Rand McNally Expands DriverConnect Platform With Last-Mile Services

Rand McNally has expanded its telematics portfolio to serve local enterprise fleets with its DriverConnect software platform.

"By expanding our proprietary DriverConnect platform to include local fleets, we can offer end-to-end logistics support all from a single platform," said Stephen Fletcher, CEO of Rand McNally. "From a truck picking up cargo at a port of entry, to movement across the country, to delivery from a distribution center to a store, vehicles and assets can all be monitored and optimized through our DriverConnect system."

DriverConnect for local fleets will allow managers that oversee deliveries, home repair services, and utilities to:

• Monitor vehicles in near real time from a computer screen in the office or on their smart phones in the field
• Drive fuel efficiency and safety with real-time performance and safety reporting
• Provide exceptional service to customers by having critical information at the ready. For example, by creating custom geofences, managers can inform customers when a delivery or driver will be arriving, as well as get notification if a driver deviates from a route
• Save on hidden costs by: 1) Accessing information about engine idle time, speeding, and excessive accelerations and decelerations, and 2) providing guidance and incentives to curb behavior that wastes fuel and shortens the lives of vehicles
• Develop better job cost estimates by using historical data from the DriverConnect portal

To enable local fleet usage of the DriverConnect system, fleets must install Rand McNally's DC100 device, a small plug-and-play, cellular-connected that clips into a vehicle's OBDII port. In addition to viewing the location of vans, trucks, and other vehicles, the platform offers an array of data such as the length of time drivers have stayed at a job site, downtime and engine idling, fuel consumption, and more.

"Our goal is to continually upgrade and expand the services and features of the DriverConnect platform,” said Fletcher. “Adding a local fleet option is an excellent example of the flexibility and adaptability we engineered into the platform when we built it.”