The winter weather in Havre, Montana is not a force to be reckoned with. Jim Donovan, Director of Grounds and Transportation at Havre Public Schools, kept that in mind when he decided to implement a fleet tracking solution. “The weather up here in the winter is bad,” he says. “If something happens, the ability to get help can be stretched sometimes to an hour because you’re so far from anybody.”
The town’s rural location dictates that the busses can be traveling within a 300 mile radius during the week and on the weekends when transporting students to and from events. The harsh Montana winters tend to complicate transportation situations and increase the likelihood of delays. When the district began the search for a fleet tracking vendor in 2011, Russ Earl, Assistant Director of Transportation, noticed many solutions were either radio or cell-based. Earl says they went with Fleetmatics because the area is so large that radio-based and cell-based programs are not reliable enough.
The public school system deployed the Fleetmatics fleet tracking solution in July 2012 to help to enhance student safety. Fleetmatics has helped to improve communication between the district and parents. It has also reinforced safe and efficient driving habits for the school bus drivers.
In addition, the transportation after a late-ending volleyball match doesn’t have to be a source of anxiety for parents anymore. The district created an “activity bus locator” section on its website using real-time tracking data provided by Fleetmatics. Parents can now monitor the location of their child’s bus right from the web.
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