Mobile pickup and delivery software (POD) with automated fuel truck management

Mobile software for last mile logistics

  • Products
    • Dispatch and Sync Server
    • Fixed site metered delivery
    • Mobile Metered Delivery
    • goRoam.Delivery
    • goRoam.Assets
    • goRoam.Inspections
  • Services
    • Application Hosting
    • RFID and Barcodes
    • Distribution Assessment
  • Support
    • Training
    • RMA – Returns
    • Documentation
    • Release Notes
  • Partners
  • Blog
    • On-site Mobile Fleet Fueling Companies – Listed by State
  • About
    • Contact
    • Terms of Service
    • Team
    • Request Information
    • News
    • Jobs
    • Privacy Policy
Call Toll Free for Details 866.270.0541
You are here: Home / Archives for How-To

New video for Android mobile metered delivery

March 20, 2017 by admin Leave a Comment

It’s been a while since we’ve posted, but that doesn’t mean we havent been busy!  We’ve been actively rolling out our Android app for metered delivery and wanted to post a quick video to show how fast and easy it is for fdrivers to make deliveries.

The app works the same for metered lubricants and supports electronic as well as mechanical meters.  You can even use a truck that has a combination of electronic and mechanical meters.

The driver selects a product to deliver and picks the meter they are using. The driver scans a barcode and goRoam validates the product (to prevent cross pumping/contanimation).  Once validated, we wirelessly open the LCR solenoid (valve) to allow the driver to pump.  The driver sees the meter values in realtime on their Android device – no more going back and forth to the truck to record meter values.

The driver can take a picture of assets or BOL’s (Bill of Lading) to attach to the order.  They can add products or services such as demurrage or splits, and get an electronic signature from the customer…just like FedEx or UPS.

Once complete, goRoam can print a receipt and/or email a PDF receipt so the customer has an electronic document of all assets fueled and their quantities within a couple of minutes of completing the delivery!

 

Filed Under: Fleet Fueling, How-To, Proof of Delivery Tagged With: bulk delivery, GPS, handheld data collection, LCR-II meters, Proof of Delivery, wireless tank monitoring

On-site Fleet Fueling Driver Metrics Reports

August 1, 2011 by admin Leave a Comment

scr_001

Do you know who your best on-site fleet fueling drivers are?  Do you know based on actual metrics, or based on gut feeling?

If you want hard facts on who your best drivers are, you need to automatically collect metrics such as:

  • Gallons delivered
  • Average Minutes/Vehicle
  • Average Gallons/Vehicle

BizSpeed’s goRoam for Metered Delivery automatically collects metrics such as when the driver started a delivery, when they stopped and gallons pumped through bulk meters.  Our customers have access to metric reports and can schedule them to be emailed daily, weekly or monthly so you get direct visibility into your drivers.

The ability to operate your fleet fueling, bulk lubricants or wet hosing business based on facts and metrics is what enables you to drive operational efficiency.  These metrics are available in real-time, without the need to ask someone to collect, input and analyze data.

As you can see from the report shown above, John Jones makes the most deliveries and is also the most efficient. He delivers more fuel than average but is a minute per vehicle more efficient. Steve Philips is also efficient. While his delivery times are longer, he delivers 80% more per vehicle than the average.

We can show average time and gallons including setup, customer signature, etc. as well as without the setup.

If you’d like to see how we can help you automate your metered and non-metered deliveries, please contact us.

Filed Under: How-To, News Tagged With: bulk delivery, LCR-II meters, wireless tank monitoring

How to choose between Intermec CS40, CN50, CN4 and 70 Series

May 19, 2011 by admin 5 Comments

We are often get asked for recommendations on mobile devices. If a client is looking at Intermec mobile devices, we get asked to help them choose between CS40, CN50, CN4 and the 70 series (CN70, CK70 etc.). We have customers using all models.

This article will help explain what what you should consider when choosing and will highlight real-life customer examples for field data capture and proof of delivery applications.

