CALGARY, AB — April 4, 2012

Headquartered in Monticello, Illinois, Piatt County Public Transportation (Piattran) is a demand-response operation whose mission is to serve all the public transportation needs in the largely rural Piatt County area. Established in 1988, Piattran provides door-to-door service with a fleet of paratransit buses and smaller vehicles.

Assessing their operations, Piattran decided that to be efficient they needed new processes. As Finance Manager Tia Blakeman explains, "We were looking for a comprehensive paratransit management software and MDT solution to streamline every point of our operation—we needed it all."

With a mandate to provide the most economical and eco-friendly service possible, Piattran needs to operate at peak efficiency to provide superior customer service to their riders. In order to meet these needs, Piattran selected a joint technology solution from CTS Software and Mentor Engineering.

Piattran chose CTS Software to supply Trip Master Enterprise Edition (TMEE) paratransit management software. TMEE provides a complete package of routing, scheduling and reporting functionality. Seamlessly integrated with TMEE and installed in each vehicle are Mentor Ranger® rugged mobile computers. The joint solution allows Piattran to easily make on-the-fly schedule changes and collect accurate data for operational planning, while providing greater flexibility in all areas of their operation.

With the new CTS/Mentor system, dispatchers always know where each vehicle is and how many seats are available, making it easy to rearrange and update the schedule in real-time without needing to use the radio, since the ride details automatically appear on the driver's Ranger. Piattran is also able to complete more rides each day. "We are able to meet nearly all of the same day requests that we get," says Blakeman. "Before, we always tried to accommodate same day requests but seeing where they could fit into the schedule could be difficult. Now we have the necessary knowledge to easily see where the most effective placement will be and seat almost every request that comes in."

With their new technology in place, Piattran is looking forward to the future. "We are so happy with the system," says Blakeman. "It has solved all of the functional problems that took so much of our time and effort. The ease of scheduling and improvement in communications with our drivers was imperative for what we do and the reporting and billing components are fantastic. Now all of the tools that our staff need to effectively get the job done are right there."

CALGARY, AB — March 22, 2012

Incorporated in March 2011, STEP Energy Services in Calgary, AB provides coiled tubing and fluid pumping services throughout Western Canada. When STEP launched their business, implementing a mobile workforce management system was at the top of their priority list. To meet their needs, STEP Energy chose Mentor Fleet™, a comprehensive mobile workforce management solution from Mentor Engineering, another Alberta-based company.

Mentor Fleet is web-based software that allows office staff and managers to track the exact location of all their vehicles while monitoring speeding and excessive idling. With Fleet, STEP's managers have access to a wide array of reports to help improve operations. In the vehicles, Mentor's BBX relays location and engine diagnostic information back to Fleet in the office

After evaluating multiple vendors to provide this technology for their new oilfield services company, STEP selected the Mentor Fleet solution. Steve Glanville, Chief Operations Officer at STEP Energy Services explains: "We selected Mentor Fleet because of its easy-to-use web-based interface. We were impressed with how quickly the screen re-images when new data comes in to ensure we have the most up-to-date information twenty-four hours a day."

Since implementing the system, STEP has received positive feedback from their field operators. "The drivers like it, especially our senior drivers who have been in the industry for twenty years or longer," says Glanville. "They feel safer while on the road, and are changing their driving habits to become more aware and alert."

Glanville and the other managers are seeing proof of the driving improvements in the on-demand reports they pull from Mentor Fleet. "The two most important reports to me are the 'Top 5 Speed Violators' and the 'Excessive Idling' report," says Steve. "They help us accurately evaluate and address undesirable driver behaviors to improve safety and decrease fuel costs."

The AVL information has also streamlined communication between operators and in-office staff. As Glanville explains: "Cell phone conversations have really been minimized because office staff know the exact location of every vehicle without having to check in with the operator. This has helped reduce distracted driving and increase productivity for both office staff and field operators."

Moving forward, STEP Energy Services continues to see Mentor's technology as a vital component to their growth and success. Steve says, "In the future, we are hoping to use the AVL data to send the closest vehicle to new jobs, which will increase our fleet's efficiency and allow us to complete more jobs each day. This wouldn't be possible without this type of technology solution."

CALGARY, AB — March 20, 2012

As the oldest ground transportation company in Hawaii, Charley's Taxi has long been recognized as the gold-standard for taxi operations in Hawaii. To continue meeting this high level of service while expanding their business, Charley's Taxi implemented the Mentor IntelliFleet® electronic dispatching solution.

Mentor Ranger® rugged com¬puters were installed in Charley's 200 vehicles, to work in conjunction with Mentor IntelliFleet dispatching software in the office. Charley's chose Verizon to provide wireless connectivity for Ranger in the vehicle, while Sprint is their ISP provider in the office. This combination provides them with 99% connection reliability, even in times of disasters or emergencies.

