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In the UK Trafficmaster is known for its navigation products, but this is not its sole business. Trafficmaster is in fact a company of two halves - half in the UK and half in the US. And while the UK half has a history in navigation products, its US counterpart has focused on fleet management. This is about to change, however, as the company has decided to extend its business models on both sides of the Atlantic.

In 2001  Trafficmaster acquired Teletrak, a pioneer of fleet telematics in the US, which had been operating in the sector since the 1980s, offering fleet traffic services before GPS was around. Tony Eales went out to the US in 2001 as chief executive of Teletrak, but returned in 2005 to become chief executive of Trafficmaster. "In the US we've been solely focused on fleet services for commercial vehicles with our Fleet Director product," he says. "We have 5,000 fleets in the US using the system, ranging from plumbing and heating experts to transport companies doing long-haul road trips. We have a relationship with Ryder in the US, so we have an enormous amount of data and case studies about the savings from using Fleet Director."

Fitted as standard

Ryder fits the telematics box as standard on all its vehicles in the US and uses live vehicle diagnostics to monitor a truck's ongoing performance, give fault alerts, inform of service  intervals and track mileage for tax purposes - in the US there is a requirement to report fuel usage per state. "Together with Ryder we offer its customers a whole range of fleet services and things like interactive maps and vehicle tracking," he says. The big change for Trafficmaster is the move to offer the fleet management system to the UK and the navigation products to the US. The reason behind the move is the ability to offer fleet services and dynamic navigation services through one box.

"We have now launched our dynamic navigation product Smartnav in the US, and in October we launched Fleet Director in the UK," says Eales. "This means that in the UK we have started fleet tracking and now combine that with the ability to give drivers dynamic navigation and speed camera warnings." Because the navigation is server-based, rather than on board, it enables Trafficmaster to include all the latest maps. Trafficmaster will offer product versions with truck attributes such as weight and height restrictions in the first quarter on 2008. It will also be possible for operators with mixed fleets to assign different versions to different vehicles. "Using the fleet product and the navigation will save professional drivers and business owners time and money."

The company has carried out surveys in the UK and the US on the return on investment (ROI) of these products. "Obviously this was before we brought the two together. Using Fleet Director we found 13-15% of fleets saw a reduction in fuel use and improved productivity. In the UK the dynamic navigation saved about 5% of driving time. We believe that the two combined will give increased benefits."

Cutting carbon

Eales is keen to plug the environmental benefits of using its products, saying Trafficmaster found the average reduction in CO2 emissions per CV in the US was about 4 tonnes, while in the UK it was about 1 tonne. In the UK Trafficmaster has a relationship with Citroën the manufacturer is fitting the equipment as standard in its Relay and Dispatch CVs, which come with three years' standalone vehicle tracking and navigation. Jointly, the companies are offering the ability to upgrade that to Fleet Director. "We can also offer a month's free trial, so they can find out about the benefits without any investment or having to have any equipment installed," Eales adds.

In the UK generally, fleet market penetration is very low at about 5%. However Eales is keen to expand Trafficmaster's fleet business in the UK because the "ROI is huge". "The reception we've had in the first few months has been positive and we've seen a lot of interest. But the fact that 5,000 fleets running 70,000 vehicles are using the technology in the US helps to show we know what we're doing. And Trafficmaster is a well known brand.

"It is new technology and it may take a while for operators to be happy investing in it, but we can help them with so many aspects of their business. For example, if they get a job in they can see which vehicle is closest, send the information and the route details direct to the cab and avoid the traffic in the simplest of operations." As one proof of the products' worth, Eales says Trafficmaster is an avid user of its own technology - as its sales reps in the US will testify. A similar set-up is planned for the UK.

Synergetic savings

One of the things Eales hopes to use as a selling point is the fact that using the combined navigation and fleet management product can help operators save costs in very small ways. In the past, operators would have a yard and drivers would have to go to the yard to pick up the vans at the start of the day, then take them back at the end of the day. "But knowing they have vehicle tracking and they can monitor the vehicle's usage means they can let the drivers take the vans home in the evening - negating the need for a yard. Obviously this doesn't work for larger vehicles," he says. Trafficmaster is expecting to expand its direct sales team significantly in 2008 to contact existing customers and discuss Fleet Director with them.

But despite these ambitious expansion plans on both sides of the Atlantic, Eales does not want to extend the company's reach any further at present. "The US and the UK are big markets and we have no plans to expand our sales offices into Europe, although we offer cover and support for our customers whose trucks and vans are travelling on the Continent. "And unlike many other navigation companies we have real data on what road speeds are likely to be at different times of the day on different days." Eales does, however, have one other area earmarked for growth - its partnerships with truck and van manufacturers. "As well as Citroën we have relationships with Mitsubishi, Iveco and LDV, and hope to develop more in 2008 because that's a good way to raise our profile in the market. Using the fleet product and the navigation will save professional drivers and business owners time and money.