Automotive Industries interviews Charles Tasker

MiX Telematics, which started business in the 90's™s, works with a number of partners including Continental Corporation. A couple of years back, MiX Telematics created a new remote tachograph data collection and fleet management solution exclusively for Contintenal. Called the VDO DLD, it was the first in a new breed of intelligent remote data harvesting systems. The VDO DLD system revolutionized the process by securely connecting to vehicles via GPRS cellular networks and directly transferring the data to backend archiving systems over the Internet, with no manual intervention. This remote data access was enabled by Wavecom SA's™s wireless microprocessor, an industrial microprocessor which also acted as a wireless modem for voice and data transmission over GSM/GPRS networks

Earlier this year MiX Telematics decided to focus on what it said were the currently critical trends in the commercial vehicle and transport sector. Such as reduction of carbon emissions 's“ fleet owners are increasingly tracking the carbon footprint of their vehicles. Similarly, MiX Telematics feels that its mobile applications and solutions will play an increasingly important role for fleet owners 's“ the company's™s MiX Mobile app helps deliver relevant information and features to users on their mobile phones. Location based services or LBS has also been identified by the company as an increasingly important segment as personal tracking becomes important in the consumer market. 'sœThe potential of LBS has not yet been fully recognized. However, it is expected that 2010 is the tipping point for the use of LBS in enterprises, which will be an interesting development for the telematics industry,'s says MiX Telematics.

Other important trends for the next year identified by MiX Telematics include the replacement of on-board computers by mobile devices and changing web front-ends to help manage fleets. 'sœMore sophisticated, faster applications put more control in the hands of users and will be a key differentiator between telematics services, says the company.

MiX Telematics also says that telematics will play a critical role in addressing health and safety issues, with on-board telematics becoming the norm to ensure federal rules on maximum driving hours as per the Motorcoach Bus Safety Bill that was passed by the US Senate in December 2009. 'sœMany of these challenges facing the fleet owners are interconnected and can be addressed with sophisticated vehicle tracking and fleet management solutions as provided for instance by MiX Telematics. The Fleet Manager (FM) range of products and services provides fleet managers with much needed information ranging from vehicle and driver performance to vehicle tracking, from driver behavior to two-way messaging and navigation,'s says the company.