Two new products from VDO, DTCO GeoLoc and DTCO Fuelgate, deliver significant increases in efficiency and are easy to retrofit. The new DTCO GeoLoc records a truck’s GPS positions in the VDO digital tachograph. The data can then be analysed with the fleet management module ‘Optimize Route Planning’ in TIS-Web for future planning. In addition, DTCO GeoLoc can transmit the second, independent motion signal that is required by statute. In vehicles where this signal is not provided by the electrical system, DTCO GeoLoc can produce it using GPS technology.
Like DTCO GeoLoc, DTCO Fuelgate can be retrofitted without any trouble to nearly any truck with an up-to-date Digital Tachograph. It records the vehicle’s fuel consumption via the CAN interface and stores it in the digital tachograph. This information is then made available along with the tachograph data to the driver and fleet manager in VDO TIS-Web, where it can be analysed with the fleet management module ‘Optimize Route Planning.’
VDO TIS-Web can provide daily, weekly or monthly evaluations. In this way it is possible to analyze the fuel consumption of individual drivers or vehicles at any interval required. The results can then be used, for example, to create a rewards system for drivers with the greatest fuel economy. Fleet managers can use the ‘Fuel and Vehicle Management’ module in TIS-Web to identify ways to reduce fuel costs. With DTCO Fuelgate, complicated manual evaluation of fuel receipts is no longer necessary. DTCO Fuelgate can easily be retrofitted to DTCO with a cable set. The retrofit solution is also available as a ready-to-install package.
Fleet companies can install DTCO GeoLoc and DTCO Fuelgate on their own without having to go to an authorised installation station. In addition, they can retrofit DTCO GeoLoc along with a GPS receiver which is simply attached to the windshield. The retrofit solution is supplied as a ready-to-install package. Data protection regulations are observed. The driver can activate the unit himself.
Dr Michael Ruf, Head of Commercial Vehicles & Aftermarket at Continental, sums up the importance of DTCO GeoLoc and DTCO Fuelgate: “With these two retrofittable modules we have again enhanced our digital tachographs, making them the perfect centerpiece of an intelligent transport system.”
