Metro Delivery Vehicles Go High Tech
By Paul Mirasola
Check out our new look! In addition to satellite tracking, our trucks have also undergone a makeover.

As Wright & Filippis celebrates its 60th anniversary, the vehicle delivery fleet takes steps to enter the 21st century with the latest technology. Starting in July of 2003 and in conjunction with Nextel Communications, we began outfitting all delivery vehicles at the Bond Center and Downriver Distribution with a satellite tracking system.

Originally proposed as a means to better manage the fleet of vehicles and reduce unnecessary overtime, it has several other benefits. This internet-based tracking system provides us with an instant view of all vehicles and records the mileage traveled, where each vehicle stopped, and for how long. Using global positioning satellite technology we can pin point a patient address or a truck's location to within 50 feet. Entering an address will locate the ten closest trucks to that stop, helping us to dispatch orders faster, which makes both the patient and the referral happier with the service Wright & Filippis provides. Additionally, it allows us to better maintain each vehicle through a set program - we set parameters for things like oil changes, brake inspections and tune-ups and the system alerts us when each is due.

Overall, this new system has proven its advantages within our business; so much so, it is being rolled out this November to the Flint and Saginaw offices. As Wright & Filippis continues to grow, we expect to be adding this mobile management system to other delivery locations so that we all may benefit from what this new technology can offer.