Roadmap - Vehicle tracking and fleet intelligence news - January 2015

Frotcom - Vehicle Tracking
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Fleet Intelligence | Tel + 351 214 135 670 | www.frotcom.com
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Roadmapmonthly newsletter
1
Vehic le T ra cking and F leet Int elligence N ews
Editorial
or the last six months, oil prices have been falling abruptly and
uninterruptedly. Overall, the price of a barrel dropped more than 50% since
June. The last time such a big drop happened was six years ago. For the last
five years, we have witnessed a period of relative stability in oil prices.
Last November, the member countries of
OPEC, which control nearly 40% of the
world market, met in Vienna. By failing to
reach an understanding on production
curbs, they sent the prices into an even
steeper descent. But in truth, oil prices
were already falling down before the
OPEC meeting.
There are several factors that have contributed to the current drop in oil prices. Oil
prices are set by a mix of a) present demand and supply from the economy; and b)
expectations about the future oil prices. The price is higher the more demand exceeds
supply; and the more investors believe that the price of oil will increase (speculation).
Why is demand lower than before? For one, many economies, which have seen better
days, do not need so much oil for producing energy. Secondly, the use of energy is
getting more efficient. There is also a growing move away from oil to other fuels and
renewable energy sources. Additionally, America has become the world’s largest oil
producer and is therefore not such a big client of OPEC countries as before.
The million-dollar question, however, remains: “When will oil prices rise again?”
There are actually too many variables involved for anyone to be able to say, really.
According to OPEC, prices may rise again in 2015. While OPEC expects average oil use
per car or truck to decline by 2.2% per year, the increase in vehicle fleets in China,
India and other emerging markets – anticipated to be more than a billion additional
cars by 2040 – should more than compensate.
Although we have no way of answering that question, there is something we do
know: saving on fuel still makes sense. After all, your fleet may not be spending as
much in fuel, but the same is happening to your competitors. So let’s keep good
driving habits and save as much as we can.
Valério Marques, CEO - Frotcom International
A note from the editor – If you would like to contribute an article for a forthcoming issue of the newsletter,
please reach out to roadmap@frotcom.com.
F
In this issue
New features
New version of Frotcom’s Eco-
driving has arrived
Get instant feedback to improve
driving behaviour
News and Events
Frotcom adopts the new Garmin
Fleet
TM
670
Case Study
Keetmanshoop Municipality reduces
unauthorized vehicle use by 95%
with Frotcom
This and much more…
January 2015

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Angola |Belgium |Brazil |Bulgaria |Cameroon |Cape Verde |Chile | Colombia |Cyprus |Croatia |Egypt |Georgia |Greece |Italy |Kenya |Kosova
|Luxembourg |Macedonia |Madagascar |Mauritius |Morocco |Namibia |Peru |Portugal |Reunion Islands |Romania |Rwanda |Seychelles |Sierra Leone
|Slovenia |South Africa |Spain |Tanzania |Uganda |UK |
2
New Features
New version of Frotcom’s Eco-driving has arrived
The new version of Frotcom’s Eco-driving service
comes with a completely dynamic mechanism tat
adapts automatically to the orientation of the
tracking device (auto-calibration), detecting the
direction of the ground and the front of the car.
Moreover, the acceleration and braking thresholds vary smoothly, depending on
the vehicle’s speed, hence mimicking a natural driver experience, without the
non-sense warnings sometimes due to GPS errors or to a poor definition of
thresholds.
This new version uses the internal 3D accelerometer of tracking devices to
compute the vehicle’s longitudinal acceleration. The new version is available in
C4Max and C4Evo devices, since firmware version F0.8.0.
Get instant feedback to improve driving behaviour
With these improvements and by using the Driver feedback bar, it is now
possible to give direct and immediate feedback to drivers, resulting in a clearer
understanding of what are acceptable and unacceptable accelerations, braking
and idling. This will allow drivers to correct driving styles, therefore reaching
better scores in Frotcom’s Eco-driving module and saving on fuel and mechanics,
while reducing the proability of running into accidents.
The Driver feedback bar device consists of a bar of LEDs, used to display the
driving behaviour during a trip; a buzzer; an iButton reader for driver
identification; and two buttons for privacy mode settings.
During a trip, the Driver feedback bar displays the current driving behaviour, by
lighting LEDs from left (green) to right (red). The farther into red at any given
moment, the worse the driving behaviour.
For further information regarding these or any other aspects of Frotcom, please
contact Frotcom.
Here's Google's First Fully
Functional Self-Driving Car
Prototype
Google is a front runner in the
autonomous auto future. Back in May,
Google showed off an early prototype, a
hacked-together little car with an
exposed roof sensor and non-
functioning headlight stickers. (…)
Yes, Google has had previous prototypes
before, but each of those was missing
something crucial, like headlights.
Finished version look familiar? That's
because it's basically the same thing as
the first iteration with a little bit of spit
shine applied, and all its features in
place. In fact, let's play a quick game of
"spot the difference."
Google says that the car will be seen on
the road in Northern California in 2015.
Source: GIZMODO
Did you know?
Driver feedback bar

