BAS Trucks Deploys RTLS to Drive Efficiency

The vehicle is brought to a station to have any necessary repair work done, or to be washed. As it enters the station, a Zebra WherePort exciter activates the tag, which then transmits its unique ID number at 2.4 GHz to a reader (known as a receiver) that forwards that ID to the VSS software via a cabled connection. The software determines the tag's location, as well as the direction in which it is moving, based on the transmissions' signal strength, and updates the vehicle's location status accordingly.

When the truck is moved to the company's main yard, which holds up to 850 vehicles, WherePort interrogators and exciters installed around the perimeter on light poles capture the truck's ID number and forward that information to the back-end system via a cabled connection. The system then triangulates on the tag, in order to determine that truck's location within a radius of about 10 feet.

WherePort exciters and readers will also be installed at two satellite storage locations, at which several hundred vehicles are stored. But because these lots are smaller, the company reports, the system will only detect when the vehicles arrive and depart, not their specific lot locations.

The VSS software employs a computer-aided design (CAD) drawing of the lot, thereby providing a display of that facility with icons showing the location of each vehicle requested by BAS Trucks' staff. Employees can accomplish this task by inputting either the vehicle identification number (VIN), or the truck's make and model. The Web-based data could also be made available to the sales staff in the lot, as they carry Apple iPad computers. If, for example, a customer requested another make or model of a particular vehicle, Horne says, a salesperson could simply access the server and input that information in order to view a screen indicating the location of such a truck.

BAS Trucks is initially utilizing 1,300 tags; 26 WherePort exciters, mounted above entry and exit gates to lots, as well as at washing and servicing areas; and 11 receivers, mounted throughout the main storage lot for location purposes.