The stars will watch over your trucks

Trimble will be offering a new service to improve asset management and truck driver safety for transport and logistics organisations travelling across remote parts of Australia, following an agreement with Iridium Communications.

Under the agreement, Iridium will provide satellite machine-to-machine (M2M) services across Trimble’s Transport and Logistics (T&L) services, providing transport operators with increased fleet visibility in remote areas where high-speed cellular data coverage is limited.

Trimble’s T&L services provide driving style monitoring, breakdown alerts, vehicle performance management, journey optimisation, remote consignment updates, and live monitoring of cargo such as refrigerated food, chemicals or liquid fuel.

General manager of Trimble Transport and Logistics Division, Asia Pacific and EMEA Michel Van Maercke said the new service is expected to provide significant productivity and safety benefits for Australian transport operators.

“Remote roads are the corridors of the Australian economy, however, they have been an operational blind spot for many transport companies, as they have been unable to receive important logistical and safety information for hours at a stretch,” said Mr Van Maercke.

“The use of Iridium’s satellite service can provide local operators with a level of connectivity delivering the same visibility and safety in the outback as they would in metropolitan areas.”

More than 86 per cent of Australia’s landmass is classified as remote or very remote. The area includes critical industries such as mining and agriculture, as well as interstate land transport routes. However, the journey carries significant safety and operational concerns, with nearly half of Australia’s fatal road accidents occurring on regional roads.

David Wigglesworth for Iridium said: “The expansion of satellite-based M2M connectivity services with Trimble is a clear demonstration of the economic value and capabilities that the Iridium network provides both its customers and end users.”

“Our network’s global coverage and low latency is ideally suited for Trimble’s transport management services, even in the most remote areas of Australia,” he added.

Iridium M2M services are expected to be available with Trimble’s T&L in Australia from December 2014.

Source: http://www.tandlnews.com.au/