Posts Tagged ‘Skybitz’
Monday, November 7th, 2011
It’s that time of year again. What is said to be one the nation’s most perfect trees will be embarking on its journey to Washington D.C. tomorrow as part of the Capital Building’s annual Christmas tradition.
It’s been a custom dating back to 1970, when the Superintendent of the Capital Grounds chooses one of our national forests’ trees to endure the honor of being lighted and displayed on the western front lawn of the Capital Building for all to see.
The tree, better known as the “People’s Tree,” is one of nearly ten trees chosen from our country’s national forests and recommended by the Forest Service each year as being the “perfect” 60-foot red fir tree.
The Stanislaus National Forest, located in California, was chosen to do the honor of providing this year’s tree, making it the fourth time CA has provided the Capital Christmas Tree, the last being in 1995.
Click image for larger view
The Superintendent’s tree choice was made back in August and harvested last Saturday (November 5th). On Nov. 8th, the tree will begin its 4,500-mile journey, touring 8 days throughout CA and an additional 12 days nationwide, making stops along the way for people to view and eventually arriving in Washington D.C. on November 28th. (See image on right for tour schedule).
As in previous years, SkyBitz is allowing individuals to join in on the fun every mile along the way by offering their satellite tracking tools which let people follow the tree’s journey. SkyBitz’s technology provides real-time tracking, including a map of the tree’s location right down to the street-level, just like Road Scholar Transport uses SkyBitz for monitoring your freight.
By going to TrackTheTree.com, you will not only view a map of where the tree is and has been, but will also see photos taken from its stops across the country, a blog about its journey, and a mile counter to keep track of how many miles it has traveled thus far.
Individuals can also follow the tree via Twitter (@TracktheTree) and Facebook (www.Facebook.com/TracktheTree).
Once the tree arrives at its destination, it will be decked out in 10,000 lights and nearly 3,000 homemade ornaments from CA. On Dec. 6th, a child chosen from the tree’s state (in this case CA) will light the tree, which will then stay aglow until Jan. 1st.
The same technology that the Capitol trusts to track their Christmas tree is used on every one of Road Scholar Transport’s tractor trailers, providing full visibility of your cargo during transport. Be sure to visit www.roadscholar.com to get a rate today and gain access to Road Scholar’s SkyBitz satellite tracking.
What do you think of SkyBitz’s satellite tracking and the fact that Road Scholar applies this, and other security technology, onto its fleet? List your comments below.
Tags: california, Capital Building, christmas, Christmas Tree, facebook, freight, people’s tree, red fir, road scholar transport, satellite tracking, Skybitz, Stanislaus National Forest, track the tree, twitter, Washington D.C.
Posted in Awareness Campaign Articles, LTL freight, Services, Trucking Industry News | Comments Off
Thursday, September 8th, 2011
Road Scholar Transport celebrates its 23rd year in business today, September 8th.
Established in 1988 by Jim Barrett and his wife Debra, Road Scholar was just getting its wheels on the road when Jim leased a 27-year-old tractor trailer and acted as the company’s sole driver as Debra dispatched from their son’s bedroom. That year, Jim accumulated four trucks, earning $500,000 in receipts.
The next year, that number escalated to $2 million and continued to steadily grow to $25 million in receipts in 2000. As for Road Scholar’s four tractor trailers, they received some company, now growing to 140 tractors and around 300 trailers!
Now, 23-years later from when its first truck hit the road, Road Scholar continues to operate out of its headquarters in Dunmore, PA with four additional terminals in Leominster, MA-Jersey City, NJ-Philadelphia, PA-and Denver, PA.
Take that 27-year-old rented tractor trailer that Jim began with and compare it with the company’s 97 tractors and 305 dry vans and refrigerated trailers they run today, with the newest units being 2012 models driven by Road Scholar’s Hazmat certified drivers.
Did we mention the advanced technology Road Scholar has incorporated over the years?
From our social media presence (check us out on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Youtube) to our advanced security features (SkyBitz satellite tracking, electronic door monitoring, temperature monitoring, Navalock, Qualcomm and much more) Road Scholar Transport is constantly looking to build on its technological presence and the safety of your cargo.
And what about our awareness program? What 
started out with a single pink tractor trailer to raise breast cancer awareness turned into over twenty-one awareness trucks dedicated to various charities with that number continuously growing.
