As any bus or coach owner knows, the people transport industry has long been the industry with the most additions to legislation of any of the transport industries in the last 10 years, with harsher penalties than any other industry. These legislation amendments include driver fatigue, speeding, axle weight and vehicle maintenance.
C-track Australia comes from a background of tacho-graph disks, and was one of the first approved digital Tacho-Graph suppliers in Australia with the release of the Co-Driver Loggers 15 years ago. Since then the system has gone to real-time with the release of the C-track Solo system, which logs GPS and ECM speed, as well as RPM and Engine statistics. The C-track system is approved as an electronic logbook, and been used in some of the largest Coach companies in Australia for more than 10 years.
Why C-track?
C-track has over 20 years experience in the fleet management sector, with an installed base of over 10000 locally (340 000 internationally) that includes many large Australian transport corporations, including Australia Post, Armesto’s Transport, Scottcorp, Wettenhalls Group, Caltex, BHP Billiton and many others. We have the largest installation network in Australia, with a product that is manufactured under strict ISO.9001 standards.
C-track forms part of the DigiCore group which is a publicly listed company with over 300000 vehicles fitted in over 20 countries.
Driver Fatigue Reports
C-track is on the forefront of driver fatigue related technological advancements. C-track has interfaced with a multitude of 3rd party products that pro-actively monitor the drivers eyes whilst driving, and if the level of fatigue drops below a certain level the system will alarm in the cab of the vehicle, and send a message to the systems operator back at the office, so that he/she can be aware of the drivers level of fatigue.
All of our Graphic Usage reports are accredited to be accepted as a backup electronic logbook, and are designed to be easy to use and read.
The system uses the Dallas driver tag system to identify each driver. The maintenance manager also allows you to monitor what license each driver has (B-double, Rigid, Forklift, etc). The system will not allow the vehicle to start if it is illegal to do so.
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Engine Management
C-track’s advanced engine management interface (DMM) has been in use in Australian Transport operators for more then 3 years. The system provides the base operator with a real-time view of each truck’s fuel economy and RPM statistics. This allows the base operator to identify engine problems before it’s too late.
The engine data allows you to run performance based reports on a driver by driver basis. You can penalise drivers on excess RPM, excessive fuel usage and review the percentage of time each driver stays within the torque band (Green band). This allows the operator to calculate true cost per km for each driver.
View sample report
Service and Maintenance Manager
The C-track Maintenance manager allows operators to manage the maintenance on all vehicles. Because the C-track unit knows what the odometer is in each vehicle, it allows you to enter the servicing information, for example the last service odometer, the service intervals, and what was done at the last service. The system will pop up 1000 km before the next service is due.
It also allows you to manage the Rego on each vehicle, as well as the drivers licensing details.
The C-track Driver Console allows the user to be able to communicate with the driver by sending and receiving messages from the C-track Software directly to the in-vehicle display console. You can also dispatch jobs to the in vehicle console from the C-track software. The driver then either accepts the Job or rejects the job with a reason. All of the vehicles are color coded on the C-track software depending on whether they are on a job or not. Once the driver accepts the job the navigation will guide them to the new job. Once the job is completed the driver pushes the "Job Completed" button on the display, which will let the office know that another job can be dispatched.
Increased Security and Safety
Duress Alarm:
C-track utilises a range of different duress alarm types, ranging from a simple button on the dashboard to a pendant around the neck of the driver that triggers as soon as it goes to a horizontal position. We also use a security type button that (for example) has to be pushed every 5 minutes to ensure that everything is still ok.
Input monitoring:
A lot of transport operators transport valuable or sensitive goods, which needs to be monitored and protected 24/7. The C-track Solo system has 12 inputs and 3 outputs which can be used to monitor a range of exceptions. Examples of this includes Trailer connected, Trailer Door Open / Closed, Driver Door open, PTO in use, Jack-knife Alarm, Driver Fatigue Alarm, Exhaust Brake in use, and many more…
Immobilisation:
The C-track system does not allow the vehicle to be started without the presentation of an authorised Driver ID key (if this application is required). This can be overridden from the base for in case the driver has forgotten his Driver ID tag. You can also temporarily disable a vehicle completely if you know that it is not to be used for a while, or if it has been stolen. The system shuts the vehicle down by falsely creating a fault in the engine management system which in turn safely limits the engine to idle speeds until it is overridden back at the office.
Geo-fencing:
The C-track system uses 3 types of Geo-fences. These are Preferred Areas, No-Go Zones and Waypoints. Preferred areas can be used to control where a vehicle is allowed to operate. For example if a vehicle is only allowed to operate on a construction site and is never allowed to leave the site, you can create an area all the way around the site which will alarm if the vehicle exits the area. You can then also use the No-Go zones to monitor when a vehicle enters an illegal area, for example a road / bridge / tunnel that the vehicle can not use at all, or during specific hours. Waypoints are used to monitor the time spent within a specific zone. This can be used for delay charges (demurrage) for pick ups and deliveries. Particular bus-stops could be set as waypoints for example.
Some civil companies use the Geo-Fences to generate an output on the C-track unit which will turn on a 3rd party device whilst in a geo-fenced area. This can be used to automatically turn on the lights on the roof of the vehicle whilst on a work site, or start a MP3 player that tells the driver to wear his / her hi-vis jacket and hardhat.
C-track Public Transport Module (PTM)
The C-track PTM has been specifically designed for the public transport sector. C-track has interfaced with the Prodata and TMT (Traffic Management Technologies) systems to provide a complete solution that can track the vehicles in real-time, whilst managing everything from the ticketing systems to the CCTV cameras, Audible stop notifications and even the display boards on the outside and inside of the busses.
- The Vehicle Mounted Unit (VMU) comprises of:
- C-track Solo - for data communication, geo-positioning, vehicle status recording and all fleet management functions.
- Data communication is via GSM (GPRS with SMS fallback) as well as Wi-Fi for in-depot connections.
- DCU- for two way driver / call centre communication and control of GSM voice calls.
- C-track PTM - for route stop monitoring, passenger visual display messages, driving the audio announcements, interface with passenger counting and the fare collection and ticketing system.
- Passenger displays inside and outside the bus.
- Audio announcement speakers.
- Fare collection, ticketing, driver and route identification system.
- CCTV (triggered by PTM e.g. event / panic button)
The PTM Solution is fully customizable to your specific needs. Please contact our support centre for further information.
Outback Coverage (100% of Australia)
C-track's ability to use multiple communication devices gives it the ability to operate in the most remote areas whilst still having peace of mind that you are protected. The most common combination is Sat-modem and Mobile phone modem. This enables the unit to report in real-time whilst in phone coverage, and switch to Satellite phone when it runs out of coverage. The system only transmits exceptions and alerts via satellite, thereby keeping transmission costs to a minimum. C-track also has the capability of using Wi-Fi networks, Bluetooth and Radio based networks, which allows you to create the perfect combination of functionality versus cost for your business.