Trucker Tools has enhanced the provision of real-time shipment tracking within its Smart Capacity platform by integrating with the Verizon Connect Reveal fleet management platform, which tracks compliance and commercial drivers’ hours of service , and provides near real-time in-transit location updates.

The integration with the new ELD software and hardware offering will allow more than 100,000 commercial vehicles in the U.S. equipped with Verizon Connect to enable enroute location updates, sent as frequently as every 30 seconds with data seamlessly sent to the Trucker Tools platform. The data is used by brokers and shippers to manage load status, delivery scheduling and truck capacity planning.

The link-up with the Verizon Connect Reveal platform complements the Trucker Tools mobile driver app, which uses the embedded GPS features of the driver’s smart phone to provide near real-time in-transit location updates as frequently as every 15 minutes.

“It gives truckers another option for automatically providing tracking data, and delivers to shippers richer, more comprehensive shipment visibility intelligence,” said Kary Jablonski, Trucker Tools chief executive, in a press release.

“This integration and the ability to track active loads helps truckers communicate status in near real-time, automatically. Drivers can set it and forget it, no longer bothered with manual check calls and texts,” Jablonski explained. “And they have the option of enabling tracking through their ELD or the Trucker Tools mobile app. In either case, it’s a time saver that provides accurate, ongoing updates and reduces driver stress.”

In addition to automating tracking, customers will be able to see starts and stops, manage ETAs, better plan warehouse labor to coincide with truck arrivals and gain insight into when that truck will be available for the next load, said Erin Cave, Verizon Connect’s director of product management.

Trucker Tools integrates with a number of ELD/telematics providers that collectively represent a base of some 3.5 million installed units at over 200,000 fleets, in large majority small-fleet truckload operators with 10 trucks or fewer, and independent owner-operators.

Access to Verizon Connect ELD data is permission-based, with the truck owner and/or driver maintaining full control over access. Once user permission is received, a pre-built API (application programming interface) connects the Trucker Tools platform to the ELD, activating automated transmission of in-transit location data from the truck ELD unit. Data sharing is restricted to GPS-based in transit updates; no other ELD or telematics data is shared. The Trucker Tools platform also has built in rules and instructions that eliminates duplicative data and ensures accurate reporting. More information can be found at the Verizon Connect solutions marketplace.

The Trucker Tools Mobile Driver App was launched in 2013 and to-date has been downloaded by nearly 2 million truckers.

The Trucker Tools mobile app is available for both Android- and Apple-powered smartphones and is provided free of charge to independent truckers and small fleets.