"In the event of an insurance claim I can still see, years later, which vehicle was on site and when."
The Öhringen municipal depot
At many municipal depots in Baden-Württemberg, the route of a gritting vehicle is still staked out by hand on a map. That is rather cumbersome.
That is how the SWR report opens, and it sums up the problem very well. At the Öhringen municipal depot too, everything used to be done by hand with enormous maps and plotters.
In winter services there is a great deal to plan before each season. The entire area of responsibility has to be divided into standby zones and the routes for the vehicles planned so that everything can be cleared or gritted as quickly as possible. Because when it snows, everything has to happen fast.
If you do not know the route by heart, or someone is off sick and an unfamiliar route has to be driven, it gets difficult. You then have to unfold an enormous paper map at night with wet hands or gloves and try to orient yourself with it.
On top of that, everything has to be documented. That too used to be done manually on paper lists. It is time-consuming and error-prone. If an insurer does report a claim, it helps to have reliable data to prove that someone was on site.
xRouten is in use in Öhringen
Since Matthias Schönpflug found xRouten, there has been less stress in the winter service. He and his colleagues now plan all the routes at the PC, simply drawing them on the map with the mouse.
What has been planned is then sent to the tablet or phone. That way you see yourself, the planned route, all the checkpoints and any other important notes on the screen — without knowing everything by heart or carrying enormous paper maps.
Another critical advantage is that the tablet records the entire route and displays it in the office in real time, as well as storing it. The recording can be found and reviewed quickly even years later. Insurance claims can be dealt with in a few minutes and a few clicks.
Not only in winter services
In summer there are routes too that the depot has to plan, drive and document. These include grass cutting, inspection runs, watering work and other operations. xRouten is used for those as well.
