Zonar and AssetWorks integration automates remote diagnostics to shop work order process.
When a City of Sacramento, CA refuse truck develops a mechanical issue while out on its route, fleet manager Keith Leech knows with a much greater degree of certainty that his department鈥檚 mechanics will know about it even if the driver doesn鈥檛 report it. In fact, in many cases, they鈥檒l know about the issue long before the truck has returned to the shop.
It鈥檚 a far cry from the days when the city鈥檚 mechanics relied solely on drivers鈥� verbal and written reports to identify mechanical issues that needed repair. U.S. Department of Transportation regulations and the City of Sacramento鈥檚 operating procedures require the reports be completed.
鈥淏efore, drivers handed in manual logs before starting or ending their shifts,鈥� Leech said. 鈥淭he reports were often vague and got buried in a shuffle of papers at our three maintenance shops for heavy-duty vehicles. Sometimes drivers forgot, misplaced, or left reports incomplete. Or they reported problems verbally instead of writing them down.鈥�
Leech has responsibility for managing three maintenance shops that provide services for the city鈥檚 fleet of 2,300 heavy-duty vehicles, including equipment in the city鈥檚 fire, solid waste and recycling, transportation and parks and recreation departments. He also manages two maintenance shops that provide maintenance services for the city鈥檚 police department.
Trading Paper for Electronic Reports
The City Council in 2009 approved a 5-year contract with Zonar to integrate its telematics platform with the maintenance shop鈥檚 fleet maintenance software and retrofit 100 refuse trucks and other vehicles with Zonar鈥檚 (Seattle, WA) verified Electronic Vehicle Inspection Report system, or EVIR. The system also includes Zonar鈥檚 telematics platform, which captures data directly from the engine in addition to real-time GPS information. As a result, mechanics see results from the refuse truck drivers鈥� pre- and post-trip inspection reports as drivers are completing them. Just as important, they can view fault codes directly from the onboard computers on the refuse trucks as the truck is on the job using Zonar鈥檚 telematics platform. That鈥檚 because Zonar delivers information about any defects identified by the vehicle鈥檚 computer or by the drivers to FleetFocus M5, a fleet maintenance system developed by AssetWorks.
FleetFocus tracks all functions related to the maintenance of the city鈥檚 vehicles including processing of repair and preventive maintenance work orders, capturing operating expenses and tracking equipment usage. The integration with Zonar automatically generates service requests based on remote diagnostic and electronic trip inspection data. Once repairs are performed and marked complete in FleetFocus, they are automatically uploaded to Zonar鈥檚 web-based Ground Traffic Control data management application, indicating that the vehicle is in full compliance for operation. Because the data management application is web-based, the city鈥檚 22 dispatchers who handle non-emergency city services have access to Ground Traffic Control, so they know which vehicles are ready to return to service.
鈥淎fter implementing the integration, we started seeing dramatic improvements in workflow coordination with more streamlined diagnostics and fewer downed vehicles in the daytime,鈥� Leech said. 鈥淭hat was a critical improvement for our maintenance shop because we like to do other work during the day. Our nighttime mechanics usually conduct maintenance on the refuse trucks at night when they aren鈥檛 running. And our daytime mechanics usually perform work on the city鈥檚 fire department apparatus.
鈥淚t helped us educate the solid waste management folks on the importance of thorough driver inspections so that we can meet their needs on a daily basis,鈥� Leech added. 鈥淲hat I see from this integration is a tremendous benefit not only to our maintenance and fleet operations, but also to other city department operations that rely on us.鈥�
Improving Pre- and Post-Trip Inspections
鈥淭his integration was part of a concerted effort by the City of Sacramento to improve pre- and post-trip inspections, find operational efficiencies and realize some fuel economy savings for its fleet of 2,300 vehicles and equipment,鈥� Leech said. That effort began with the implementation and testing several years ago of Zonar鈥檚 electronic fleet management solution for pre- and post-trip inspections.
Here鈥檚 how EVIR helps the city鈥檚 fleet operations accomplish better pre- and post-trip inspections: Zonar鈥檚 radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags are placed on the city鈥檚 heavy-duty vehicles in critical inspection 鈥渮ones.鈥� These weather-tough tags contain information about their location on the vehicle, the components to be inspected and the identity of the vehicle. Using Zonar鈥檚 EVIR inspection tool, the city鈥檚 drivers conduct their inspections by placing the reader within inches of each tag and indicating the condition of the components within the zone with one-handed, push-button responses.听 When a defect is discovered, the driver selects a description from a pre-defined list and indicates if the vehicle is safe to operate.
When the inspection is complete, drivers place the handheld unit into the vehicle mount. The information is then transmitted to FleetFocus, the city鈥檚 fleet management software. This provides Leech a real-time picture of fleet operations. Zonar鈥檚 telematics platform also captures data including vehicle location, fuel consumption, rate of travel, idle time and fault codes. 鈥淲e looked at several different solutions for pre- and post-trip inspections and chose to implement a test of Zonar鈥檚 systems,鈥� he said. 鈥淏efore we began that test, we conservatively projected a 10 percent improvement in fuel economy in our report to the City Council. During the two-month test, we monitored driver performance and idle time from 184 different vehicles in 14 different classes.鈥�
Supporting the Climate Action Plan
By conducting a thorough analysis of data collected both before and after the EVIR and GPS systems were implemented, an independent third-party analyst, Avion Solutions, found the 10 percent estimate was way off the mark. The analysis found that the fuel savings actually averaged nearly 25 percent. The savings came from idle reduction, route optimization and driver performance improvements.
