Zonar celebrates 10-year anniversary

SEATTLE — This month, Zonar Systems marked its 10th anniversary of providing customers with fleet management solutions.

Zonar's foundational offering, EVIR, is the only electronically verified vehicle inspection system available, according to the company. As the demand for EVIR increased, so did the suite of solutions offered by Zonar. Today, the company offers a wide range of products and services that include:

• V2J Telematics Platform: GPS capabilities that combine real-time delivery of vehicle condition with performance data in one simple-to-install device
• Wombat: all the power of the V2J inside a case that can handle harsh environments, including mud, dust, snow and salt
• ZPass: technology designed to monitor and report student ridership in a safe, reliable and non-intrusive way
• Ground Traffic Control: a web-based fleet management portal that provides a real-time picture of fleet operations with visibility, ease and control

"Ten years is an incredible milestone," said Chris Oliver, vice president of sales and marketing at Zonar. "Maintaining great relationships with our customers is a key to our success."

Zonar attributes its growth to customer-driven product innovations and strong relationships with customers who are leaders in their respective markets.

For example, Zonar customer First Student Inc. is the largest provider of student transportation services in North America, transporting 6 million students daily using a fleet of more than 57,000 buses.

Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA), the largest heavy-duty truck manufacturer in the U.S., worked with Zonar to develop and deploy a real-time remote diagnostic system as standard equipment on model year 2012 Freightliner vehicles equipped with Detroit Diesel engines.

DTNA's Virtual Technician, powered by Zonar, delivers vehicle diagnostics and fault codes to DTNA's service centers as they occur, making possible advanced repair scheduling and parts ordering — often before the vehicle arrives at the shop, according to the company.

Zonar also recently developed a new fuel management system called Z-Con. Developed in conjunction with TCH, Z-Con ensures secure transactions, prevents fuel theft and simplifies the fueling process by transforming trucks into fuel cards.

Using multi-factor authentication, Z-Con consistently and accurately identifies a truck and authorizes the fuel purchase by facilitating communication between the truck's ECM, the fuel pump and the purchasing network. This creates a seamless transaction process while ensuring that fuel is pumped only into the authorized vehicle, according to the company.

"Offering new and efficient ways to improve all aspects of fleet management has been and will always be our focus at Zonar," said Eric Manegold, founding partner and vice president of business development for commercial vehicles. "Ingenuity, innovation and great relationships have brought us this far — I can't wait to see what the next 10 years will bring."