Caterpillar Teams with the Biggest Telematics Company in the World, Brings On-Highway Trucks into VisionLink

Caterpillar continues to expand its digital toolbox. I’ll direct you to headlines like Cat’s new AI Assistant and its recent acquisition of RPMGlobal, a mining software technology company. Here comes another venture, and it’s not off-highway. Cat is partnering with Geotab (the biggest telematics company in the world) to pull on-highway trucks into its VisionLink telematics ecosystem. That means one dashboard for yellow iron, highway tractors, service trucks, vans, and everything in between. From this press release: 

“Our customers want one simple way to manage everything in their fleet, no matter where their equipment runs. With roughly 30 percent of their assets on-highway, our work with Geotab lets us bring those vehicles into the picture. Customers will now have full fleet data to spot repair needs, enhance safety and compliance, and improve efficiency,” said Ogi Redzic, Chief Digital Officer, Cat Digital.

This is an interesting data handshake. Geotab handles on-road telematics. VisionLink becomes that single pane of glass. For our fleet managers, this is interesting news. Let’s dig in.

What’s involved in the Cat/Geotab partnership? 

The partnership connects Geotab’s GO devices, cameras, and asset trackers to Cat’s VisionLink through the MyGeotab platform. The Geotab GO device is a small vehicle tracking device that plugs into a vehicle’s onboard diagnostics (OBD) II port without an antenna or wire-splicing required. There’s the GO Focus Plus, the AI dash cam that calls out risks like distractions, tailgating, and rolling stops. Drivers hear in-cab voice feedback, aimed at teaching moments before an incident occurs. These AI-enabled cameras will be available through Cat dealers and Parts.Cat.com. There’s lots more. 

Fleet managers will be able to see on-highway vehicle data next to Cat and non-Cat off-highway machines. That data includes:

• Location tracking across trucks and equipment
• Routing and dispatching
• Engine health and fault code visibility
• Fuel use and idle time monitoring
• AI camera integrations
• Compliance data, including ELD support (electronic logging devices drivers use to record hours of service)

Who is Geotab?

Geotab is a private Canadian telematics company founded in 2000 and headquartered in Oakville, Ontario. Geotab is widely recognized as the largest commercial telematics company in the world based on total subscriptions. CEO Neil Cawse still owns it. Geotab develops GPS tracking hardware and a cloud fleet platform called MyGeotab. The company reports nearly 6 million connected vehicles across 160 countries. Geotab’s footprint runs deep in government in the U.S Government as well —  just like Palantir. It has secured contracts with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Air Force, and the U.S. Postal Service. It also builds cool platforms like its transportation analytics unit, Altitude by Geotab, which analyzes aggregated data for public and commercial projects. Altitude by Geotab helps public and private sectors optimize infrastructure planning, enhance road safety, select sites for development, and analyze traffic patterns.

Cat continues to expand VisionLink

Caterpillar Inc. has invested heavily in digital services through Cat Digital. VisionLink sits at the center of that strategy. The platform connects more than 1.5 million off-highway assets worldwide. VisionLink gives contractors and equipment pros full fleet visualization across owned, leased, and rented assets. It allows mobile access to equipment hours, fuel levels, idle time, and fault codes. It can spearhead task management for maintenance service workflows, and it integrates with Parts.Cat.com for parts ordering. The Geotab partnership extends VisionLink’s mixed-fleet philosophy onto the highway. Now the service truck that fuels your excavator and the excavator itself can live in the same digital ecosystem.