A new truck statusing and communications system interfaces with existing dispatch systems to give real-time mixer truck positioning via the Internet, tight control over shipments and delivery, and instant communications with drivers via one-touch e-mail. The system uses a truck-mounted global positioning receiver and a modem, which converts a digital GPS location to information that can be sent over the cellular telephone band to a software vendor's computer and Web site. The result is a Web-accessible image of the truck - accurate in real-time to 30 feet - superimposed on a map.

The system also uses a cab-mounted, commonplace personal data assistant product to communicate via e-mail with dispatch. The data assistant - the familiar Palm Pilot - eventually will allow "capture" and storage of receiving agent signatures for loads of concrete, much like the United Parcel Service uses to document package deliveries.

Initial users find that the result is increased truck turnover, a quiet, orderly dispatch room, and customers who can be apprised in real time of the load's location to within 30 feet. And because the software runs on off-premises hardware, with access to the information via a secure Web site, ready-mix producers don't have to invest in a costly computer or endure the headaches of managing it. The TrackYourTruck.com system has recently been installed by companies under Chicago's Ozinga, and other producers throughout the country.

"The big advantage is knowing exactly where your trucks are at any point in time," says John Rabchuk, president of Darien, Ill., dispatch software developer Systech, Inc. "That works from two perspectives. First, ready-mix companies allow a certain amount of time for trucks to be at a job site, and will bill overtime if the contractor is not able to turn the truck around fast enough. With GPS there is no question as to how long a truck was at the site.

"The second is from a resource planning standpoint," he adds, "knowing very accurately where your trucks are at any point in time gives you more operating advantages. If there's a sudden traffic jam, you can look at the map, see where your trucks are, and send them an e-mail message to take a different route."

Ultimately, nearly all of the statusing work of the driver can be taken over by TrackYourTruck.com and Systech hardware and software. "No one is pushing any buttons," Rabchuk affirms. "It's doing automatic statusing while using e-mail as the messaging medium."

Truck tracking within the vehicle "We've designed a two-component truck tracking solution that goes in the vehicle," says TrackYourTruck.com President Robert Hall. "One's a data radio on the cellular digital packet data (CDPD) band, an installed network that runs off the cellular backbone, so the producer doesn't have to maintain its own radio network. That's used with a GPS receiver, along with a Palm Pilot that is connected with the radio, allowing driver and dispatcher to interact using data - cutting out voice traffic."

"You can take a lot of what is said, convert it into words, and display it," Hall continues. "It's a lot more efficient, and that's what we've done with statusing, e-mails and this system. We even have canned messages, such as `balance' and `leftovers', and `Where's the next load?'. They respond via e-mail."

Because fixed geographic locations, such as ready mix plant gates, can be entered into the system, plant and job departure and arrivals can be logged automatically, freeing the driver of that responsibility. "Automatic statusing is one unique feature of our system," Hall affirms. "Another is being able to create free-form e-mails, so the driver is not limited to canned messages, although we have those as well. Yet another is signature capture. We have fully functional paperless ticketing whereby we collect the signature over the air, and hope to get this installed by the end of the year."

E-mail replaces most radio traffic With TrackYourTruck.com, most dispatch communications is handled via e-mail, not endless, noisy radio transmissions. The e-mail is received by the Palm Pilot, which beeps when a message has come into the truck.

"The visible piece is the mass-produced Palm Pilot that sits in the trucks, instead of a manufactured status device that may be less flexible and much more expensive," Rabchuk contends. "Because it's a standard device in the industry, it's available in relatively low quantities at low prices."

The Palm Pilot is a common, economical, touch-sensitive "personal data assistant" computer that takes memos, tracks schedules and business contacts, runs limited types of software, and can send and receive e-mail. Mounted inside a truck cab, or held by hand, the Palm Pilot receives and sends one of 10 common, canned messages, or any other message, from and to dispatch. This e-mail system has the potential to make the noisy, phone-ringing, radio-static-blasting, paper-strewn dispatch office a thing of the past.

At Ozinga North Suburban RMC, Inc. in Elgin, Ill., the TrackYourTruck.com vehicle tracking platform is integrated with an existing Systech Material Advantage Series dispatch scheduling and ticketing system. The program is part of Systech's Ready Mix Module, a management tool for producers incorporating dynamic scheduling tools that translate orders entered according to yardage per hour, planned minutes between loads, or allocated truck demand, into truck and capacity demand schedules and graphs.

Combining dispatch, tracking software "Our system has all the orders, trucks, customers, and load activity," Rabchuk notes. Systech has taken the lead to integrating the signals and uniqueness of TrackYourTruck.com into its platform, he adds, to the extent that a dispatcher can take a mouse and double-click on a truck record and pop directly into the map pinpointing where the truck is. "The dispatcher doesn't have to log off one program, and start another one. It will tell where the truck is, what it's doing, how long it's been there, average speed, and much other information."

Ozinga North Suburban RMC was incorporated in April 2000, so the firm has been able to implement new technologies without having to deal with obsolete "legacy" systems. "This is a new company, and we had to get communication with the trucks," says Dispatch and Driver Manager Chad Smits. "The radio setup we had did not give us 100 percent coverage."

"The prospect of having paperless ticketing and getting information back and forth with such speed were big benefits," notes Ozinga North Suburban Treasurer Todd Loid. "We look forward to getting invoices out even faster. And in addition to all the tracking and e-mails, we get instant updates via the Web interface. Ultimately, at the end of day, we will be able to e-mail a file to the customer showing all 50 tickets and signatures. It will cut down tremendously on paperwork and speed up billing."

The producer also will be able to permanently document on-job changes, such as admixtures or water added at the site. "Now it takes several days to get the tickets back to the office, when your locations are spread out," Loid affirms. "We will be able to do invoicing the next day."

Ozinga North Suburban jumped feet-first into TrackYourTruck.com, mounting Palm units in 12 of 30 trucks within the first month. After a break-in period, the remaining trucks were equipped with the Pilots. "Mechanics installed the units, and after the first couple, they had installation down to an hour to an hour-and-a-half," Smits says.

The system takes getting used to by the drivers. "The communications level has increased," Smits says, noting that there are drawbacks. "A driver can't e-mail me a message while going 65 mph down the road, nor do I want him to," he adds. "But on the other hand, he can e-mail me a message, and I can give him an answer while I'm on the telephone with someone else. Your whole level of professionalism changes when you're not yelling `ten-four' over and over."

Given his fleet and the average number of loads per day by each driver, Smits calculated that he said `ten-four' an average of 980 times each day, adding that the expression worked its way into his private life as well.

"The payback for any ready-mix producer is improved work environment and better asset utilization," Rabchuk adds. "The TrackYourTruck.com and Material Advantage combination provides much more control over those assets, which reduces operating expenditures. By utilizing available technology, and bringing it into the ready-mix industry, we're elevating the amount of management control and analysis that can be done.

"Ozinga has a reputation of being innovative and willing to try new technologies. This leading-edge concept has the potential to improve productivity."