Roadmap monthly newsletter - September 2013

September
2013

Roadmap

monthly newsletter

In this issue
New Features

Editorial

Extract tachograph files
without leaving the office

News and Events

I

n my country, Portugal, people work a lot. We really do. In fact, on average we
work more than in most other countries in the European Union. And this is a
fact, as you can check in the statistics of the OECD – Organisation for Economic
Cooperation and Development, for instance (stats.oecd.org).

And yet we are not – sadly for me – among the richest countries in Europe. Why so?
The answer is that we lack efficiency. In other words, we work a lot, but not as
efficiently as we should. Not as efficiently as in the richest countries, anyway. Here’s
an extreme example to make the concept clearer:
“If you put two men working 24 hours a day, one digging a hole and the other
filling it back, they will for sure have worked a lot; and yet they will have achieved
nothing.“
Efficiency is about making the best possible
use of resources. Efficient firms maximise
outputs from given inputs, and so minimise
their costs. The result is that they can produce
more per employee. Efficient companies
achieve a higher productivity.
Frotcom keeps bringing more and more tools
to increase your workforce’s productivity. It’s
not just about knowing where your vehicles
are, anymore.
For instance, we launched the Eco-driving module in 2012. With it, you know how
each vehicle is being driven, contributing to lower fuel and maintenance costs and
increasing vehicle availability by reducing downtimes.
In April 2013 the Workforce Management module was made available to companies
wanting to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their mobile workforce.
It is now time to launch the Remote download of tachograph files, reducing
significantly the dull and unproductive task of frequently going to each and every
truck, simply to collect the data files (mandatory in Europe).
More productivity tools will become available in the months to come.
Valério Marques, CEO - Frotcom International
A note from the editor – If you would like to have your own say in the next edition of this newsletter please do
not hesitate to get in touch at roadmap@frotcom.com.
Roadmap Monthly Newsletter

| roadmap@frotcom.com | Tel + 351 214 135 670 | www.frotcom.com

Frotcom - Vehicle Tracking . Fleet Intelligence
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South Africa |Spain | Tanzania |Uganda |UK |

1

Frotcom Namibia exhibited at the
Ongwediva Trade Fair 2013

Case Study
Scootaxi relies on Frotcom
to ensure customer safety and
satisfaction

This and much more…

Did you know?
A smart digital tachograph

New Features
Extract tachograph
leaving the office

files

without

Frotcom’s Tachograph Remote Download feature
makes it possible for companies to obtain files
without having to send someone to each vehicle,
to retrieve data from the tachograph. The
operation can be done over-the-air without leaving
the office.
Frotcom’s Tachograph Remote Download is targeted at transportation
companies and other companies using heavy vehicles, in Europe, needing to
obtain the tachograph and driver card files for legal purposes.
With this new feature it is now possible to download tachograph files remotely,
from both the tachograph’s mass memory and the drivers’ tachograph cards.
In the same scope, automatic driver identification is also possible by reading the
number of the driver card inserted in the tachograph. This feature has to be
activated in the tracking device, which has to be connected to truck’s CAN bus.

Every truck and bus on EU roads
must be fitted with a tachograph
to record information on each
journey such as driving times and
rest periods.
Tachographs were first introduced
in 1985. Now digital, they are
installed on board six million trucks
and buses and can record data
such as speed, distance covered
and driver identification — with
much greater accuracy. These data
once processed make it easier to
check compliance with EU rules by
operators and drivers.
Tachograph legislation moves to
final stages of approval process
In June 2013, the European
Parliament’s Transport Committee
approved the agreement reached
with the Council in May regarding
the new generation of “smart”
tachograph devices for recording
driver hours.
This new regulation will allow use
of latest technology in tackling
tachograph fraud and misuse.
The proposal introduces higher
standards
for
workshops
authorised to install and calibrate
the tachograph. A new EC internet
based help desk will also allow
drivers,
control
authorities,
companies as well as the public to
raise questions and concerns.
There are new provisions on the
training of control officers. […]

Remote download structure and components




2

The proposal includes a new
exemption from the obligation to
use
tachographs
for
nonprofessional drivers using their
vehicles for carrying materials or
equipment within a uniformly
extended distance of 100 km, up
from the previous level of 50 km.
The final vote in the European
Parliament is due in the autumn.
Source: ETSC’s Newsletter on Transport
Safety Policy Developments in the EU.