Intermec CS40, CN50, CN4, CN70

Feature IntermecCS40-NUM with Proof of Delivery software Intermec CN50 with proof of delivery software Intermec CN4 with proof of delivery software Intermec CN70 with proof of delivery software
Model CS40 CN50 CN4 CN70
Screen size 2.8” @ 240×320 3.5”  @ 240×320 3.5” @ 240×320 3.5” VGA 480×640 with gorilla glass
Weight 6.9oz 11oz 14oz 16oz
Intrusion Protection (IP) rating IP54 – 4’ drop IP54 – 4’ drop IP64 – 6’ drop IP67 – 6’ drop + submersible
Environment 14 F to +122 F 14 F to +122 F -4°F to +140°F -4°F to +140°F
CPU ARM 11 @ 528 MHz (Fast) ARM 11 @ 528 MHz (Fast) Marvel @ 520MHZ (Fast) 600MHz OMAP3 multi-processor (fastest)
Max cellular download 7.2Mbps 7.2Mbps 3.6Mbps 7.2Mbps
Camera 3.2MP fixed focus 3.1MP autofocus 2MP 5MP autofocus
List price (w/o accessories) $1795 $2195 $2845 $2995

Before we start, it is important to understand what features you need today as well as in the future. With rugged devices, once you purchase the device, you cannot go back and add hardware options like a camera, GPS or Bluetooth. The devices we will discuss are:

  • CS40 – smallest form factor, targeted at a size closer to a BlackBerry with a true integrated barcode scanner (not a camera scanner like the ES400, iPhone or Android devices).  Small enough to comfortably use as a cell phone and slip into your pocket.
  • CN50 – smaller form factor with solid ruggedness characteristics.  Small enough to slip into your pocket but almost too large to use as a salesperson’s full time cell phone, although it would be fine for a technician to use given they usually have less talk time.
  • CN4 – fully rugged device that replaced the CN3.  The key upgrade from a CN3 is the addition of a camera.  All CN3 accessories work with the CN4.  Larger and heavier, designed to work in field conditions – rain, snow, mud, multiple drops to concrete, etc.  The WiFi radio is designed to work in a warehouse or other environment where you may switch between access points (AP’s).
  • CN70 – eventual replacement for the CN4.  This is the most rugged, featuring an IP67 rating – you can submerse it in water and it will still work.  This has the fastest CPU.  Like the CN4, you can use it as a cell phone but it will likely not be a comfortable choice for extended phone calls.

Questions and Criteria

You can start to narrow the hardware choice by asking the following questions.

How rugged a device do you need?

  • If you’re making deliveries or have substantial outside or field data collection, you need to get a device with an IP rating designed for your environment. For instance, in fleet fueling you deliver fuel in the rain, snow, sleet or hail.  The CN50, CN4 or CN70 would meet your needs. The CN70 is the most rugged.  Our customers have had good success with the CN4 and CN50 in terms of rugged field use – surviving drops, rain and snow.
  • The CS40 is better suited for more indoor types of use, such as a sales rep that needs to scan items to place an order. It will sustain drops to concrete and is more rugged than a consumer cell phone, but is not designed to be used in the elements.

Do you need cellular data? If so, what cellular carrier do you use and do you know what the data coverage is like in your territories?

  • The reason for this is simple – some territories like the North East are completely owned by a carrier (Verizon). If you want T-Mobile or AT&T coverage, you need to check coverage or consider changing carriers.
  • All of these devices support AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile; however, they will not get 3G speeds on the T-Mobile networks since T-Mobile’s 3G is a different frequency.
  • While the cellular speeds on the CN4 are less than the other devices, it is still very fast and unlikely you would notice the difference unless you had large downloads or uploads.  An  of larger data would be taking 3MP pictures to upload. If this was a common occurrence, you may notice it but for most applications like Proof of Delivery, you would not notice a difference.

Do you need to take pictures? If so, do they need to be high quality?

  • If you need to take better quality pictures, you’ll want  an autofocus camera (CN50 or CN70). The CS40 and CN4 have good quality color cameras but are fixed focus.
  • For example, if you need to take a picture of a utility meter with the current meter reading (when replacing), any camera would be fine. However, If you need to take a picture of a utility pole where the distance is great, you would be better off with an autofocus camera like the CN50 or CN70.
  • The CN70 has the highest quality (5MP) camera and provides autofocus.  The CN50 is 3.1MP with autofocus. The CS40 and and CN4 are comparable but fixed focus. For basic pictures, the CS40 and CN4 should suffice for things like taking a picture of an asset you installed or delivered.
  • For a comparison, most newer but inexpensive cell phones have 2MP fixed focus cameras.  The iPhone 4 has a 5MP autofocus camera.