Throughout the years, Road Scholar has developed into a multi-million dollar company with an outstanding safety record and reputable service to its customers.
Only one question remains, what will we think of next?
Tags: anniversary, awareness program, awareness trucks, Breast Cancer Awareness, cargo, charities, Denver, Dunmore, electronic door monitoring, facebook, hazmat certified, Jersey City, Jim Barrett, Leominster, linkedin, MA, navalock, NJ, pa, Philadelphia, Qualcomm, road scholar transport, satellite tracking, security features, Skybitz, social media, temperature monitoring, tractor-trailer, twitter, youtube
Posted in Awareness Campaign Articles, Company News, Trucking Industry News | Comments Off
Friday, March 11th, 2011
Senators from Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, Florida, Minnesota, and West Virginia proposed a new bill earlier this week that would enforce stricter punishments on pharmaceutical thieves.
The bill, which was introduced last Tuesday, “would formally criminalize the acts of storing, transporting or changing labels on stolen medical products” (http://www.boston.com/business/healthcare/articles/2011/03/10/senate_bill_aims_to_combat_pharmaceutical_theft/).
The proposal would also help police track down thieves by providing them with additional tools such as wiretaps, under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations law, an article on boston.com notes. You can compare this to a company like Road Scholar Transport who has the ability to trace and track all of our tractor trailers via satellite. It wouldn’t take long for Road Scholar to pinpoint exactly where our truck and your cargo are at any moment.
Don’t think it is necessary to pay more for a better quality carrier? You may rethink your answer. According to the site, $184 million worth the pharmaceuticals were stolen last year in the United States, with $75 million of the amount being stolen at one warehouse in Connecticut that was storing Eli Lilly drugs.
Where exactly did these drugs end up? You may have guessed that they would be dealed in alleys and on streets, in which you would be correct, but did you know that most of the time pharmaceuticals are resold to medical locations such as hospitals and pharmacies?
So you save a few dollars by shipping with a carrier that has a poor safety rating, high damage and loss rate, and little, if any, security features. You may see a small rate, but is that the whole price you are paying by shipping with a bottomfeeder carrier?
Let’s look at a case that happened two years ago in North Carolina when a carrier was transporting almost $11 million dollars worth the insulin. The insulin, which needs to be refrigerated, was being transported via reefer. The reefer was stolen and the thieves were not caught, whereas they would have immediately been captured using Road Scholar’s “SkyBitz.”
The insulin, which was not properly refrigerated, was resold to medical stores, and diabetics who purchased this medication became really sick and rushed to the hospital.
Now imagine if this was your product. Not only did you lose thousands/millions of dollars when your shipment was stolen but now face health issues, recalls, and brand equity, all because you did not choose a safe, quality driven carrier.
Road Scholar not only offers vans, but temperature protect services. With ReeferTrak, you will be given access to data including every time the trailer door was opened/closed to guarantee that no one was tampering with your freight during transport, as well as the temperature inside the trailer at any given time to ensure that your pharmaceuticals are transported under the right conditions so you don’t have to worry about recalls and health issues due to improper transport.
On a scale of 1 to 5, how much would you value being able to view the exact location and temperature of your shipment at any place and time?
Tags: bill, cargo, carrier, Connecticut, Eli Lilly, Florida, insulin, medical products, new york, Ohio, pennsylvania, pharmaceutical theft, proposal, Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations law, reefer, ReeferTrak, road scholar transport, satellite tracking, senator, Skybitz, temperature protect services, thieves, tractor-trailer, van, west virginia, wiretaps
Posted in Awareness Campaign Articles, LTL freight, Services, Trucking Industry News | Comments Off
Tuesday, December 7th, 2010
Wow that Picasso painting looks like an original. That’s because it might be.
Picasso was famous for Cubism
According to artinfo.com, a truck transporting over $6.5 million worth the famous artwork was stolen from a warehouse in Getafe, Spain this weekend.
Among the artwork were artists/sculptors Picasso, Botero, Chillada, Gonzalo and Julio Gonzalez, Saura, and Marsi.
The 28 art pieces were being transported back from Germany where they were on loan, and were headed to their original locations spread throughout six galleries in Spain, the site notes.
