A new satellite tracking system from Navman Wireless USA can help fleets with remote work locations minimize data charges by only transmitting critical event information via satellite.
The new option for Navman’s OnlineAVL2 fleet tracking platform enables continuous visibility of both heavy equipment and on-road vehicles even when assets are out of cellular coverage.
The solution is designed especially for construction, surface mining, mining and oil & gas exploration.
Satellite connectivity is provided via a small modem that plugs into the serial port on Navman Wireless’ Qube on-highway and/or ruggedized Qtanium off-highway GPS tracking devices. The system automatically switches between cellular and satellite transmission with intelligent least-cost routing, utilizing the highly reliable, global Iridium satellite network when fleet assets move out of cellular range, Navman said.
Benefits include:
- Uninterrupted real-time fleet tracking without losing visibility of equipment location and other status information when assets are beyond the reach of cell towers.
- Increased employee safety because equipment and vehicles are never out of sight of the fleet tracking system, even if they are working in cellular dead zones.
- No missed engine alerts, potentially preventing costly machine repairs and downtime by ensuring that job supervisors are promptly informed when engine, coolant, transmission or air filter sensors connected to GPS tracking devices exceed pre-defined thresholds.
- Cost-saving configurability, with the option to limit satellite transmissions to priority events (panic messages, rollover alerts, engine overheating, speed or geofence violations, etc.) and delay the transfer of low-priority event data until cellular coverage is restored.
“If a machine or vehicle in your fleet is operating outside of cell coverage and you have critical communications that need to take place for safety or operations reasons, it can be a problem to wait until the asset gets back into cell range,” said Davis Gammage, vice president-product management. “Temporarily switching to satellite communication solves the problem and ensures 100% visibility of your equipment as well as your field staff.”
Navman’s OnlineAVL2 fleet tracking platform provides location, operations and performance data for both on-highway vehicles and construction heavy equipment from a single interface. The back-end OnlineAVL2 application – delivered under the Software-as-a-Service model – includes industry-specific reporting such as jobsite utilization reports that break down equipment use by project, facilitate proper cost accounting, reduce writeoffs for unallocated asset hours, and aid in the development of future job bids for construction customers.
