Drivewyze, Inc. and PeopleNet, a Trimble Company, recently announced that the Drivewyze PreClear weigh station bypass application is now available for PeopleNet onboard devices, effective immediately.
Drivewyze PreClear is available on PeopleNet’s TABLET, in-cab PC and BLU.2 platforms. The service includes the Drivewyze PreClear Analytics Services, a complimentary tool designed to enable data-driven, ROI-based bypass decision-making. It also includes a Weigh Station Heads Up service for real-time notifications for more than 700 weigh stations and inspection sites nationwide. PreClear is the only cloud-based service to alert drivers two miles before approaching a site, offering fleets the opportunity to earn up to a 98% weigh station bypass rate, depending upon their safety records.
“The integration of the PreClear inspection site bypass application into PeopleNet is indeed a milestone for Drivewyze,” said Brian Heath, president and CEO of Drivewyze. “PeopleNet is the first to bring to market (with us) the first and only weigh station bypass service delivered as a cloud-based application using smart mobility technology instead of traditional transponders. And since fleets want all in-cab technology in one place, Drivewyze’s ability to integrate with electronic logging device manufacturers and telematics solution providers such as PeopleNet makes it a very appealing solution.”
“Transponder-based systems require that you put a piece of hardware in your truck that works with the specific device at a weigh station or toll road or bridge,” Heath told Fleet Owner. “Not all transponders are interoperable, so a truck may require multiple transponders to participate everywhere they operate.
“Transponders also have to be installed and maintained and uninstalled when a vehicle is sold,” he added. “That is a cost and an administrative burden. It is a big relief to fleets not to have to do that [with this solution], especially if you hundreds or thousands of vehicles.
“Fleets are looking for platform providers who can deliver integrated services,” Heath continued. That way, you can leverage each of the services to provide added value. There is a big horizon out there—lots of opportunities to provide added value.”
“Drivewyze PreClear can help our customers achieve greater business efficiencies,” said PeopleNet product manager of safety and compliance, Elise Chianelli. “Its powerful weigh station cost-analysis tool calculates the real costs of unplanned delays at weigh stations and helps determine ROI for bypass services.
“It is exciting for us to be the first telematics company to partner with Drivewyze,” she told Fleet Owner. “It is a good fit for us in terms of our model.”
According to Chianelli, the application is commercially available now and includes the analytics package at no charge regardless of the PeopleNet system a customer is using. “We are giving customers the opportunity to “try before you buy,” she said. Customers can use the analytics tool on all their trucks, then look at the report and see which vehicles on which lanes would benefit from the system in terms of time and cost saved. Then they can subscribe to the service for those particular vehicles.
“The average fleet has no idea how much time they are losing at weigh stations or how much fuel they are burning idling in weigh station lines,” Heath told Fleet Owner. “They also do not see the costs of delays or lost opportunity costs.”
The announcement from the two companies follows a successful beta test period, which included devices installed on more than 800 trucks from some of the most well-recognized fleets in the United States. Fleets in the beta test were receiving weigh station by passes 90% to 98% of the time, Chianelli noted.
Drivewyze is already available state-wide in 19 states, according to Heath, an impressive adoption rate for just 18 months. The company now has agreements in 25 states total and Heath said he expects to “have the largest number of by-pass sites in history.”
“One of the challenges the industry has is “technology silos,” he observed. “Things like this push integration forward. [Generally speaking], it is a good thing to have fewer stand-alone devices in vehicles.”
