VDO DriveTime: all at a glance with one click

• The new fleet management solution guarantees an online, real-time overview of the entire fleet and its operations
• Basic Fuel Management, driver availability, geofencing and timelines now possible

Villingen-Schwenningen/Germany, 24th May 2012. The VDO brand is making use of the many years of experience with the cloud computing of TIS-Web and is supplementing the  Digital Tachograph infrastructure with a further module for fleet management:the online solution VDO DriveTime. In combination with the mobile telephony-based DLD Wide Range for long-distance data download from driver card and mass memory of the DTCO, the VDO software makes it possible to get an even more detailed survey of the entire vehicle fleet and its operations than with the TIS Track&Trace system already on offer. The Download Device (DLD) Wide Range transmits the data via mobile telephone network and thus functions as interface between DTCO and fleet management software. After a few clicks on the computer at the office or, while on the move, on the smartphone, fleet managers can get an overview, online and in real time, of the drivers' available remaining driving time, the vehicles' locations, route movements, working hour data and much more. That creates the basis for optimized operational procedures and more efficient use of the fleet.

Exactly as with VDO TIS Track&Trace, the status and position of drivers and vehicles are shown in real time. Thanks to clear graphics, one can recognize at a glance where a truck is traveling at the moment or whether it is standing at a drop-off point. New are two color timeline systems. The driver timeline tells about the drivers' activities and precisely indicates the remaining time behind the wheel of all employees. In addition, with the vehicle timeline one can reconstruct in a jiffy when a vehicle was moved, which route the driver took, and where the vehicle was at a certain time. This way it is possible to analyze the driving behavior of every single employee and optimize the course of individual routes.

VDO DriveTime thus is a help for operations planning and also facilitates payroll accounting. For all data can be exported in the form of detailed reports and can thus serve as basis for proof of transport services to the customers, or simply as an aid to payroll and expense accounting.

The central element of VDO DriveTime is the permanent position-finding function: one click suffices, and fleet headquarters knows immediately where a vehicle is at the moment. It is not only possible to determine present locations, trace the routes covered in detail, and analyze driven routes. With the intelligent software from VDO it is even possible to monitor predefined operational areas with the geofencing function. As soon as a vehicle enters or leaves this individually delimited region, headquarters is automatically warned.

An important supplement to VDO DriveTime is the Basic Fuel Management function: as otherwise only much more expensive telematics systems can do, VDO DriveTime gives fleet headquarters a first overview of vehicle fuel consumption, online and, again, in real time. Owing to this additional information, routes can be planned more efficiently and in a more environment-friendly way, and in dialogue between driver and headquarters the fuel consumption can be distinctly reduced.

Status logs, timelines, position reports or consumption statistics – no matter what, all data analyzed by VDO DriveTime can be edited with a few mouse clicks to create detailed reports. With this, fleet operators not only comply with their statutory analysis and documentation obligations. Rather, the VDO reports form the basis for a detailed analysis of driving behavior and route data. Precisely and without complication, fleets thus can comply with the driving time and rest period rules and the requirements of working hour regulations; they can better plan the deployment of staff, simplify the payroll accounting routines, minimize empty trips and detour kilometers, and so cut costs, improve route planning and better plan maintenance work on the vehicles.

To avail themselves of the advantages of VDO DriveTime, fleet owners and fleet managers do not have to stay at their desks, by the way. Thanks to special apps, the functions of the software also are suitable for mobile use with current smartphone systems.