Do you need GPS?

  • GPS is built in to all of these Intermec devices.  Accuracy is 3-10 meters. If you need sub-meter accuracy, you would need an external GPS device such as those from Trimble. Their cost can be greater than $2000/ea but obviously are needed when you do things like buried meter installations.
  • All devices support Assisted GPS (AGPS), which helps by triangulating with cellular towers.  It can speed up your GPS first time to fix and more importantly help with location when inside buildings.

Do you need barcode scanning?

  • All of these devices have barcode scanning. The only decision is whether you need 1D/2D or long-range.
  • 2D scanners can be helpful if you have barcodes that may get dirty or damaged. Examples of this include plant nurseries where 2D barcodes may be easier to read due to dirt on the barcode.
  • Long range scanners can scan barcodes up to 40’ away. Long range scanners are only available on the MC909x platform. Examples of long range scanning would be scanning the barcode at the top of a warehouse rack from a forklift.
  • The CN70 has the newest, most advanced scan engine.  Under most circumstances you may not notice a difference scanning between these devices, but if you have a very scan intensive application, you should consider the CN70.

Will screen size impact your application?

  • The CS40 has a 2.8” screen versus all others with 3.5”.  While this does not seem like a lot, if your application requires a lot of screen interaction or signature capture, you would notice and appreciate the larger screen.
  • Other than the CN70, all devices have a  240×320 resolution. The CN70 has a VGA 480×640 resolution. This means for things like photos, you would notice the better screen. For standard field data collection, you may not notice the difference.
  • The CN70 uses Gorilla Glass for the screen, so it is the most durable.

So which device is right for you?

The following highlight examples of BizSpeed customers using each type of device.

CS40 – customer order entry. A distribution customer places devices at their customers’ locations to let their customers scan item UPC’s and place orders. Their primary interest was getting the lowest cost device with a solid scan engine. They considered both the CN50 and the CS40 and selected the CS40.  They use a dialup modem and did not need cellular, camera, GPS or WiFi.

CN50 – Pharmaceutical HazMat pickup. A Hazmat customer places devices at their customers’ locations (pharmacies, hospitals, nursing homes) so customers can scan items into bins to be picked up, tracked and disposed of according to EPA and FDA regulations. The items, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment,  usually have UPC or similar barcodes.  They considered CS40’s and CN50’s. The CN50 was selected due to the larger screen size and larger keyboard than the CS40.

CN4 –Fleet fueling and bulk product delivery. This customer provides fleet fueling to customers like Coca-Cola, Staples, 84 Lumber, Waste Management, etc.  Their customer’s trucks are parked in their yards overnight. They use our goRoam.FuelSales module to scan each truck they are fueling, confirm the correct product (on-road vs off-road diesel for example) and then pump fuel into their customer’s vehicle.  The handheld wirelessly reads the fuel pump meter to record the quantity per vehicle.   They deliver in rain, snow, cold and hot temperatures. They considered the CN50 and the CN4.  They selected the CN4  due to it’s better IP/ruggedness rating, bigger backlit keyboard, more powerful wifi radio (for communications with the truck meter) and better truck mounted vehicle cradle.   At the time, the CN70 was not available.

If you have questions or comments, please feel free to contact us regarding rugged mobile hardware selection. To learn more about BizSpeed and goRoam Proof of Delivery Software click or call 866-270-0541 (toll-free).

Filed Under: Barcode scanners, How-To, News, Proof of Delivery Tagged With: bulk delivery, GPS, handheld data collection, Intermec, mobile forms, Proof of Delivery, Windows Mobile

Training – Assets

January 25, 2011 by admin Leave a Comment

The following video provides an overview of the assets module and key attributes for editing and managing assets.

[jwplayer config=”myplayer” file=”https://www.bizspeed.com/videos/MobileHubAssets.flv”]

NOTE – you can view in full screen with the link at the bottom of the video player.

