Greyhound Australia, the only national coach operator in the country, has implemented a SiemensVDO Fleet Management solution, designed and developed by Control Instruments (CI) OmniBridge, parent company of Tripmaster Corp. Greyhound Australia says the decision was taken to fulfill the Engineering Standard requirement, providing tracking and communicating in a cost-saving way.
The FM Locator, developed by CI OmniBridge and sold by SiemensVDO worldwide, is an onboard computer that includes an internally mounted GPS engine designed to record GPS positions along with trip information, and when combined with a GSM/GPRS module, it also is designed to allow remote communication between the office and vehicle for active tracking and exception reporting.
According to CI, in a critical event the FM Locator transmits data via GPRS or issues SMS alerts that allow Greyhound to manage its fleet in real time. The FM Locator is designed to capture vehicle performance and monitor driver performance like overspeeding and excessive idling. This also tracks stops, records planned time of start and planned duration of each stop, and measures deviations to ensure the best possible arrival and departure planning for Greyhound’s passengers, CI says.
“We are delighted the giant Australian coach operator chose our products,” says Charles Tasker, managing director of CI OmniBridge. “SiemensVDO Australia has been selling and supporting our products for a number of years, and this is a great achievement for them, too. The FM Locator is one of many products in our range of fleet solutions, and the modularity of our product line really benefits customers by providing them with exactly what they need.”
Greyhound Australia have plans that already are under way to integrate the Fleet Manager database with other office applications to streamline accounting and manifest processes. “CI OmniBridge continues to be the leader in fleet management systems for commercial vehicles, offering the broadest range of solutions and the most comprehensive information,” Tasker says.