"After past experiences where hardware and software vendors blamed each other when the technology didn't work, it was important to me that the entire IntelliFleet solution was de¬veloped and built by the same company," explains Dale Evans, President of Charley's Taxi. "Ad¬ditionally, Mentor's proven reliability and 24-7 support were important factors for a 24-hour-a-day business like ours."

Since the implementation, Charley's Taxi has received accolades from the community, customers and, most importantly, their drivers. "The reaction of the drivers is the biggest surprise," says Dale. "Most drivers grin when they give me thumbs up and say 'I love it! I love it! We should have had this a long time ago.'"

All of these changes are also having an impact on the compa¬ny's, and the drivers', bottom line. Dale shares that, "drivers are able to earn 25-40% more revenue each day with the dispatching solution." Those extra trips have allowed Char¬ley's to dramatically increase their supply without needing to significantly increase costs.

Not only are the drivers happy with the system, IntelliFleet has also significantly improved the work environment for the dispatchers as well. Dale explains: "The interactions between drivers and dis-patchers have been reduced, as the system handles any problems with dispatching or matching trips, rather than the dispatchers themselves. The friction between drivers and dis¬patchers has disappeared."

Additionally, the IntelliFleet system has allowed Charley's to easily maintain, and improve upon, their high level of service throughout this period of growth. Says Dale: "With IntelliFleet and Ranger, we have significantly expand¬ed our supply and coverage, as well as improved customer satisfaction. IntelliFleet is helping us stay ahead of the com¬petition and on the leading edge of the entire passenger carrier industry."

CALGARY, AB — February 01, 2012

Mentor Engineering is pleased to announce the kick-off of their most recent project with San Francisco Paratransit. San Francisco Paratransit is installing Mentor Ranger® mobile data terminals in their 120-vehicle fleet. San Francisco Paratransit is a van and taxi program for people unable to independently use public transit because of a disability or disabling health condition.

Ranger is a rugged in-vehicle computer that allows for real-time communication between drivers and dispatchers, enables instant trip updates and automates data collection – all over the Verizon wireless network. Ranger will also provide San Francisco Paratransit drivers with turn-by-turn navigation, and its integrated magnetic stripe reader will be used for passenger identification cards.

Mentor will also be coordinating a Demand Response Interactive Voice Response (IVR) application implementation for San Francisco Paratransit. The IVR application enables passengers, caregivers and service providers to request, book, confirm or cancel trips without needing to speak with a call center agent, which will help to minimize no-shows and driver wait times as well as reducing pressure on call center agents.

"We are looking forward to being involved in a new and exciting phase for San Francisco Paratransit. This technology system will help San Francisco Paratransit better manage resources and offer their riders the best possible service," says Brent Freer, Director of Sales at Mentor Engineering.

CALGARY, AB — February 01, 2012

Mentor Engineering is pleased to announce that Mentor Ranger®, a rugged-in vehicle computer, now integrates with Trapeze Novus. Mentor is the first and only company to provide transit-grade in-vehicle functionality to Novus clients.

With Ranger, agencies will be able to complete on-the-fly schedule changes which are sent in-real time to the driver’s in-vehicle computer. Electronic manifests eliminate paper and decrease back-office data entry as all information about pick-ups, drop-offs and no-shows is automatically sent back to the Novus software in the office. Additionally, Ranger provides automatic vehicle location (AVL), allowing dispatchers to see the location of all vehicles. This functionality helps dispatchers send the closest available vehicle to a trip, speeding response times and on-time performance to improve customer service.

Built for the transit industry, Ranger is proven to last in the tough bus environment. Ranger meets mili¬tary specifications for vibration and shock, as well as the international standard for water ingress protection. Also, with a life span of over seven years, Ranger considerably lowers the total cost of ownership (TCO) of a mobile computing solution.

"Adding Ranger to their fleet will give Trapeze Novus clients a complete Paratransit AVL/MDT solution,” says Samuel Mahumane, Systems Engineer at Mentor Engineering. “Ranger’s wide range of functionality will help agencies complete more trips each day while lowering costs and improving customer service."

For more information about Mentor Ranger and how in-vehicle computing helps transit agencies improve on-time performance, have a look at our Paratransit Solutions page.

CALGARY, AB — January 24, 2012

Mentor Engineering is pleased to announce that after numerous Request for Proposal bid responses were submitted, they have been awarded a $2 million contract from the Central Oklahoma Transportation and Parking Authority to implement a complete end-to-end Transit ITS system for Oklahoma City’s Metro Transit. The project is scheduled to be completed in early 2013.