鈥淭he implementation of Zonar鈥檚 EVIR to monitor idling and driver behavior to reduce petroleum consumption greatly contributes to the City of Sacramento鈥檚 strong commitment to sustainable fleet operations, which support our Climate Action Plan,鈥� Leech added. The City of Sacramento is developing a Climate Action Plan () that will identify how the city and the broader community can reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). The action plan will also identify strategies to adapt to the effects of climate change.
Interoperability and Data Management
Even though Zonar helped deliver significant fuel economy improvements and contributed to the city鈥檚 efforts to reduce its carbon footprint, Leech said what really sold him on choosing Zonar was the interoperability the EVIR, GPS and Ground Traffic Control data management applications offered with the city鈥檚 fleet maintenance system. 鈥淲e could see other opportunities for gaining efficiencies when fully utilizing that interoperability,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e saw Zonar as a more comprehensive solution and the improvements we鈥檝e seen in workflow in our maintenance shop certainly bears that out.鈥�
That interoperability has also resulted in efficiencies realized at non-automated fuel refilling tanks at several of the city鈥檚 fire stations. Ordinarily, the city鈥檚 vehicles are refueled at automated refueling stations, which automatically track fuel usage and odometer readings. But a few of the city鈥檚 fire stations require their own supply of fuel in order to be fully standby-ready because of their location or because of the type of equipment they use. Leech said equipping these stations with fully automated fueling tanks would have been cost-prohibitive due to the relative low volume of fuel dispensed. 鈥淏ecause these stations are not automated, we had fire departments using clipboards and hand written entries to track fuel usage, odometer readings and corresponding vehicle numbers, which all has to be read and entered into a computer database,鈥� Leech added. 鈥淭hat all resulted in incomplete records that were difficult to reconcile.鈥�
Leech turned to Zonar to figure out a solution that takes full advantage of the data already being collected. Zonar, working with AssetWorks, which also provides the city a real-time fuel management system, came up with a fuel tracking solution that鈥檚 being implemented. 鈥淲e think that once this solution is fully implemented, it will eliminate most if not all of the data entry errors and make our fire department鈥檚 fuel consumption records much more accurate,鈥� he added.
Equipping the Fleet
About 600 of the city鈥檚 2,300 heavy-duty vehicles have so far been equipped with Zonar鈥檚 EVIR and telematics platform. Leech said he plans to eventually equip the city鈥檚 entire fleet of heavy-duty vehicles, particularly as older vehicles are replaced. Despite its many attributes, implementation of the new systems was not without some concerns on the part of the city鈥檚 drivers. 鈥淲hen we first introduced the idea of implementing vehicle monitoring systems, employees were worried that they could be used in some punitive ways,鈥� Leech said. 鈥淏ut we came to an agreement that this is really all about operating some very expensive equipment as efficiently and as safely as possible. We鈥檙e not using these systems to drill down into what everybody鈥檚 doing on a daily basis. That鈥檚 not how they鈥檙e being used at all. We鈥檙e trying to use them as a positive influence and to build awareness of the positive and economic impacts associated with driver behavior.
鈥淚t鈥檚 also nice that we鈥檝e been able to actually use them to defend or to educate our drivers,鈥� Leech added. 鈥淲hen we get complaints about city drivers, we鈥檙e able to use the systems to show exactly where and when city trucks are and how fast they鈥檙e going.鈥�
City drivers, particularly those who work in the solid waste department, also appreciate the fact that the integration of Zonar鈥檚 equipment and software with the AssetWorks fleet maintenance software allows the maintenance shops to efficiently deal with maintenance issues before they lead to disruptive downtime, Leech added.
Leech said he believes that the integration of the fleet management software with Zonar鈥檚 vehicle inspection and telematics systems offers many other opportunities for realizing operational efficiencies and providing Sacramento鈥檚 citizens and businesses enhanced services. As just one example, he sees an opportunity for solid waste department dispatchers to be able to see real-time locations of refuse vehicles and to reroute those trucks as needed. 鈥淲e can look at past records of where the street sweepers have been and respond when we get questions from citizens who haven鈥檛 seen a street sweeper visit their streets,鈥� he added. 鈥淲e can see exactly where the street sweepers have gone and when.
鈥淭he implementation of Zonar鈥檚 applications and the integration of them with our fleet maintenance system play an integral part in helping our fleet operations save money while being more efficient and responsive to our clients (other city departments),鈥� Leech said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 also helped us in meeting the greater regulatory challenges we face with stricter (California Air Resources Board) emission regulations and federal DOT requirements.鈥�
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Zonar provides electronic fleet inspection, tracking and operations solutions for public and private fleets. For more information, visit www.zonarsystems.com.