EnCana adopts innovative approach to improving driving behavior

Cartasite’s realtime monitoring solution helps energy corporation increase asset safety and security.

Cartasite's ROVER - the Realtime Onboard Vehicle Evaluation Reporting solution - is plugged into the mechanic's onboard diagnostic port below Chris Williams' steering column in his pick up truck. The tiny black box, about 1 inch by 2 inch by a half inch thick, lets him know how he's driving, teaches him to be safer and more fuel-efficient, and enables help to find him in the event of an emergency. Williams, group leader of special projects for EnCana Corp.'s U.S. division, was surprised by his first Driver Scorecard, scheduled for automatic email delivery each week. Like the majority of drivers on the road, Williams thought he was an above average driver. Once aware of his driving habits, Williams set out to improve his score, stopped hitting the brakes so frequently, and most importantly became a much more focused and attentive driver. He went from eight incidents of hard braking per hour in July to 3.3 in September. His overall score rose from 80 to 96 on a 100-point scale.

During EnCana's ROVER pilot, many drivers experienced similar improvements in behavior after being empowered with weekly Driver Scorecard information, which includes hard braking, rapid acceleration, idle time, time of day driving, and MPG. Based on the success of these pilots, EnCana decided to expand the use of the ROVER to all 650 vehicles in their US operations. "We saw some very positive results and felt like this was something we wanted to do division-wide," EnCana spokesman Doug Hock said. Hock said a test run of fifty company vehicles in Texas showed an overall 35 percent reduction in idling time, resulting in a weekly $8.30 savings in fuel per vehicle. Hard braking dropped by 20 percent and the percentage of drivers categorized as aggressive - initially 7 percent - was negligible at the end.

Other oil and gas corporations have implemented ROVER with similar success to EnCana, enjoying benefits of a safety-focused, rather than a Big-Brother-focused approach. "We want our employees to know that this system is in place because we want them to go home safely to their families every night," said Colonel Mark Trostel, Driving Safety Advisor at EnCana and Retired Chief of the Colorado State Patrol.

ROVER evolved from a year-long, revolutionary experiment with the City and County of Denver. The study set out to determine whether or not it was possible to influence driving behavior to ultimately increase safety, reduce motor vehicle incidences, increase fuel efficiency, and reduce carbon emission. EnCana provided $400,000 in funding for the project, which included 400 vehicles and 30 EnCana employees. City officials reported a 10 percent reduction in vehicle emissions and better overall driving including a 35 percent decrease in idle time.

The equipment Cartasite used for the pilot project included three brick-sized boxes and antennas in each vehicle that required an hour of installation by a qualified electrician. "We knew we wouldn't be commercially viable unless we could simplify the technology and the installation," said Cartasite CEO David Armitage. The data collected by the boxes was transmitted wirelessly to the Internet.

Based on what they learned from the City and County of Denver experiment, Cartasite worked with an Asian hardware manufacturer to develop what is now the ROVER - small, wireless, with little installation. Cartasite provides the service, including the device, drivers' weekly scorecards, and access to the online mapping and dashboard, for $1.50 USD a day. The ROVER system also includes analysis tools that allow fleet managers and supervisors to easily compare drivers in their fleets, identify drivers with anomalous driving behavior, and quickly determine which drivers may need coaching.

EnCana's contracted water haulers also utilize Cartasite's heavy vehicle remote monitoring solutions in many areas of U.S. Operations. Through Cartasite's online dashboard, EnCana can better regulate their high standard of driving safety and environmental compliance on all vehicles traveling on EnCana operated leases.

Under the tutelage of Driving Safety Advisor Colonel Mark Trostel, EnCana has enhanced their Driving Safety Program with the goal to improve overall safety and security, reduce fuel consumption, and decrease carbon emission even further than found in initial pilot testing. "EnCana is a true EHS leader in the oil and gas community," said Cartasite CEO David Armitage, "and we are honored for the opportunity to continue to work together to utilize remote monitoring technology to reduce safety and security risks and increase operational efficiencies."

Cartasite's ROVER solution is currently available in the United States, Canada, UK, and is quickly expanding to other countries with oil and gas operations. Cartasite offers global, satellite based vehicle tracking systems currently used by oil and gas corporations worldwide.

Cartasite: Who we are

Founded in 2004, Cartasite is the world's first corporation to integrate realtime geospatial business intelligence for assets, people, and vehicles. Cartasite believes that time and place are critical to the efficiency of today's global enterprises, and that the nexus of wireless data networks, location aware sensors, and realtime geospatial web applications empower an operational and organizational transformation.

Cartasite provides realtime operational intelligence to oil and gas corporations all over the world, with ROVER for driving behavioral data and vehicle safety, SPOT for personal tracking and emergency assistance, globalTAG for asset monitoring, and a suite of products focused on maximizing production equipment uptime. All of Cartasite's solutions share a common design approach - simple, cost effective, easy-to-use, easy-to-maintain - providing corporations with the fundamental business information needed to run more efficiently and safely.

Press Contact:

Lynelle Bautista, VP Sales
E: Lbautista@cartasite.com
T: 303.865.3154