Details are being withheld from the public in order to prevent misinformation about the artwork, thus tampering the investigation. What is known is that a surveillance video captured three hooded men breaking into the warehouse, thus sending off the alarm, and stealing the truck in which the keys were left in the glove compartment (http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/36517/hoods-drive-off-with-a-65-million-truckload-of-art-by-picasso-and-others-in-spain/).
It was not until Tuesday that the truck was found abandoned with the artwork missing, the site explains.
Good thing that in the United States we have Road Scholar Transport. Road Scholar Transport provides security features, such as SkyBitz and Qualcomm, on all of their tractor trailers, alerting of all electronic door openings and closures and tracking right down to the street level, so in the unfortunate event that something happens, trucks can be recovered in no time instead of days later.
The theft in Spain is believed to be an inside job, which is why Road Scholar Transport does routine background and drug tests on every new hire so that only the safest and trusted drivers are handling your freight.
Tags: artwork, Botero, Chillada, driver, freight, gallery, Germany, Getafe, Gonzalo, Marsi, Picasso, Qualcomm, road scholar transport, Saura, sculptor, security, Skybitz, Spain, stolen, theft, tractor-trailer, transport, truck
Posted in Services, Trucking Industry News | Comments Off
Monday, September 20th, 2010
According to truckflix.com, police are offering a $10,000 reward for any information regarding a stolen truckload of firearms and sporting goods last month.
The truckload carrying “133 firearms and sporting goods equipment” was stolen at Con-Way Freight in Billings, MT and was headed to MT Sports (http://www.truckflix.com/news_article.php?newsid=7073). Although the police have some leads, they do not have any suspects and are worried that thieves will fire the guns at civilians.
It is important when transporting freight that poses as any threat, whether hazardously or weapon-wise, to use a safe, trustworthy carrier. You won’t see any of Road Scholar Transport’s freight being stolen.
With digital surveillance of Road Scholar Transport’s property and cargo cam, we are able to keep an eye on our trucks and your cargo 24/7. Navalock and bolt and cable seals make it harder for thieves to access your freight and tamper evident tapes and seals make it noticeable if any cargo is touched.
Want more? Every trailer is also equipped with electronic door monitoring, showing every time a door is opened or closed via Skybitz. The best part is, Road Scholar Transport’s 24-hour expedited shipping allows for dock-to-dock with NO transfers!
Learn more about Road Scholar Transport by visiting www.roadscholar.com.
Tags: Billings, cargo, Con-Way, firearm, freight, MT, MT Sports, reward, road, scholar, Skybitz, suspect, trailer, transfer, transport, truckload
Posted in Services, Trucking Industry News | 5 Comments »
Monday, September 13th, 2010
EXPERTISE: Road Scholar Transport has been in business since 1988, when owner Jim Barrett leased a tractor trailer, and with his wife Debra taking on the role of dispatcher, laid the groundwork for what grew to be an industry of approximately 95 drivers and tractors, over 350 trailers, and ten owner operators…and it all started with one leased tractor trailer and a dream.
SERVICES: Need it there fast? No problem. Road Scholar Transport offers 24 hour expedited shipping (dock-to-dock with NO transfers) and 48 hour west coast service. With 48 and 53 foot trailer availability, and van, reefer, freezer, and heater options, be assured that whatever your freight is, Road Scholar can transport it. Key service areas include the Mid-Atlantic and New England areas (Eastern VA to ME) but we not limited to those areas by any means. Our trucks are often seen throughout the nation!
All of our trailers are air ride and reefers contain a remote temperature setting via a secure website, so you can rest tight that your cargo is safe. That, and the fact that Road Scholar Transport has a 0.0001% damage rate and never suffered a full cargo loss. Our drivers are HazMat certified and underwent emergency response procedure training to know what to do if anything should ever happen.
With our online tools, you can get a quote from customer service within 10 minutes, schedule a pickup, track a shipment, online document retrieval, fuel surcharges, pre-populate your shipping locations, print a BOL, get an auto rate quote, and much more. How much easier can it get?
SECURITY FEATURES: Don’t wait for something to happen to your freight before you look into which trucking industries have the best security. It takes perpetrators less than 90 seconds to defeat a truck’s security features and steal your freight. Any longer than that, they move on to another target. With Road Scholar, thieves would be running away from our security features.
