DriveLine International
SkyBitz Protects Cross-border Shipping
Situation
DriveLine International, Inc. was started in January 1992 with the intention of building a South Texas based trucking company that could service the specific needs of the maquila industry that was fast emerging along the United States/Mexico border between Laredo and Brownsville. Servicing the United States and particular areas of Mexico and Canada, DriveLine has grown over the years to meet the shipping requirements of its customers and currently owns and operates more than 50 late model tractors and 150 trailers.
DriveLine’s primary objective was to install a trailer tracking solution that had a broad coverage area, especially for those trucks moving between the United States and Mexico. The Company’s main concern was to recover stolen trailers and, most importantly, their customers’ cargo.
Solution
DriveLine tested SkyBitz’s InSight Tracking for three months in 2003. During that time, DriveLine found that SkyBitz’s Global Locating System (GLS) Platform not only provided trailer and truck information, but was more cost effective than any other tracking service or in-cab communication system on the market. At the completion of the test, Driveline installed SkyBitz units throughout its entire fleet of 150 trailers to better manage its assets.
Results
With the addition of SkyBitz’s InSight Tracking, DriveLine International has experienced an increase in overall fleet efficiencies, which has driven a quick return on its investment in less than six months. Also, the company has recovered several trailers that normally would have been written off as stolen. For example, DriveLine, SkyBitz and Mexican law enforcement officials were able to locate a stolen trailer in Mexico. As soon as DriveLine discovered a trailer was missing, company executives remotely turned on SkyBitz’s “panic feature.” Immediately, the unit began tracking the trailer’s location every three minutes, which allowed DriveLine to pinpoint the trailer’s exact location and provide specific information to Mexican law enforcement. As a result, law enforcement officials raided the chop shop where the trailer was located and found not only DriveLine’s trailer, but 12 other stolen trailers that were in the process of being stripped of all identifiable markings.