use of Beacon is by eliminating manpower with our automated dispatch,” said Todd Althouse, Beacon president. He said the system cuts down on training time and allows one dispatcher to handle more trucks and calls.
VTS VTS Systems does towing and storage lot management through two basic components: the hardware in the truck (GPS unit and a transceiver), and the software in the cloud where the data is accessed by the business through a web-based application. A transceiver can be a tablet, a cellphone or a module attached to your OBD II portal. Nigel Pestell, VTS co-founder, said their software gives dispatchers options. They can provide the information to the tow operator as a hard copy printout, a detailed text to a cellphone or directly to the telematics receiver in the truck. Depending upon the capabilities of the telematics transceiver in the truck and the information it is programmed to gather and transmit, there are a whole host of things it can do for your bottom line. “The storage-lot side cuts down on the time I spend sending out notifications. It prompts me when the letters need to go out, from there it’s a few clicks and I’m done,” said VTS customer Darlene Garrett, a dispatcher for Valentin Towing in Porter, Texas. “If there’s a problem with a tow, maybe a disgruntled customer, I have all the information in front of me, complete with notes from the driver documenting any problems that may have occurred.”
Towbook With trillions of rows of data and around 6 million calls per year, Towbook co-owner Tom Bacon said his company is pushing the envelope hard to help make towers’ lives better. If you feel like you’re not quite ready to get out of the truck, but need the structure and flexibility to enable you to get out of the office, Towbook has you covered. “It all starts with automating as much as we can,” Bacon said, though