For Metro Transit, Mentor is providing in-vehicle hardware and in-office software as well as a comprehensive passenger information system. The Mentor Streets® software suite will be installed in the office. Streets is a fully integrated Transit Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) that will give Metro Transit’s dispatchers Computer-Aided Dispatch and Automatic Vehicle Location (CAD/AVL) capabilities. They can see the location of all the vehicles in their care on their onscreen map and can instantly access any vehicle's status to see if it is running early or late. Streets also provides Metro Transit management with automated reporting using valuable real-time data, which will assist them in improving the efficiency and accuracy of their transit operations.

Mentor MyRide™ is a passenger information system that will provide Metro Transit passengers with real-time bus location and status information. Passengers will be able to access real-time bus departure information via wayside signs, smart phones or on their personal computers; instant map updates and trip planning tools will also available to Metro Transit riders.

Mentor Ranger® is a rugged mobile device that will be installed in Metro Transit’s buses. Ranger allows Metro Transit’s drivers to communicate with dispatchers in real-time, and view route or schedule changes instantly. With Ranger in the buses, drivers will know if they are driving ahead or behind schedule, improving on-time performance.

Also installed in Metro Transit’s buses is Mentor T-Box®, a sophisticated annunciator that announces next stop information to riders and automatically updates interior and exterior signs so riders have a visual cue for the upcoming stop in addition to the audio prompt.

“This technology will not only allow Metro Transit to continually refine and enhance their service, but passengers will benefit on and off the bus as well. The real-time information gained by Metro Transit will give managers better insight into their operations and will give passengers valuable knowledge as to where their bus is, or how long it will be until it arrives, which is an essential element in today’s public transit system,” explains Brent Freer, Director of Sales at Mentor Engineering.

CALGARY, AB — September 29, 2011

Mentor Engineering is proud to announce that their most recent client, the City of Fayetteville, NC, is rolling out their Public Works and Transit vehicles on the Verizon Wireless network. Mentor is implementing a comprehensive technology solution for both the City of Fayetteville’s Public Works sector, as well as their public transit service.

For Fayetteville’s Public Safety Department, which includes Police and Fire service, Mentor will be installing the Mentor BBX in their 218-vehicle fleet. Mentor BBX is a stand-alone Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) and vehicle telematics collection device. BBX provides accurate vehicle tracking with its integrated GPS receiver.

BBX will capture all of this data and send it over the wireless network to Mentor Fleet™ software in the office. Fleet is a mobile field services management solution that allows office staff for the City of Fayetteville to view the current location of all their Public Safety vehicles on a real-time map, and know where they are and what they are doing at a glance.

“The combination of BBX and Mentor Fleet is a valuable addition to the City of Fayetteville’s Public Safety vehicles. With the ability to accurately track vehicle location, Fayetteville will be able to achieve greater fleet efficiency, and more importantly, quicker response times,” explains Samuel Mahumane, Project Manager for Mentor’s Systems Engineering Group.

Mentor is also providing a software solution for the City of Fayetteville’s fixed-route and paratransit systems. Fayetteville will be using the Mentor Streets® Transit software suite, which is integrated with Fayetteville’s existing Trapeze NOVUS web-enabled solution for their demand response operations.

Comprised of several integrated modules, Streets Transit is a software suite which manages all aspects of a transit agency. Using Streets, Fayetteville’s transit operations will be able to run more efficiently, keep their buses on schedule and their passengers on time, as well as improve scheduling functions with the Streets Schedule application.

In addition to Streets, Fayetteville’s transit vehicles will be visible on the side of operations that use Mentor Fleet, for enhanced visibility.

The City of Fayetteville will also be using Mentor’s XMobile Management® (XMM) software for their Mobile Device Management (MDM) needs. Using XMM, all of Fayetteville’s Over-the-air programming (OTAP) will be done using the EVDO network from Verizon Wireless. This replaces the time-consuming and costly task of physically updating each vehicle’s device manually.

CALGARY, AB — August 3, 2011

Mentor Engineering is proud to be named “Vendor of the Month” from the Florida Association of Coordinated Transportation Systems Inc., also known as FACTS. Mentor would also like to extend congratulations to Brent Ritchie, Transit Sales Manager at Mentor, for his special recognition from FACTS as well.

Brent has served on the FACTS Executive Committee representing vendors for more than five years. He chaired the By-Laws committee when the FACTS By-Laws were revised and has worked to encourage more vendors to join FACTS. Through his efforts, the FACTS' Executive Committee meets by teleconference, utilizing Mentor Engineering equipment.

Mentor provides comprehensive ITS solutions for paratransit and fixed-route transit operations. From the dispatch office to the vehicle, Mentor’s flexible solutions improve and expedite transit operations. With Mentor’s technology, organizations can realize the benefits of CAD/AVL, real-time communication, electronic manifests, in-vehicle navigation, fuel efficiency monitoring, and much more.