Filed Under: How-To, Training Tagged With: Admin, asset tracking, handheld data collection, training

Training – Reporting

January 25, 2011 by admin Leave a Comment

The following video provides an overview of Ad Hoc and Report Viewer reporting.  Ad Hoc reporting allows users to select the tables (views) they want to report on, and build filters for the data to view or export to Excel.  Report Viewer reporting allows you to run pre-built reports, filter data and export the reports to PDF documents.

[jwplayer config=”myplayer” file=”https://www.bizspeed.com/videos/MobileHubReporting.flv”]

NOTE – you can view in full screen with the link at the bottom of the video player.

Filed Under: How-To, Training Tagged With: Admin, asset tracking, handheld data collection, training

Training – Admin Company and Users

January 25, 2011 by admin Leave a Comment

The following video provides an overview of managing your company and users.  Your company info is used when printing reports or receipts. User administration provides an overview of adding, editing and disabling users.

[jwplayer config=”myplayer” file=”https://www.bizspeed.com/videos/MobilehubAdmin.flv”]

NOTE – you can view in full screen with the link at the bottom of the video player.

Filed Under: How-To, Training Tagged With: Admin, asset tracking, handheld data collection, training

Mobile EPA Inspection Forms in less than 15 minutes

August 16, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

If you need to collect environmental or EPA field data, you may be wondering if there is a better way than using paper forms.  This video shows how you can take paper forms and turn them into mobile forms that run on rugged handheld devices for integrated data collection.

Forms can include standard input fields like textbox, checkbox or radio buttons. More importantly, they can include:

  • GPS
  • Camera capture
  • Electronic signature capture (for proof of delivery)
  • Barcode scanning

The video demonstrates taking the EPA Field Inspection for Onshore Drilling and converting it into a mobile form in less than 15 minutes. The mobile forms can run on consumer or rugged devices such as the Motorola MC55, MC75, Intermec CN3, CN4 and CN50.  These devices can withstand drops to concrete and work in the rain or weather without issue.

Watch the video below to see how you can take a paper form to electronic in 15 minutes or less.

Filed Under: How-To, Inspections, News

FEMA Emergency Management Forms for Mobile Devices

August 16, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

FEMA and related agencies collect significant amounts of data in the field on paper forms.  Paper forms introduce delays, require re-keying and do not integrate key data like pictures and GPS. This video shows how to take a paper FEMA form and convert it to an electronic mobile form on a Windows Mobile Device.

Federal and State Emergency Management Agencies need to collect a lot of field data and they need to quickly and easily assemble that data.  This video shows FEMA and State EMA officials how easy it is to turn paper forms in to mobile forms.

The video uses FEMA form FF 90_81 Preliminary Damage Assessment to demonstrate mobile forms. We take each section and turn it into mobile ‘page’, and then add questions to the page. Question types include:

  • Textbox
  • Checkbox
  • Combobox
  • Lookup (barcode lookup for assets, products, etc.)
  • Date
  • Time
  • Numeric
  • Radiobutton
  • Camera
  • GPS
  • Signature capture
  • Label (for disclaimers, instructions, etc.)

While this video uses FEMA Form 90_81 Preliminary Damage Asssessment, you can see how you can easily add other forms like:

  • Form 90_1 Request for Site Assessment
  • General Damage Assessment form
  • FEMA Form 90‐69B Declaration and Release
  • FEMA Inspection forms

Click here to learn more about goRoam for Inspections and Surveys for mobile forms, or contact us.

Filed Under: How-To, Inspections, News Tagged With: GPS, handheld data collection, mobile forms, Proof of Delivery, Windows Mobile

Better Mobile Forms Dispatch

May 20, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

Some customers need to bulk dispatch mobile forms based on customer routes, zones or other groupings.  We’ve added better mobile form dispatch capabilities to allow dispatching from Excel spreadsheets or using customer attributes.  The steps can be automated and saved to easily re-run with different parameters.

We’ll walk through a quick example of bulk dispatching a mobile form based on customer attributes.  We’ll show a cool new feature in the ‘Bulk Import’ builder where you can automatically populate data on the mobile forms.

