While it is still true that most of our industry is feverously focused on the enterprise applications of asset tracking within the “4 walls” or, if focusing outside, the primarily focus is on hard assets. However, a unique application focus is now emerging around securing liquid bulk fuels both stationary and in-transit.

Years ago, groups of smart people figured out how to bundle technology to track the location and status of rolling trucks globally. It even quickly took the name we now all recognize as “Fleet Management” systems.

This was a technical marriage of truck cabin based sensors wired into and on-board computing platform including a GPS receiver and either a cellular or Satellite modem. Today, this is a ubiquitous technology in the trucking industry with companies like Qualcomm leading the way and carries value added features like real-time text communications with the driver, real-time monitoring of the cabin’s location, and real-time monitoring of cabin conditions like odometer, speedometer, breaking conditions, and tire pressure.

What RFID can now enable is moving the monitoring paradigm from the cabin of the truck back to the load that the truck is hauling. After all, in today’s fractured fuel transport market, those who care about the truck may be vastly different than those who care about the load.

This may sound like a pie in the sky application but it may surprise you that 10’s of thousands of these tags are in use today globally, attached to fuel tanker truck hatches and valves rolling down the road or at retail location on ground tanks around the world.

By Erik Wood, SB Roving Editor

WATCH FOR PART 2 with more details on business processes next week.

As AT&T and Verizon invested over $20 Billion in the spectrum auction, Google dropped out.

Instead, Google has decided to make an initial modest investment in WiMax with Sprint.

So now we’re all wondering what is the 3 year game plan for all these guys and how it impacts our RFID world.

First let me preface this latest in the series of articles with the following:

“Today, May 2008, we’ve successfully tested and implemented an application that provides real time locating of RFID within 1000 meters at a landscape covering 90% of the US population ‘without’ GPS.”

Yes, without GPS we can pinpoint an RFID device within 1000 meters using the 900 MHz spectrum. We know that with GPS we can pinpoint to 20 meter accuracy, but it’s exclusively for outdoor applications today. The 1000 meter range location with 900MHz spectrum is indoors or outdoors.

So now back to the 700 MHz and WiMax.

When Google realized that $20 Billion is too high a price to enter the telecommunication space, a group was formed to create a consortium to battle Verizon and T-Mobile.

Here is how it plays out. . .

Verizon has become the dominant spectrum holder of 700 MHz which means they have the lead in reducing their wireless infrastructure costs for voice and data, compared to AT&T. If the other players in the Telcom and RBOX environment stay with 900 MHz, Verizon’s costs of operation will be 20-25% of the competitors by 2015. So Sprint and T-Mobile needed to scramble for alternatives.

At the same time, Verizon’s highly promoted fiber optics offering is beginning to hurt the cable industry as Verizon is bundling voice, wireless, data and entertainment to the home with superior HD delivery.
This is hurting Comcast, Time Warner and CableVision.

Now come Google. Plenty of cash in the bank and a plan to take on Apple and the iPhone. The $20 Billion entry fee in 700 MHz was too high so Google went to the next choice. WiMax. Google is no stranger to WiMax. Google has been bidding on community WiMax RFP’s for over 3 years. If it’s too expensive to play in the 700 MHz field, why not WiMax?

Wait a minute. How does Google, iPhone and WiMax blend? Well, as long as you have a license in all 50 states for a digital network, there is no reason why you can’t offer VOIP over WiMax just like Vonage. In fact, one of the dirty little secrets of wireless voice and data is that the wireless companies basically only offer the first and last mile of transmission, the rest is over the cell phone communication is VOIP.

So, if Google goes with WiMax and offers a digital VOIP wireless phone, it’s basically Vonage handheld phone over WiMax.

But let’s get real. Google is not a phone company or a VOIP company. They are the best at delivering content and their revenue comes from ads. How are they going to pull this off?

Let’s go to Intel. Remember little Intel. They produce all those millions of WiFi enabled laptop chips. Well, if Motorola or Qualcomm provide the infrastructure for 700 MHz voice and data, what’s going to
happen to the Intel WiFi market?

To protect the Intel franchise, Google is partnering with Intel to produce devices that can connect with a national WiMax network. Whether it’s a phone or a laptop, Google and Intel will be competing with Verizon.

But neither Intel or Google know how to operate and promote voice and data. What to do? Enter Sprint. With $3 Billion, Sprint joins forces with Clearwire Corp to create the largest WiMax spectrum offering in the USA. So now we have Sprint with a significant, yet shrinking, sales and marketing channel in combination with Clearwire that is an expert in operating a WiMax architecture.

Funding from Google with more cash than the US Federal Reserve and Intel with an R&D and product development infrastructure that is second to none.