Tip of the month
Establishing and associating
the use of driving teams

News and Events
Frotcom Namibia exhibited at the Ongwediva Annual
Trade Fair 2013
Widely accepted as one of the biggest B2B trade
exhibitions in Namibia, the Annual Ongwediva
Trade Fair is an event organized by the
Ongwediva Town Council and focussed on
Trade Fairs for Consumer Goods Industries.
The 2013 OATF was held from the 23rd to the
31st of August, 2013 at the Ongwediva Trade
Centre under the theme "Propelling innovation
for business success".

In its booth, Frotcom Namibia exhibited the abilities of the Frotcom system
and had the opportunity to do live demonstrations to visitors.

According to Hiskia Nangolo,
Managing Director at Frotcom
Namibia, “This fair had more than
65.000 visitors and gave us the
opportunity to promote Frotcom,
highlighting the benefits of a vehicle
tracking system”.
“Numerous visitors to our booth
commented that Frotcom appears to
be well ahead of the competition in
terms of equipment (GPS trackers),
software and services offered.
Significant interest was expressed in
the products and services offered by
our company.”

A driving team is sometimes used
in long haulage. Team drivers will
take the wheel in turns, in order to
keep a truck rolling with as few
interruptions as possible and
without forcing drivers to work
beyond
the
maximum
recommendable periods and/or
allowed by law.
To specify that your company will
be using driving teams, go to
Administration > Company profile
and Edit the Driving conditions
folder:

By default, this option is set to No.
To activate it, specify that you will
Allow the use of driving teams by
selecting Yes. At the end, click
Save.
Once you do this, you will be able
to specify teams of two drivers per
vehicle, instead of only a solo
driver.
To create a team of drivers, you
must associate both to the same
vehicle. Go to Administration >
Vehicles, select the vehicle and
select the names of both Driver
and Co-driver:

Hiskia Nangolo also stated that “This trade fair was the best way to launch
Frotcom in Namibia as it brought us many direct contacts for prospective clients.
It is therefore time to roll up our sleeves and get our hands dirty.”
ROADMAP congratulates Frotcom Namibia for the participation in this event!



3

The driver is the person who takes
the wheel at that moment. The codriver seats with the driver and
waits his/her turn to go behind the
wheel.

Case Study
Next, on Roadmap

Scootaxi relies on Frotcom to ensure customer safety
and satisfaction
Scootaxi, a startup company from Kosovo, is
providing taxi service in Pristina with environment
friendly scooters, which are fast and easy to
manoeuvre in heavy traffic, for just 1 € per journey.
Scooters are monitored through Frotcom to ensure a proactive service,
responding in due time to customers' calls, manage driver behaviour and control
the 50 km/h speed limit. Frotcom helps guarantee the safety and satisfaction of
all passengers.

According to Diellza Xhemajli, Project Manager at Scootaxi, “One of our biggest
concerns was to ensure the safety of our customers. We also wanted to be sure
that we were sending the driver closest to the customer’s location and we were
using the best routes to arrive on time. Frotcom Kosova presented us all the
options and features we needed, and by implementing Frotcom reliable GPS
vehicle tracking system to control driving behaviour and speed limits of
Scootaxi’s drivers, we accomplished our goals.”
For more information about Scootaxi visit their webpage (in Albanian) here.
ROADMAP congratulates the Frotcom Kosova team for this successful project!



4

News and events,
more new Frotcom features
and tips will be presented.

This and more, so don’t miss
the next issue of Roadmap.

Roadmap monthly newsletter - September 2013

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Roadmap monthly newsletter - September 2013