PeopleNet Developing New Private-Fleet Platform After Cadec Acquisition

PHOENIX — PeopleNet is developing a new platform tailored to private and food-service fleets, combining its latest technology with the sector-specific expertise it gained through its acquisition of Cadec Global Inc. in May.

That product will include features of the PowerVue system developed by Cadec but will be a part of PeopleNet’s broader ConnectedFleet Platform, the next-generation system the company showcased at its annual user conference, held here Aug. 24-26.

PeopleNet executives said the company aims to launch an initial version of its new private-fleet platform in mid-2016.

“What we’ll be doing is taking the knowledge and the skill sets of the folks who have built out the PowerVue platform and incorporate that into a new product,” PowerVue General Manager Angela Shue said during a session focused on PeopleNet’s plans for the future of that system.

Rather than simply adding onto the existing PowerVue platform, the development team is working to create something new by taking features from the PowerVue and PeopleNet product lines and combining “the best of both,” said Rick Ochsendorf, executive vice president at PeopleNet.

Eric Witty, vice president of product management, said the new private-fleet platform will leverage the core technology that PeopleNet has developed, such as its cloud-based infrastructure, Mobile Gateway and ConnectedDriver mobile applications.

“We’re not building something starting from scratch,” he said. “It’s well along the way. A lot the core architecture is there.”

Witty said the developers’ task will be to implement features focused on the needs of private and food-service fleets, which are slightly different from those of PeopleNet’s traditional over-the-road customers.

In the meantime, PeopleNet is committed to continue supporting the existing PowerVue platform for at least the next 36 months, with no formal sunset planned, but will no longer sell that product, executives said.

PeopleNet also will continue specific development projects to meet the needs of current PowerVue users as they wait to make the transition to the new software platform.

The new private-fleet platform will include many of the features and applications available on the current PowerVue system, such as: integrated routing, navigation, support for handhelds and proof of delivery, and applications for driver logs, vehicle inspection reports, fuel-tax reporting, analytics and driver and vehicle-based reporting.

The product will add new features such as more advanced routing capabilities, including onboard recalculation of estimated arrival times, customer configurable workflows and cloud data storage and integration.

Executives said they have not determined if the new private-fleet offering will go to market under the PowerVue or PeopleNet brand, or a combination thereof.

One of the private-fleet customers in attendance expressed optimism about the Cadec acquisition.

Valley Proteins Inc., which operates a private fleet that collects and redistributes animal byproducts, decided to adopt PowerVue in 2012 because it was designed specifically for the company’s niche, said Paul Battista, corporate transportation project manager.

Now that the product is owned by PeopleNet, users will stand to benefit from greater development and tech support resources, he said.

“I think it’s a good thing,” Battista said. “There are a lot of valuable things that the PowerVue product brings to the private-fleet marketplace, but the PeopleNet side of it is the big engine that can take the PowerVue product and really launch it into space.”

Valley Proteins, based in Winchester, Virginia, ranks No. 93 on the Transport Topics Top100 list of the largest private carriers in North America.