About the company seeking a track and trace solution
ICO, or International Car Operators, is a major global player in the handling and storage of roll-on / roll-off cargo. This mainly involves the loading and unloading of new vehicles, construction equipment and heavy lifting devices. They also offer services related to vehicle processing, ship agency, customs formalities, and complete door-to-door logistics. Via terminals in the ports of Antwerp and Zeebrugge, they handle more than 2 million cars annually for the world's leading car brands and RoRo companies.
Commit to safety on the docks
To unload and load, ICO deploys drivers who continuously drive in and out of the ship, to and from a predesignated parking location at the port site. When a vehicle is delivered to a parking lot, the drivers are picked back up by a driver van that carries them back to the ship. To waste as little time as possible, the van drives into the ship until near the next vehicles to be picked up.
This constant driving back and forth by a large group of drivers throughout the general hustle and bustle in and around the ship, combined with the enormous time pressure to unload and/or load a ship within the predetermined time frame, created unsafe working conditions on the docks. For example, it was commonplace to drive with the side sliding door open so that drivers could quickly get in or out. Driving behavior also often left much to be desired, with speeding, abrupt braking, hard acceleration or very sharp turns, which put extra strain on the engine and tires. A fatal accident in a max 30km/h zone was the proverbial straw for ICO to pursue a change of course using IoT technology.
They set out to find a smart way to maximize safety at the docks, and at the same time wanted to optimize the logistics operation. An additional challenge proved to be finding a suitable hardware that would also guarantee sufficient GPS reception inside the ship's metal belly to permanently record data. The constant switching between driving up and down puts a heavy load on the system, so ICO wanted to be assured of high-end units they could rely on.
The right partner for geotracking
In their search for a track & trace system, ICO quickly came to AllConnects. The briefing was very comprehensive and clear. They wanted to collect as much metadata as possible from different parameters:
Parametersfor driver vans:
Location determination:
Knowing where each driver van is at the terminal
Speeds on the Quay:
Create a heatmap using geofence, in order to more effectively target speed cameras to record speeding violations based on this information
Door detection with alarm function (from 10km/hour)
Knowing when a vehicle is driving with the door open
Driving behavior drivers
Brusybraking, accelerating, turning
Distances traveled
Totaldistance traveled per month, per vehicle
Reporting defects or damage to vehicles
Isthe vehicle still roadworthy in terms of tire profiles, oil, service interval, inspection certificate, ....
Parameters for teams
Driver identification
Whodrives which driver's van when? Registration should be possible through the known Alfapass
Cycletime
Be able to calculate driving cycle(collection - delivery - collection) to optimize productivity and staffing levels
Fuel consumption
Compare fuel consumption to raise awareness of more economical driving behavior
Given the complexity and high quality requirements, we proposed a robust high-end device with door contact, buzzer and alphapass reader. This reader was developed specifically at ICO's request, and is now part of our standard driver identification keys.
Securityabove all with closed doors
The AllConnects hardware is connected to the vehicle's on-board computer and receives a notification from the door contact sensor every time a door is opened or closed. If a driver exceeds the speed limit, this is recorded and the driver receives an audible notification via the buzzer. The tracker further captures the G-forces data while driving and transmits all collected metadata to the online management system LIVE.connects.
Geofence deployed to create heatmap
AllConnects' geofencing software is used to put a virtual fence around a geographic area using GPS. This allows you to designate certain areas as a 'GO' or 'NO GO' zone. When a vehicle, person or object equipped with the Geofencing software crosses the boundary line, an immediate alert is sent by SMS or e-mail to the person responsible. On the LIVE.connects platform, the person responsible can see all registered speeds of all driver vans in an overview and on a map. This heatmap forms the basis for placing targeted mobile speed cameras to record violations on camera for evidence.
Automated vehicle inspection
Whereas previously maintenance and vehicle inspections had to be followed up manually, now the vehicle inspection is done periodically via an automatic alert to the driver telling him to perform a vehicle inspection by a certain deadline. Via a convenient LIVE.connects app on the driver's own smartphone, the driver goes through the standard inspection list, adding comments and, if relevant, damage photos. On the LIVE.connects desktop application, the fleet manager can review the inspection reports for each vehicle and take action where necessary.
Geofence also useful for cycletime calculation
We also deploy the geofence zones to automatically calculate cycletime. This measurable data on the number of cycles/hour driven on average and where possible "bottlenecks" or "idle time" periods occur provide the necessary insights to improve planning in terms of staff deployment at critical times.
In practice
ICO International Car Operators has been working with our hardware and software since 2016. The terminal manager, Johan Lockefeer, receives a daily report with:
1| Number of speeding tickets
2| Number of cycles per hour
3| Weekly mileage
Through these reports and statistics, he can easily compare and analyze all information in order to take the necessary action. After 4 years, he can confirm that the implementation of the All-Connects system has significantly improved the safety score and reduced maintenance and repair costs.