Last, there is a sprinkle of fairy dust from Comcast to help deliver content, and to some of us who are Comcast customers we envision that Comcast will contribute nothing of substance.

So now that I’ve exhausted a good part of your productive day with an description of the landscape, what does this mean?

How does the clash of the titans sound?

Verizon ‘vs’ Sprint, Google and Intel.
700 MHz ‘vs’ WiMax.

For RFID it means accelerated spectrum space in which to bring forth new products and new applications.

For RFID readers, it means that RFID readers can be connected directly to the backbone. We’re already doing it. In my shop I have a barcode reader that is connected to my wireless router and is in constant communication with my server 5,000 miles away.

For non-passive RFID devices the ability to remove readers from the formula is much closer now than ever before.

In other words, within the next 3 years we will no longer need readers/interrogators for non-passive RFID devices. Our non-passive RFID devices will communicate with the host directly, in real time, over
700MHz or WiMax.

Based on a cost of almst $5 a gallon for diesel, my estimates for 2008 have increased to over $8 Billion of the $100+ Billion fuel spending for 2008.

It isn’t that the price of diesel is twice as high as 2005, it’s that the attraction to steal at $5 a gallon is considerably more attractive.

RFID is one of the compelling technologies that can reduce this economic cost considerably.

Comment on this story and we’ll provide you direction to reduce the costs associated with abuse of fuel dispensing.

RFID protector
Jan 1, 2006

Fuel prices rising by as much as 20% a year have spurred an increase in fuel theft, and waste, from commercial vehicles. This employee-related crime is now costing the United States trucking industry $2.1 billion a year, according to Jeff Schaengold of RF Commerce LLC.

The rate of fuel theft is accelerating as climbing fuel prices tempt more employees to steal fuel. Fuel waste also is a pronounced concern as transportation companies struggle to find a cost-effective answer to curb what is threatening their bottom line.

Latest figures from the American Trucking Associations (ATA) indicate that the US trucking industry will face a $72 billion fuel cost for 2005 — a $20 billion increase over 2004. In the past few months, fleets have reported these rising gas prices are crimping quarterly profits. “It’s no wonder that coupled with rising cases of employee fuel theft because of overall rises in petroleum, the public sector is suffering as well,” said Schaengold.

Taxpayers foot the bill when public funds are used to compensate for misuse of state-purchased fuel — a double blow for the economy. But both government authorities and private firms are taking simple, affordable steps to stop the waste and theft of trucking fuel with cutting-edge RFID (radio frequency identification) technology to combat this problem.

When using RFID to monitor rolling assets such as trucks and company vehicles, fuel theft dramatically decreases. This saves the company, the taxpayer, and the US economy billions of dollars of resources and revenue.

“The greater the consumption of all grades of fuel in the United States, the higher the fuel pump price to consumer, the higher home heating oil will be this winter, and the rate of inflation in 2006,” said Schaengold.

Because RFID tracking is geared to monitor and communicate activities of trucks and operators, trucking companies can tailor each RFID product to suit their needs, without unnecessarily going over their current budgets.

Recent industry reports have shown an increased use of RFID in monitoring truck activity in construction and mining operations to ensure that loads are accounted accurately. This is occurring on refrigerated containers and trailers to monitor temperature and humidity, and RFID is also used in yard management systems to locate assets.

“The same sensor-based technology used in refineries and chemical facilities to measure and monitor flow of liquids is applied to monitoring truck fuel consumption,” said Schaengold. “RFID coupled with GPS provides real-time tracking of the truck movements as well as idle time when the engine consumes fuel instead of shutting down.”

RFID allows a fuel tank cap to be matched with an authorized fuel pump. If the operator opens the fuel cap and he is not within the proximity of an authorized fuel pump, the RFID transponder unit logs the event. The trucking company, through reporting and messaging, receives a record of the event and can challenge the operator’s activity.

RFID-associated fuel pumps match drivers and trucks through closed-circuit TV images with the truck RFID transponder. Much like EZ-Pass, if the truck doesn’t match the transponder, the trucking company is alerted.

Traffic jams waste fuel at high rates with no mobility value. RFID can route drivers away from congestion, saving both time and fuel costs. According to Schaengold, “RFID presents practical, manageable, and affordable solutions for the trucking industry because it works, and for a new technology, it’s refreshingly based on solid, defined methods of tracking principles.”

Without RFID, fuel usage waste and theft is hard to manage and hard to prove. Not only does RFID offer a precise and trackable method, but it also offers a strong deterrent for fuel theft and unnecessary waste, while savings far outweigh the costs.

Management of truck operators requires quantification and real-time visibility. Managers need to know they can locate their drivers at any time, and find out what they are doing, precisely and efficiently. RFID does that, in a cost-effective and non-obstructive method that doesn’t drain valuable company resources.

