Prepare for the “snow fight”

Long before the snow flies, municipal public works groups are preparing their winter fleet operations. Everything from snowplows, personnel, route planning, and material needs to be taken into consideration. Known as the annual “snow fight”, Northern BI works with local governments to help solve winter operational challenges. Customers tell us the cost of material spread, including salt, sand, and brine eats up a large part of their winter budget. And since we all know what can’t be measured, can’t be managed, the Geotab Public Works solution takes the guesswork out of material spread. 

Reduce costs and increase efficiencies

At Northern BI, we’ve been successful in helping customers leverage Geotab’s Public Works software and hardware. As the most robust telematics solution for public works fleets, the system connects to dozens of different spreader controller models including Dickey-John, Bosch Rexroth, and Force America among others. With the most recent updates in the MyGeotab software, we can help clients accurately measure the amount of material used in a season or specific weather event. Not only that, but the built-in reports allow public works users to see fleet vehicles as well as the amount of material spread during a shift.

The MyGeotab route-based Material Management Report represents a summary of material used, operational time, and the distance for every unique material used within each trip within a route. 

• Create rules for material monitoring
• Material management reporting
• Route-based reporting
• Route completion reporting

With the Geotab Public Works solution, our clients have been able to eliminate collecting manual material spread log sheets. This has significantly increased our clients’ efficiencies by being able to run detailed material spread reports in a matter of clicks. Data-rich reports from MyGeotab, support annual budgeting and material planning.

Customize material usage reports

In addition to running reports by vehicle and trip, clients can also customize their reports to meet their needs. Switch the units of measure (metric vs. Imperial), show detailed spreader usage like spread rate, blast total, and whether the operators are using manual versus automatic mode.

Material management is just one of the ways Northern BI can help your winter fleet win the “snow fight”. With Geotab Public Works telematics, government fleets can track plow blade activity, route completion, and level of service compliance. Have complete visibility of your entire winter operations so you can confidently respond to liability claims quickly. And if you need the system to integrate with your existing public 511 platform, well, it can do that too. If you want your winter fleet to have control of material usage, reduce costs and increase efficiencies, give Northern BI a shout today!