Mentor has made a difference for two Florida-area transit agencies in particular: Lee Tran in Lee County, southwest Florida, and the Central Florida Regional Transportation Authority (LYNX). After implementing ITS technology, LeeTran has been able to increase schedule flexibility, improve reporting accuracy, and create a quieter work environment for drivers and dispatchers with electronic text messaging replacing noisy radio communication. LYNX is using Mentor’s technology to meet their goals of improving on-time service, being more responsive to customers, and reducing fuel costs with route optimization.

Mentor extends its congratulations to Brent Ritchie and looks forward to continuing to further the aim of “Promoting Mobility for Florida's Transportation Disadvantaged” with the Florida Association of Coordinated Transportation Systems.

CALGARY, AB — August 3, 2011

Mentor Engineering and MyWebinars are partnering to present three expert-led, fleet management webinars in August and September. These educational programs will inform attendees about best practices, current issues and recent trends in the fleet industry. The webinars will cover topics such as mobile workforce management, vehicle telematics technology and fleet safety strategies.
Detailed descriptions and session times follow below:

Top 10 Strategies for Resolving Key Mobile Workforce and Fleet Management Challenges
August 16, 2011, 3PM EST

This webinar will provide a comprehensive overview of how the right technology solution can help organizations tackle common mobile workforce and fleet management challenges such as inefficient data management, poor communication, lone worker safety, and wasteful driving habits. Attendees will learn new ways to better manage these common challenges while increasing revenue and reducing costs at the same time. Get solutions to key industry issues and find out how similar companies have improved their bottom lines.

Vehicle Telematics 101: How the Right Solution Can Impact Your Bottom Line
August 24, 2011, 3PM EST

This webinar will provide a comprehensive overview of how a vehicle telematics solution can increase efficiency, scheduling flexibility, customer service, and fleet transparency while saving your organization money. The speaker will discuss telematics topics such as monitoring speed and idling, instances of hard braking and rapid acceleration, as well as engine diagnostics, vehicle maintenance, route optimization, vehicle location and minimizing unauthorized use. Attendees will learn how these technologies combine to help fleets reduce empty mileage, minimize fuel consumption, and optimize vehicle use to save money.

Strategies for Managing a Safer, More Efficient Fleet
September 14, 2011, 3PM EST

This webinar will provide essential information on strategies that can be put to use to make fleets and drivers safer, while improving efficiency. The speaker will discuss major fleet safety issues including the cost of driver distraction and corporate liability in the event of an accident, strategies for keeping lone or remote workers safe, new legislation requirements pertaining to EOBRs (Electronic On-Board Recorders) and Hours of Service (HOS) compliance, as well as how to manage unsafe driver behaviors in an effective manner.

To get more information about the MyWebinars complete fleet management series, running throughout August and September, visit the MyWebinars website.

CALGARY, AB — June 14, 2011

Mentor Engineering is pleased to announce their recent partnership with LoadTrek.net. Based in Madison, WI, LoadTrek.net software is created by North American Dispatch Systems. LoadTrek.net software is designed to work in many challenging dispatch environments, including trucking, oilfield, and service industries.

LoadTrek’s software will run on Mentor Ranger® mobile computers in the vehicle. The solution will simplify transportation management by allowing users to create and assign loads, track assets in real-time, communicate with drivers, collect Department of Transportation (DOT) and fuel tax data, bill customers and track driver time and violations for reporting purposes.

Egor Korneev, VP of Operations for LoadTrek.net explains why Ranger was their mobile computing platform of choice: “We made the decision to work with Ranger based on the fact that Mentor’s hardware has been proven in the field, so we saw a very good precedent for hardware reliability and functionality. We thought Ranger was very cutting-edge technology.”

The combined Mentor-LoadTrek system is a complete EOBR solution that allows carriers to comply with FMCSA Hours of Service (HOS) regulations.

Using the EOBR system, drivers log onto Ranger and wirelessly receive eight days of DOT history. As they progress through the day’s work, DOT duty states change automatically based on the vehicle movements. The system eliminates the need for paper logs, and improves compliance with real-time monitoring.

“The system has been well received based on ease of use and reliability,” says Egor. “The industry response has been fantastic. There are multiple automated mechanisms in the system that makes it user-friendly. For instance, the system is real-time, so both the driver and the driver’s supervisor in the office are notified of any impending warnings of violations,” explains Egor.

“The solution offered by Mentor and LoadTrek provides customers value, not only in terms of time savings, but enhanced safety as well. This solution benefits any company that has commercial motor vehicles. It ensures industry-specific legislated rules are being followed and Hours of Service data and records are electronically available for hassle-free compliance,” says Shubh Sidhu, Enterprise Product Manager at Mentor Engineering.

For more information on LoadTrek.net, go to www.loadtrek.net

Note: The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.