PassTime’s development of battery-powered GPS technology opened opportunities beyond its traditional automotive markets.
As wireless tracking technology evolved, the ability to monitor equipment without relying on an external power source created new applications in construction, equipment rental, medical equipment, and other industries. Those opportunities led to the introduction of TruGuard, PassTime’s new commercial asset tracking brand, and the development of rugged GPS devices for demanding environments.
In the final installment of our 30+ Years of Innovation series, PassTime Founder and CEO, Jake Frank, and PassTime President and COO, Chris Macheca, discuss the growing possibilities for commercial asset tracking and the advancements that have shaped the company over the past three decades.
Chris explains how the development of Encore revealed opportunities to serve new markets.
Well, we’re really excited about our new TruGuard launch. You know, again, the technology continues to evolve, and we want to make sure that we are expanding with the technology. And, as we introduced our Encore devices, we realized there were a lot of new markets out there that we could serve with our technology, like construction, rental equipment, medical equipment, and more.
So our launch of TruGuard is to help support that and deliver on the needs of those markets in addition to our core PassTime markets as well.
Macheca describes the industrial environments TruGuard HD was designed for and the challenges of tracking valuable equipment and attachments.
Our TruGuard HD product is built for industrial environments, for heavy equipment, for machines/You can imagine a digger on a construction site takes a beating and is working lots of hours a day. So, we built this TruGuard HD device to be effective in those environments. And we want to make sure that every asset of our construction partners is tracked and available to be found.
One of the key examples of issues we wanted to solve was specifically for buckets and for any type of attachments that may go missing.
These attachments could be thousands of dollars. They get left in a field, on the side of the road, the grass grows over them, and now they’re gone. So TruGuard HD is really there to help recover these types of assets. These things that just walk off, we want to make sure that we’re protecting. And this TruGuard HD product can live in these rough environments and mitigate the risk and find the assets, just like our other products do in our other environments.
Jake Frank discusses how the device can be attached to heavy equipment and withstand harsh conditions.
You’re in a harsh climate; you know it could be a bucket ora backhoe; it has to take a lot of abuse, right?
You can put this thing on anything; it attaches with a magnet. You could strap it on if you want, but mostly these pieces of equipment are metal, and the magnets are the best way to attach it. It's tolerant to extremes in temperature, water, and abuse, taking a pounding.
Macheca explains why dependable hardware is especially important in construction and equipment rental applications.
I think ruggedness and reliability are important. Because in the construction world, or the rental equipment world, you don’t know where the assets are; you don’t know how they’re being used all the time. One, reliability is important so you can find those assets, but two, you want to make sure that anything you’re putting on those assets can take whatever comes at them.
And so we built the TruGuard HD product to really outlive any type of thing that we could have conceived of in those environments. We built it to be rugged. We built it to be reliable so that you don’t have to worry about it. You can attach it to just about any asset you want, and you can ensure that you can recover it quickly.
Chris discusses the expanding range of assets that can benefit from tracking technology.
I think the most exciting thing about asset tracking over the next decade is that we can really track just about anything, anything that moves, anything that you have or you feel is a value to you. You can track it from a car, boat, your ATV, trailer, to everything from a porta-potty. You may laugh at that, but you wouldn’t believe how expensive some of these things are. And then it’s also about efficiency. Those companies and those industries that want to know where their assets are so that workers can be more efficient, whether it’s a porta-potty and you’re cleaning those porta-potties and you want to make sure you’re getting through the day faster, knowing where those are is really important.
So I think I'm excited to just see what other things we’re going to be able to track in the coming years.
Jake reflects on the commercial opportunities that have emerged as asset tracking technology has developed.
It took us into industries I didn’t even know existed, or that it would be applicable for. So that is limitless; it's exciting, it's fun.
Chris reflects on the evolution of asset tracking technology from the company’s earliest products to its current GPS devices.
I think the thing that stands out most for me is going from just a basic starter interrupt device to our Encore and our TruGuard devices today; it's just the acceptance and the advancements in the technology.
When you think about how simple the devices were back in the day, which was just a starter interrupt relay and a microchip. Now, we’re essentially putting cellphones on all these assets. So. the technology has evolved dramatically. The availability of technology has evolved. And I think we’re only going to see better things and more innovation as we move down the road.
That’s one of the key foundations for us; that’s why we’re still here after 30+ years, we want to constantly innovate. We’re never going to sit back and just let our competitors catch up to us. We’re going to keep pushing the envelope with our technology so that we can help more people mitigate risk as best as possible.
Jake closes by identifying the three principles that have guided PassTime throughout its history.
The fact that 30 years later, we're still maintaining those three goals of mine: quality, service, and innovation. We’re still there, and we’ve really built that reputation and that brand equity, and now that equity is helping us launch into totally different fields.
Over more than three decades, PassTime has continued to develop its technology for new applications and markets. From starter interrupt in automotive collections to commercial asset tracking, the company’s commitment to quality, service and innovation remains central to its continued evolution.
