In January, I reported that DriveCam had abandoned me as a client and the industry overall. DriveCam confirmed that it would no longer accept any orders of less than 20 units at a time. With a mom-and-pop industry averaging three to seven vehicles per operator, that precluded more than half the industry from buying a DriveCam unit. To add insult to injury, I called them for help with an existing camera only to be told that support for my product was discontinued in December 2009. Talk about being kicked to the curb.
Well, as a follow up to that
earlier blog post, there is a new product being offered to our industry from a company called
Solutions Group Inc. of Santa Barbara, Calif. The product is the I-Drive X1.
And what's more, after I Googled "vehicle tracking systems" and "driver safety cameras" I came up with even more devices that claim to do the same things (and more) that Drive Cam does — and for less money. So, there you have it!
We finally have options and are not bound by one company. DriveCam may have its reasons for only wanting to do business with large fleets, but they sure have an awkward way of articulating it. They basically told me I was too small to deal with. Ouch! Let's hope a little competition helps soften them up a little.
Watch for the technology and innovations issue of LCT coming in October. And if anyone reading this has come across other cost-saving innovations for business solutions, let me know so I can pass along the info about new gadgets to our readers!
— Jim Luff, LCT contributing editor
Print | posted on Tuesday, August 03, 2010 4:43 PM