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3
News and Events
Frotcom adopts the new Garmin fleet™ 670
Frotcom adopted the new Android device Garmin fleetTM
670 as the on-board
device for customers wanting to use Frotcom’s Workforce Management.
Frotcom International is one of the first companies in the world to offer the
Garmin fleetTM
670, fully integrated with its vehicle tracking and fleet
management system. This state-of-the-art device from Garmin is enhanced with
unique features, ensuring efficiency and reliability.
Main features
Full integration with Frotocm’s Workforce Management application;
Designed for long-haul trucking;
Preloaded with detailed maps (currently valid for Europe and South America
only);
Maps already include truck mode. Truck-related restrictions, such as bridge
heights, and related information for most major roads and highways;
Free Lifetime Map Updates through Garmin Express;
Magnetic mount allows for easy removal and docking;
All communications are executed and controlled through Frotcom's on-
board GPS tracker, which avoids unexpected communication costs.
For further information regarding these or any other aspects of Frotcom, please
contact Frotcom.
Manually associating a
C4OBD2 dongle to a vehicle
not yet registered in Frotcom
The C4OBD dongle consists on a plug
and play device connected directly to
the vehicle’s OBD2 socket.
If you want to associate a C4OBD
dongle to a vehicle which is not yet
listed in your Frotcom account, you
must first create a new vehicle in
Frotcom and then associate it to the
dongle. To do that, go to
Administration > Vehicles and at the
bottom of the list, click the New
button.
Choose to create a new Vehicle with
GPS and associate it with the IMEI of
the right dongle. Until you select one
of the IMEIs, you will not be able to
save the new vehicle.
From this moment on, all tracking data
coming from the device will be
associated with this vehicle, until you
associate it to another vehicle.
Tip of the month!
Garmin fleet
TM
670
Communications are executed
and controlled through Frotcom's
onboard GPS tracker

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4
Case Study
Keetmanshoop Municipality reduces
unauthorized vehicle use by 95% with Frotcom
Keetmanshoop is the biggest urban centre in the Karas Region, Southern Namibia. It
is also known as the Capital of the South. The municipality is committed to be the
centre of superb growth and excellence in Local economic development, Local
Authority governance and Local Authority administration in the entire Karas Region
in southern Namibia.
Client Challenges
The council has 41 municipality vehicles, including small and heavy vehicles
(emergency and waste collection vehicles), and needed a way to manage its fleet
more effectively.
Keetmanshoop Municipality had a rampant misuse of the municipality’s vehicles, as
well as unauthorised usage of its fleet. To make drivers accountable for council
financial losses and to trace where heavy duty vehicles were being used, Mr.
Desmond Basson, the Municipality CEO, knew that the installation of a vehicle
tracking system would fill these gaps.
Frotcom Namibia’s Approach
Mr. Hiskia Nangolo, Director at Frotcom Namibia, approached the council and did
his presentation on the benefits and functionality of Frotcom. He focused on the
needs of the council, emphasizing Frotcom's strengths in parameters such as Fuel
usage, After hours usage of vehicles, Idle time and Over speeding.
The municipality received other proposals for a vehicle tracking system. Despite the
competition, the Frotcom proposal was the favoured solution, as its web based
platform allows easy access to monitoring vehicles from any workstation.
Additionally, the initial and the monthly costs proved that Frotcom had the most
cost-efficient financial proposal.
Benefits achieved
Frotcom’s solution for the municipality was able to overcome the challenges of
monitoring the fleet. As mentioned by Mr. Desmond Basson, “The after hours
vehicle misuse has dramatically dropped by 95%.
Our intention is to close these remaining gaps during the next
year. By keeping track of our vehicles, consulting the reports for
the usage out of permitted period or idling times, analysing fuel
cost consumption and vehicle usage, and taking the necessary
measures, we have been able to reduce fuel costs. Instead of
monthly bulk fuel replenishment, the bulk fuel of the majority of
the vehicles is only replenished once every two months.”
Besides the Frotcom benefits, the council is very pleased with the company service
and support, as Mr. Desmond Basson also highlighted that “the Frotcom Namibia
team is capable and more eager and willing to assist. The Frotcom system has a
human face to it, as the director has a direct contact with the fleet controller and the
manager”.
Roadmap congratulates Frotcom Namibia for this successful project!
Key Factors
Keetmanshoop Municipality
 Public institution
 A fleet with 41 vehicles (including
emergency and waste collection
vehicles)
The Challenge
 Stop the rampant misuse of
municipality’s vehicles
 Analyse and control costs
 Trace heavy duty vehicles
 Decrease fuel consumption
The solution
Frotcom Premium, including:
 Cost Management
 Reports and Alarms
 Management Dashboard
 Route Planning and Monitoring
The result
 Eliminated unauthorized
municipality’s vehicle use
 Significant fuel costs
reduction
 Keep the fleet costs tracked
Keetmanshoop Municipality
implements Frotcom to curb
misuse of council vehicles and to
monitor the running costs of its
fleet.

Roadmap - Vehicle tracking and fleet intelligence news - January 2015

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