Since 1999, Routeware has been installing fleet automation solutions in the public sector and for private haulers. After 20 years, the industry’s “Little Engine That Could” continues to grow based on new and emerging advances in technology.

“Our customers span a broad range of haulers, from 10 to 15 truck operations to large-scale operations with fleets in the thousands of vehicles,” says Tom Malone, Routeware CEO. “This level of exposure to many workflow environments has enabled Routeware to adapt its system design, installation, training and support methodologies to serve a wide variety of customers and municipalities.”

But this was not the case about six years ago, when the Portland, Ore.-based company was struggling and needed a major overhaul.

“Six years ago, Routeware saw a gap in the market and made an intentional shift to providing customers something that wasn’t in the industry—a full solution in software, hardware and services—and something that was modular and could grow with our customers’ businesses,” says Malone. “Along with the flexible, scalable solution we created, we also focused on providing the best, most technically adept, in-house customer service in the industry.”

Now, the company provides a broader product line that includes Big Data analytics, video and picture service, with extensive hardware choices.

“We’ve become a turnkey solution for everything that a hauler needs to automate their route sheets and track their drivers, deriving high-level productivity with metrics,” says Malone.

The heart and soul of the company’s solution is the Routeware Control Center (RCC), a software platform with more than 20 years of development that allows clients to automate routes, manage workflow and provide service verification.

The RCC integrates with in-cab Windows and Android devices, as well as third-party software, to give municipalities and private haulers a high-level overview of their waste hauling operation. These systems also integrate with most billing systems.

“Our in-cab technology includes seven different in-truck tablets of varying degrees of ruggedness, cradles, mounts, wiring, video and picture cameras and RFID [radio-frequency identification] readers,” says Malone. “We also provide a Big Data analytics solution for driver-performance coaching and waste hauling productivity, Routeware DPO. With the acquisition of Webaspx, we also provide route optimization with the EasyRoute product solution.”

The tablets mounted in the trucks integrate with various sensors on the trucks, sending real-time data to the back office RCC solution. Dispatchers can see where all their trucks are at any given time, monitoring events, lifts, extras, service verification, as well as access any of the more than 200 reports as part of RCC.

Routeware customers The Action Environmental Group and its wholly-owned subsidiary Interstate Waste Services, Inc. (IWS) based in Teaneck, N.J., utilize the RCC and a mix of Windows hybrid tablets, Samsung Galaxy tablets and Routeware Basic units on the hardware side. The company also uses Routeware cameras for still photos.

Action and IWS have grown from third-generation, family owned and operated companies to one of the largest privately owned hauling and recycling operations in the Northeast. IWS has been using Routeware for more than two years, and Action is in the process of implementing its New York City fleet by the end of 2019.

“Most industry-specific solutions usually get you to the same result. Companies may choose a certain solution because it fits the needs of the business just a little better than another,” says Greg O’Brien, director of information technology for IWS and Action. “What sets Routeware aside from the numerous other providers in the business is the attentiveness of its customer service team, the product knowledge of its sales team, the flawless operation of its products due to its development team, the mutual trust and respect we have with its leadership and executive team and, most notably, its top-notch support department.”

The companies have experienced a number of benefits from utilizing Routeware solutions, including using tablet-based cameras to capture extra volume that is interfaced into their customer service and billing system for billing extras to their customers, having sequenced route sheets available to their drivers on the tablet has helped improve operational efficiency and Routeware providing additional operating metrics, such as idle time, to give dispatch greater insight into managing their fleet.

“It has brought greater focus and insight into the daily operation,” says Brian Giambagno, chief financial officer for IWS and Action.

With a track record of zero failed installs over 20 years, Routeware has almost doubled in size in just six.

“We are growing profitably with a growth rate of more than 40 percent and now have offices in Portland, Ore., and London, England,” says Malone.