Our tractor trailers feature SkyBitz (mapping the most recent, and historical, positions of all vehicles, e-mail and/or pager alerts sent out in the event of a status change, and reports/alerts of door openings and closures). With cargo cam, covert, assisted GPS cargo tracking, bolt and cable seals, tamper evident tapes and seals, truck, trailer, and container locks and seals, your cargo is safe from thieves.
Road Scholar Transport also has Qualcomm distress/panic messaging, which features panic buttons to prevent operation of a vehicle, roof decals for aerial tracking, and facility security.
HELPING OTHERS: Road Scholar Transport has a social conscious as well. If you haven’t heard by now, our company created the 10 Million Miles to a Cure Awareness Campaign. We have many trailers dedicated to different charities/organizations such as, but not limited to: Alex’s Lemonade, Autism Speaks, American Breast Cancer Foundation, Children’s Tumor Foundation, Prostate Cancer Awareness, International Rett Syndrome Foundation, St. Joseph’s Center, American Foundation for the Blind, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PANCAN), The Flight 93 National Memorial, and The American Red Cross. Through the use of these rolling billboards, we will travel 10 million miles in order to help spread awareness and hopefully save the lives of thousands. Visit www.roadscholar.com/awareness to learn more about our campaign and to view our awareness trucks.
Want to know more? Visit www.roadscholar.com.
Tags: campaign, conditions, disease, expertise, freight, Qualcomm, road, scholar, security, service, Skybitz, transport, trucking
Posted in Awareness Campaign Articles, Services | Comments Off
Monday, September 13th, 2010
What do you get when two transportation technology leaders join together?…a more efficient and simplified transaction.
According to Business Wire, real-time asset tracking leader, SkyBitz, is partnering up with McLeod Software to make their products easier to use for customers.
What does this mean? Instead of dispatcher/operations managers having to switch back and forth between applications to view different information sources, they will now be able to check statuses and real-time tracking through McLeod’s LoadMaster (http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20100913006683/en).
Road Scholar Transport takes pride in offering the best security and services for their customers, which is why all of our trailers are equipped with SkyBitz. With SkyBitz’s asset locator, we are able to locate the present positions of all equipped vehicles, map the most recent positions (as well as historical positions) of all vehicles, provide e-mail and /or pager alerts sent out in the event of a status change, and send reports or alerts of door openings and closures.
Check out www.roadscholar.com to learn more about Road Scholar Transport’s security features, including Navalock and Qualcomm (featuring panic buttons to prevent operation of vehicle).
Tags: Business, freight, McLeod Software, Qualcomm, road, scholar, security, Skybitz, transport, trucking, Wire
Posted in Services, Trucking Industry News | Comments Off
Friday, September 10th, 2010
Kovac Express driver David Dennett returned to the Michigan City area truck stop two days later, only to find that his semi-trailer was gone.
According to The Herald Argus, Dennett was hauling over 8 tons of playground equipment to a retailer in New Jersey, when he parked it at Gas City before heading home. The trailer was still there the next day when he passed by but when he returned Sunday night, all that was left was the GPS from the truck, which thieves were smart enough to remove before taking off with the semi-truck and its cargo (http://heraldargus.com/articles/2010/09/09/news/local/doc4c88544737c84912524722.txt). With no GPS, it will make it harder for the semi-trailer to be tracked down.
This is not the first trailer to be stolen from the truck stop. As the site notes, two years ago a trailer carrying 20 tons of chocolate was stolen as well and later recovered.
It’s a good thing that Road Scholar Transport covers all bases when it comes to security. Not only do we have covert, assisted GPS cargo tracking, but roof tracking decals (making our trucks readily recognizable and harder to steal), cargo cam, Qualcomm (featuring panic buttons to prevent operation of vehicles), Skybitz monitoring and tracking (including monitoring of any door openings and closures), reefer and power unit tracking, and locks and seals to protect your cargo and our trucks.
Why let a trailer sit overnight? Road Scholar Transport provides 24 hour expedited shipping (dock to dock with NO transfers) and 48 hour expedited west coast service.
And with our brightly colored awareness tractor trailers, you can guaranteed that Road Scholar’s trucks with not be easily stolen.
