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Ambar Singh Roy

A tracking solution from Indian Oil Corporation allows truck owners to breathe easy, as their fleet criss-cross the length and breadth of the country.

DEBABHASH Dey is a relaxed man. Gone are the days when he worried about the whereabouts of his trucks criss-crossing the country. Today, the proprietor of Kiron Roadlines can not only track his 50-strong truck fleet on his computer screen, he can even keep in touch with the driver over telephone. The driver, too, can pick up the phone while on the move and communicate with his head office. All thanks to a truck tracking solution facilitated by Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, the country's largest retailer of petroleum products.

The unique solution has been implemented at two levels. At the first level, IOC introduced a chip-based, smart card for truckers under its Xtrapower branding initiative. The card has several features. Money can be loaded on the card even in remote mode. So truck drivers need not carry cash with them. A card loaded in Kolkata can be used to buy fuel at IOC's highway outlets somewhere in Punjab or elsewhere. Whenever the card is exhausted, the driver merely needs to intimate his office in Kolkata, which can then re-load the card in remote mode.

Besides other benefits such as a loyalty programme and free insurance for fleet owners, truck drivers and helpers, the card offers a tracking solution as well. Every time it is swiped at a retail outlet, the vehicle's location gets updated in the Web site www.iocxtrapower.com. Each card, as well as each outlet has a distinctive identity. The card reader at each outlet, which is linked to the backend through a server, updates the vehicle's location on the Web site in real time. The fleet owner can enter the Web site and, after typing a password, get the latest information about the truck's location. The facility is available at 850 of the 4,500 IOC outlets on highways. Plans to extend the facility at all IOC highway outlets have been firmed up, says Amresh Kapoor, Deputy General Manager (Retail Sales), IOC Ltd.

At the second level, an online tracking solution has been developed by e-Logistics of Chennai, with network support from Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL). A tracking apparatus is mounted atop the vehicle and the nearest BSNL tower captures the signals from it. The tower then relays back a message to the apparatus, identifying the tower's location.

A signal is sent to the Internet cloud and the data is fed into the e-Logistics system. The fleet owner can locate the vehicle on accessing the e-Logistics portal. At present, however, this information is not available real time; it can be accessed every four hours. With technology, it would be possible to bridge the gap.

On request, the BSNL network can send the fleet owner periodic SMSs locating the vehicle. Says Dey, who has installed both levels of the tracking system on one of his trucks on an experimental basis: "It is great. The truck driver can communicate with me. His family can communicate with him and I can locate the vehicle on my computer screen. The only disadvantage is that information gets updated every four hours. I wish it could be every half hour ".

No doubt, the Level 2 tracking solution was developed to meet the requirements of fleet owners. But it also serves another purpose. The truck driver's family can keep in regular touch with its breadwinner. This comes as a major blessing since the drivers and helpers spend the better part of the year on the highways, far from their families.

Picture by Ritu Raj Konwar

ambar_singhroy@rediffmail.com

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