Interview with Tony Nicoletti, CEO, DPL America: Capturing Runtime Data

DPL CEO Nicoletti talks about asset-tracking solutions, integrating all systems, rollover detection alerts, equipment theft prevention and more.

What is new in your software and technology?

Nicoletti: On the software front we've introduced OEM aggregation, which allows our platform to pull in pertinent data such as runtime, location, fuel burn and idle, from factory installed and other telematics systems. On the technology front we've just launched the AssetView Stealth, which is our fourth battery-powered asset tracking solution. The Stealth has an industry-first tamper-detection feature, which immediately notifies the owner and provides its location if it is removed from its place of install.

How important is integration of all of a rental company’s systems?

Nicoletti: Integration in today's world is highly important, as it allows customers to utilize best of breed across different applications but still have management through one platform. We work with this both ways. For customers that have factory installed telematics systems we can bring that data into our platform, so they log into our software and see all their telematics in one place. On the other side of the coin, if they want our telematics data into a legacy system or alternate software package, we have a variety of API to make it available.

What new trends in technology do you expect in the foreseeable future?

Nicoletti: At the physical device level we anticipate everything getting smaller and faster with longer battery life as you would anticipate with technology. Bluetooth is becoming a larger request, and we anticipate embedding BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) capabilities in the next generation of most of our devices so they can act as a hub and detect nearby tags, which in turn could be located on smaller ancillary assets such as tools and buckets. From a software standpoint we're going to see more and more companies continuing to integrate and provide a seamless path for mutual customers to view and manage data with the minimum amount of clicking around.

What are the most important contributions telematics makes to a rental company and how challenging is it to integrate telematics with a rental management operating system?

Nicoletti: With the preponderance of equipment theft reaching epidemic levels, theft protection and recovery is one of the most significant and easily measurable benefits of telematics today. It doesn't matter where you are in the country, theft is rampant and rental houses need a cost-effective way to protect themselves. In addition to that, telematics provides logistical improvements through real time location of company rental equipment, trucks and any other assets in relation to each other for faster dispatching and repurposing. 

Furthermore, telematics provides control over rentals using cutting edge features such as a starter disable, whereby a non-paying customer or stolen asset can be locked out remotely from a phone app. Telematics-generated tip and rollover detection alerts are important for curbing operator abuse and/or potential safety hazards. Capturing runtime data through telematics both improves billing with accurate usage and tightens up service scheduling so that assets do not miss their maintenance window. Lastly, with richer engine direct J1939 data rental houses can reduce machine downtime by remotely reading fault codes and receiving alerts of potential machine issues.