Qualcomm vs. Handheld GPS

[dhalltoyo]

It seems as though the traditional Qualcomm antenna, which requires an installation bracket, cabling, and keypad, not to mention the expense of mounting one and having to poke 5 holes in your roof; would move more companies to use a handheld GPS with cellular communications.

The expense of the Qualcomm has to be vastly greater than a Nextel GPS.

From an O/O's perspective, who really wants someone to drill holes in their van; especially just after they have taken delivery of the van?

I worked for a small organization that had Nextel's. Of course, I only the opportunity to try the equipment for a couple of weeks, but it seemed to work fine.

Am I missing something here?

 

[redytrk]

Qualcom was established long before handheld GPS devices were availaible.Companies who invested large sums of money and time are reluctant to make any changes. To boot, you can be sure that QC has done everything possible to make it difficult if not impossible for companies to abandon their system

Having said that,smaller newer companies are free to offer contractors simpler less costly systems. The result can be that that recruiters will slowly starting to notice these companies are signing contractors by offering lower cost communications.They will then report to their comppanies what is going on.(It`s sort of like trying to get the Titanic turned around)

DONT HOLD YOUR BREATH WHILE THIS HAPPENS!

 

[LDB]

Here's the main reason this won't happen. If your company requires a QC you get it from them and you pay them whatever rate they charge. If they require a gps enabled Nextel phone you go down to your local Nextel store and get it yourself. The base rate for a QC is $50 per month or $11.54 per week. That is a direct quote to me from Qualcomm. That doesn't include extras like more frequent pinging of the truck etc. but it gives an idea of what the true cost may be. I guess I'm cynical but I suspect it's about $20/wk with the extras. If you run down to Nextel it's going to be a lot harder for the company to get $10-15/wk from you above the cost of your service.

Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB, OOIDA Life Member 677319
Owner, Panther trucks 5508, 5509, 5641
Highway Watch Participant, Truckerbuddy
EO Forum Moderator
----------
Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.

 

[greg334]

David,
Most companies will stay away form Nextel if they are offering services like package tracking, Temp control and other services that the truck must be able to communicate to the company/customer on a regular basis.

The Nextel services is marginally in a lot of places, none existent in some, like where I last night. The difference between the two is the QC unit is actually a two way satellite system and the Nextel system is dependent on terrestrial systems that once off the main road, may or may not exist.

The QC service also provides a means to track, record and archive records that can be tied to the shipment.

For a smaller (25 vans/trucks) or a local/regional service provider, Nextel is a simple and easy solution.