Want to ship with a safe company? Then visit www.roadscholar.com.
Tags: awareness, cargo, city, company, David, Dennett, driver, equipment, Express, freight, herald, Kovac, Michigan, new jersey, playground, Qualcomm, road, scholar, security, Skybitz, tracking, trailer, transport, truck
Posted in Services, Trucking Industry News | Comments Off
Friday, September 3rd, 2010
90 seconds…that’s all it takes for thieves to steal your cargo.
According to Cargo Security Alliance, perpetrators will move onto softer targets if they cannot defeat a truck’s security system in 90 seconds or less.
When you think of lost or stolen freight, you think “cost.” Not only do you suffer from inventory replacement costs, but the cost of recovery operations, restocking, recall , and worse, relationships/credibility with clients. All this can happen in just 90 seconds.
One thing’s for sure, it would take a thief longer than that to break into one of Road Scholar Transport’s tractor trailers.
Road Scholar makes sure that each driver hired is legitimate. We conduct a drug test on every new hire and again on 50% of drivers every year. We also do ten year background checks to ensure that our drivers maintain a clean record.
Our property is setup with a digital surveillance system and with bright colors and roof tracking decals, our trucks are readily recognizable, making them harder to steal and easier to find.
If that’s not enough, we have bolt and cable seals, tamper evident tapes and seals, and truck, trailer, and container locks and seals to prevent theft. Our cargo cam keeps an eye on your freight at all times to make sure nothing goes wrong.
Let’s not forget about tracking devices. Road Scholar has you covered with covert assisted GPS cargo tracking and real-time tracking. All of our reefers and power units are enabled with tracking devices such as SkyBitz, Qualcomm, and Airsis. SkyBitz allows for electronic door monitoring, censoring and sending reports or alerts of door openings and closures. Qualcomm provides panic buttons to prevent operation of the vehicle to ensure that a truck is not stolen. In addition to that, Airsis gives a fleet map (down to the street level) that not only tells the location history, but current location of the tractor trailer. These locations are reported every hour when moving and once every 24 hours when idle.
So in order to prevent a dent in your wallet and loss of credibility that you worked so long to build with your customers, consider using Road Scholar Transport for all your transporting needs. For more information visit www.roadscholar.com.
Tags: Airsis, alliance, cargo, cost, freight, ninety, Qualcomm, reliable, road, scholar, seconds, security, Skybitz, stolen, target, thief, tractor, trailer, transport, truck, trustworthy
Posted in Services | 43 Comments »
Thursday, September 2nd, 2010
Smith Transportation needs the public’s help in locating one of their drivers. 
Monty Pierce was last seen at Love’s Truck Stop in Kingman, AZ at 10 PM on August 29th. He has not been seen since.
Pierce was heading to Burbank, CA for a delivery.
Smith Transportation is worried that the driver is in trouble and asks if anyone sees Pierce, tractor Maroon 2000 Peterbilt 379 Unit #5188, or trailer White 2005 Utility Reefer Unit #104, to contact them immediately at 877-631-1254 x105.
Luckily, Road Scholar Transport does not need to worry about a missing driver or tractor trailer. We know exactly where our drivers are at all times with security features such as:
-Reefer tracking
-Complete coverage throughout North and Central America
-On demand GPS location
-Online monitoring/reporting
-Power unit tracking
-Roof decals for arial tracking
-Background checking to insure drivers do not have a previous criminal record
-10 year criminal background checks
-Nextel direct connect
-Skybitz monitoring and tracking
-Asset locator: Locate the present positions of all equipped vehicles
-Mapping: Map the most recent positions, or historical positions, of all vehicles
-Monitor door openings: Skybitz sensors sending reports or alerts of door openings and closures
-All tractors are equipped with tracking technology
-Airsis
-Fleet map: down to street level
-Current location
-Location history (“breadcrumbs”)
-Location report frequency
-once every hour when moving
-once every 24 hours when idle
-Qualcomm
-Features panic button to prevent operation of vehicle
To learn more about Road Scholar Transport’s services and features visit www.roadscholar.com.
Tags: Airsis, driver, missing, monty, nextel, pierce, Qualcomm, road, scholar, Skybitz, tractor, trailer, transport, truck
Posted in Services, Trucking Industry News | Comments Off
