"Trucking has only begun to realize the potential of mobile communications."
As the millennium approaches, the Information Age is kicking into high gear for the trucking industry. Advanced fleets are managing their trucks, loads, and drivers closer and more efficiently than ever. For thousands of fleets in the nineties, on-board mobile communications have dramatically improved operations and asset utilization, increased customer and driver satisfaction, and delivered more profit to their bottom line. But we at HighwayMaster believe the trucking industry has only begun to realize the potential of mobile communications.
With our award-winning technology and industry-leading applications, HighwayMaster, from the beginning, has been driving toward the future of mobile communications. We have long envisioned a future where more information is captured, analyzed, and distributed to more places than most could imagine. Where today's information is largely communicated to and from dispatch, tomorrow's stakeholders will include maintenance, safety, payroll, finance, shippers, consignees, load brokers, engine manufacturers, service centers, tax processors, and more.
In the beginning, when dispatch, GPS, and status messaging was the industry norm, HighwayMaster exceeded that platform and released a system designed for exception-based management. Today our RollingETA and voice communications allow fleets to focus on the most critical issues. While others are sifting through mounds of data, HighwayMaster fleets are quickly addressing customer issues before they become big problems. In this, as in all our products and applications, our philosophy is to remain focused on the value of information, rather than just the quantity of data.
Connectivity to the vehicle and engine has begun to bring value to our customers. EngineMaster, released earlier this year, is already helping many HighwayMaster fleets better manage their vehicles and drivers. Reporting on more than 20 performance parameters, EngineMaster enables fleets to get the information they need to more effectively improve safety, fuel economy, and equipment performance. This engine interface helps fleets move from preventive-based maintenance to condition-based maintenance. Information from other monitoring systems throughout the vehicle also helps improve visibility of fleet assets on the road. With the HighwayMaster system, this information can be transmitted directly to those who need it in your maintenance and operations departments, and even to those at your engine manufacturer and service center.
Process automation will take on increasing importance in the new millennium, and HighwayMaster is particularly well equipped to handle these applications with our powerful on-board computers. Collecting precise GPS and odometer readings every fifteen minutes, for example, enables MileMaster to calculate state mileage for fuel tax processing. Through our RS232 interface, other applications such as in-cab faxing and scanning can further help fleets automate their processes. These innovative tools have resulted in productivity gains for current HighwayMaster users.
The Information Age is here for HighwayMaster customers, and the role of mobile communications in the next millennium is crucial for trucking. Whether your fleet is large or small, truckload or LTL, for-hire or private, or longhaul or local, you will have an increasingly compelling reason to adopt mobile communications and take advantage of its many rewards. Staying in touch with drivers, assets, loads, and packages will help prepare fleets to compete on the basis of moving and acting upon information, not just moving freight. As we approach this exiting new age together, HighwayMaster is excited to be an integral part of this amazing transformation.