RFID enables tracking and monitoring of all types of trucking. It is more efficient than bar-code tracking, since RFID requires no manual scanning and no line of sight.

Because RFID works seamlessly within the trucking industry, and creates a mutually beneficial working environment, the savings and enhanced efficiency more than cover the cost of acquisition. With such a costly activity as fuel waste and theft reduced, RFID’s cost-saving results will give companies the edge over trucking competitors and competing transportation modes.

The higher the price of fuel, the more value technology to reduce fuel consumption gains in importance. Again, the cost of fuel falls not only on private companies and the public sector, but also the consumers. Fuel is heading towards $3 a gallon, so trucking fuel costs — aside from those incurred through theft — are rising at double digits. Yet “RFID makes the task of fuel, operator, and rolling stock monitoring entirely manageable, without the need for companies to hire extra staff,” said Schaengold.

US trucking companies are using RFID with considerable results. RFID-enabled smart cards at the fuel pump are making fuel dispensing easier and quicker. It is estimated that by year 2007, companies not using RFID will lose up to $4 billion due to fuel waste and theft, if the adoption of RFID is not accelerated in 2005 and 2006.

For almost a dozen years we’ve advocated that serializing food on an item level will save food processors Billions of dollars in recall expenses.

The cost of serializing on the item level with barcode and possibly RFID on the carton level will help food processors target recalls to specific units of measure rather across the board.

Basically, tracking your production on the item level serialization provides companies the ability to target specific lots and pull them off the shelf.

Also, in cooperation with the major retailers, adding the facility to read a serial number barcode at the POS, will keep consumers from purchasing a recalled product.

How does it work ?

Simple. Once a recall is announced the retailer flags the UPC at the retail POS to have the serial number barcode scanned. When the serial number barcode is scanned, the retailer POS validates whether the item is at risk or it’s acceptable to purchase.

Wal-Mart is already doing it with electronics, prompting the POS clerk to scan the serial number barcode.

We met with Dole twice in 2006 to propose serializing their bagged lettuce production.

Needless to say if you go to the grocery store, the Dole bagged lettuce is not serialized April 2008. But look at how much the industry lost in bagged lettuce and spinach sales as a result of recalls. Hundreds of millions of dollars.

Recent cantaloupe recalls will cost retailers and Honduras and El Salvador 10’s of millions of dollars.

Hallmark Beef is basically out of business. Yes, they will operate again under a different name. Yes, they will probably have another CEO that basically never leaves his office. But will they begin by serializing their beef production?

I would like to challenge the USDA. . . Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer – Require suppliers of food to school programs to serialize their deliveries to the school programs!

If the Secretary of Defense can do it, why not the USDA ?

In his article Carl made some great points about how new technology like RFID in complex situations requires some things that it feels to me are in short supply these days – processes and patience! He did such a great job explaining why time mattered in this instance that it inspired me to talk a little in today’s blog about time and what it means in the high tech industry of late.

To me it seems that we rush so much to make things happen that we often miss what could have happened better along the way. We are in such a rush to close that prospect, launch that new product, finish that meeting, and complete that project that we miss the networking opportunity that could have provided us with 50 sales, or the application that already exists that could solve a pressing issue for our best customers. Why? As I said earlier I think we lack the processes and patience to effectively work things through to their most successful conclusion!

So now here is this major government agency undertaking an important new technology like RFID, educating an entire market on the processes, and trying to keep their buying processes competitive (all I might mention while fighting a war) and there are questions about the timeline? Only in our industry!

It’s almost as if we have some kind of time recognition disorder; whereby we distort the time that would be reasonable for a normal company or a normal person to get something done and just pick a time we think sounds right. Then we take that and insist that things get done on that timeline; a timeline we pulled out of thin air! I guess we must figure if a new technology can come out every time you blink and the computer you bought last month can already be the “older version” that all of us have to keep the pace and run a little faster.

Think about it for a minute in a context outside our industry:
In my school district here in NJ it has taken over 7 years for us to select a new math textbook for our middle school because our old “everyday math” was creating “unable to do math” children. Our educators feel they are moving just as fast as they can.

It’s taken the car industry over 100 years to figure out a way to tell you before you back up and hit something; and everyone seems tickled pink by that one coming to market never heard “what took them so long”.

So today as we approach April 15th – tax day here in the U.S. – let’s take a minute, take a look at our jammed calendars and our goals that all have to happen and reset our expectations just a little for 2008. I’m not saying slow down so much that you are behind, I’m just saying get a little more realistic about how much time things will take to achieve and keep in mind that not everything can happen in the next 30 days!

If you balance your time this year like you balance the money in your checkbook (never spending what you don’t have and occasionally checking the balance to make sure you have enough to cover what’s coming due) this year you will be far ahead of your competition!