The first step is to set the customer you want to filter on (ex. routezone).

image

Attributes field examples are:

  • Service rep
  • Customer Type
  • Address
  • Routing info
  • Route zone
  • Carrier route
  • Market
  • Sub-market
  • County
  • Any field on the customer, include ‘Tags’

Once these are set, access the ‘Dispatch Import’ menu item.

image

Note that you can import from a CSV file or from SiteSupervisor.

  1. Select object type = ‘customer’.  This will show a list of filterable attributes for that object.
  2. Select the partition field (routezone, market, sub-market, etc.).  This will automatically show the distinct values for that partition field. Select the ones that match your criteria.
  3. For this example, select ‘routezone’.
  4. Select one or more route zones.
  5. Select the ‘Build Mappings’ tab at the top
  6. image
  7. Select the survey (mobile form).  This will auto-populate the fields on the survey that you can map to.
  8. Select the import field and the field on the survey that you want mapped. Click the right arrow button to set the mapping. In this instance, we mapped the customer.accountnumber to the ‘accountnumber’ field on the survey.
  9. When done mapping, click the ‘Dispatch Config’ tab at the top.
  10. image
  11. In the dispatch config, you can specify a template for the DispatchID and Description. The tempate can use any of the source fields (customer in this case). For instance, use {AccountNumber}-{Name} to have the DispatchID set with these values.
  12. Select the user or role to assign the mobile form dispatches.
  13. Optionally set the start and end dates when the mobile form dispatches are to be completed.
  14. Press ‘Test Import’ to test, or ‘Build Dispatches’ to create the dispatches directly. The test results are shown below.
  15. image
  16. Click ‘Save Profile’ to save this import profile to easily re-run again without having to rebuild mappings, etc.
  17. When the user logs onto their mobile device, they will have their full list of new dispatches in their ‘current’ working folder.

If you have questions, please contact your account manager or support.  This feature is available the May 2010 release and is in place for SaaS customers.

Filed Under: How-To, Inspections, News Tagged With: handheld data collection, mobile forms, News, Proof of Delivery

Delayed Job Support for Better Background Processing

May 14, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

Customers have continued to push the MobileHub (SiteSupervisor) to automate business processes, especially after mobile form data is posted. We’ve enhanced the goRoam.MobileHub to provide delayed jobs (background processing).  This is best suited for actions where the user does not need an immediate response so you can keep their workflow streamlined.

Examples of where delayed jobs help are:

  • Sending emails of PDF images of completed surveys
  • Conditionally sending order emails based on data filled in from mobile forms
  • Processing uploaded images
  • Longer running calculations such as geocoding customers based on GPS breadcrumbs

Delayed jobs are installed with the ‘scheduled job’ administration tools.  Delayed jobs are setup in a separate library on a per company basis. This allows our SaaS (Software as a Service) customers to each have their own delayed job processor, or if you are an on-site customer you can run background tasks with one library for all company codes.

Please contact your account representative to learn more.

Filed Under: How-To, News Tagged With: GPS, News, Performance

  • 1
  • 2
  • Next Page »

Latest News

  • 3 Tips for better fuels and lubes customer service
  • New video for Android mobile metered delivery
  • Customer Service Impressions – What your delivery system says to your customers
  • Updates to barcode fleet fueling
  • The case for electronic versus handwritten (paper) delivery tickets
  • Updated Customer Portal
  • Load Builder for Dispatching
  • On-site Fleet Fueling Driver Metrics Reports

Contact Us

Search

Bizspeed
  • Products
    • Dispatch and Sync Server
    • Mobile Metered Delivery
    • Fixed site metered delivery
    • goRoam.Delivery
    • goRoam.Assets
    • goRoam.Inspections
  • Services
    • Application Hosting
    • RFID and Barcodes
    • Distribution Assessment
  • About
    • Contact
    • Terms of Service
    • Team
    • Request Information
    • News
    • Privacy Policy
  • Bizspeed
    • Support
    • RMA – Returns
    • Training
    • Partners
    • Jobs
    • Blog
    • Release Notes
    • Documentation

Call Toll Free for Details: 866.270.0541

Copyright © 2015 Bizspeed LLC. All rights reserved.