Latest product release puts power of native vehicle fuel consumption data and automated exception reporting in hands of fleet operators and fleet managers.

The latest version of Netistix FleetPulse is now available, providing fleet operators and fleet managers with native fuel consumption monitoring, advanced exception reporting, smart GPS capture and other new features that further speed fleet operators’ return-on-investment in the product.

New: MAF-Based Fuel Consumption Data

“The major upgrade in FleetPulse Release 2.1 is the ability to calculate fuel consumed by the vehicle based on Mass AirFlow (MAF) data from the engine,” says Gord Echlin, President and CEO of Netistix. “This feature empowers fleet operators to virtually eliminate the costs of spillage. They can compare fuel consumed by vehicles with the fuel purchased for vehicles and look for reasons while there may be a difference, such as unauthorized usage. This is a major advantage that we offer.”

Mass airflow is a primary measurement used by native engine computing units (ECU) to determine how long fuel injectors are kept open, providing highly accurate and timely information about a vehicle’s actual fuel consumption.

“With MAF-based fuel consumption data in hand, fleet managers no longer have to take fuel receipts at face value or perform time-consuming odometer-based readings on fleet vehicles,” Echlin adds. “As a result, fleet operators can dramatically reduce costs by eliminating spillage, while fleet managers can spend their time on high-value tasks such as driver training, optimal route planning and effective fleet utilization. An added benefit of tracking changes in fuel economy is that the data can tell the fleet manager that the vehicle is burning excessive fuel possibly due to a mistuned engine or under-inflated tires.

New: Exception Reporting & Configurable Thresholds

Fleet managers can now use the FleetPulse interface to automatically generate and email customized exception reports to various stakeholders. Even better, those exceptions are now configurable in Release 2.1, meaning that fleet managers can set specific thresholds and automatically generate reports when those thresholds are exceeded.

Examples of popular exception reports among 2.1 customers include reports on vehicles that exceed speed thresholds or idling time thresholds. “Every fleet and every fleet stakeholder has a different level of concern based on the organization’s interests or the characteristics of an individual vehicle’s job,” explains Gord Echlin, President and CEO at Netistix. “FleetPulse 2.1 recognizes these needs and provides data customized to suit.”

Optimized: Smart GPS Capture

With passive GPS capture, FleetPulse has always provided route and location data to fleet managers in an efficient manner. Rather than consuming bandwidth and disk storage with realtime (streaming) GPS data, FleetPulse collects GPS data from fleet vehicles when they are in station, and correlates this to other data that the product collects. GPS capture is an option and is enabled simply by plugging in the GPS antenna/receiver into the standard product.

In Release 2.1, GPS capture has been further optimized through integration with commerical-off-the-shelf (COTS) GPS devices and smart analysis. “Rather than simply capturing GPS data at regular intervals, FleetPulse now recognizes key driving events such as change of direction and triggers the GPS system to capture the data at that point in the vehicles route,” explains Echlin “This provides an optimal tradeoff between memory limitations of technology and the route information that a fleet manager really needs to maximize fleet performance and costs.”

New: Audible Driver Feedback

Release 2.1 also provides fleet managers with the option of enabling an audible alarm in the FleetPulse in-vehicle unit, the VIU (Vehicle Interface Unit). Based on a pre-defined speed threshold, the unit will beep to remind the driver of speed restrictions while the vehicle is in motion, addressing the problem in the moment it occurs.

Product Availability

The 2.1 product is available now. If you are a customer of the Netistix Hosted Application Service, you will already be enjoying the benefits of this release.

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