 |
IC Corporation, North America’s
largest school bus manufacturer, has continued
to showcase it leadership in the industry by becoming the first
school bus manufacturer to offer factory-installed GPS tracking
in its school buses. The announcement was made today at the
National Association for Pupil Transportation Conference in
Austin, Texas.
IC Corporation will be integrating the tracking components into
its 2006 school bus models. Telematics, the remote tracking of
vehicles, provides real-time information on the location and
performance of vehicles. IC Corporation’s parent company has
developed a telematics solution called International® Aware™
Vehicle Intelligence that is fully integrated with the
electronics components of the company’s buses so all of the
important functions can be remotely monitored.
Monitoring can range from keeping track of the location of a bus
at all times to tracking how often the flashing red warning
lights are activated. Designated officials can visit a
password-protected Web site to get information about the school
bus fleet.
“Every day, school bus officials around North America have a
general idea of where their buses are, but with this technology,
they can log onto the Internet and find out specifically where
any school bus is located in real-time, including reading all of
the specs on how the school bus is performing and a history of
stops along the bus route,” said Michael Cancelliere, vice
president and general manager, IC Corporation. “This bus
tracking technology provides knowledge that increases control
and confidence for transportation officials.”
The system also features a “geofence” capability that allows
school officials to designate a virtual boundary for school
buses. If a bus leaves that boundary, an immediate alert can be
sent to transportation officials via email, cell phone text
message or pager to let them know that a bus has left its
operating area.
“Providing maximum performance and passenger protection are our
top priorities,” said Cancelliere. “If something goes awry with
a school bus, we know that transportation officials would want
to know immediately. That’s why we are offering this feature on
our new CE and BE school bus models.”
Incorporating Aware Vehicle Intelligence into IC Corporation
school buses also helps ensure that buses are being driven
properly and that all maintenance records are updated. The
system can inform school bus fleet managers when a school bus is
due for scheduled maintenance or when parts will be due for
replacement.
“School and fleet officials want to know everything about the
performance and location of school buses,” explained Jeff
Bannister, Director, Truck Electronics, International Truck and
Engine. “International Aware Vehicle Intelligence lets them
track location, monitor performance, diagnose maintenance
issues, and ensure driver and vehicle safety and security. It
will also impact the bottom line because it helps reduce fuel
and inventory costs and helps with efficient route mapping.”
The school bus tracking system is available from any IC
Corporation dealer in the United States, with Canadian
availability in the future. Retrofit options for existing school
buses may be available, but transportation officials are urged
to call 1-888-883-5362 for more details. A further description
of the telematics solution is available at
http://www.internationaldelivers.com/aware.
|
