Technology and communications provider Trimble Inc. has added another company to its transportation segment with the June 9 acquisition of Innovative Software Engineering, a supplier of telematics systems, including electronic logging devices.
Trimble announced the deal June 13, saying the Coralville, Iowa-based vendor’s expertise and products will “extend Trimble’s capabilities in providing fleet safety and compliance,” according to James Veneziano, the Trimble senior vice president in charge of the transportation division. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The main services provided by ISE’s eFleetSuite application are electronic logging and driver-vehicle inspection reporting. The company was founded in 2002 by Hass Machlab, who will remain as CEO of what is now a Trimble subsidiary.
“Hass is a pioneer in the industry, and we are excited to have him on our team. ISE will operate as a separate Trimble company in Iowa with its existing leadership team,” Trimble spokeswoman Lea Ann McNabb said.
Trimble is a diversified technology provider, which has four major divisions. Transportation is the second-largest behind buildings and infrastructure, but ahead of the geospatial and natural resources/utilities segments.
In 2016 Trimble earned $132.2 million on revenue of $2.36 billion.
The North American trucking-related units of the transportation division include fleet telematics company PeopleNet, transportation management software provider TMW Systems and ALK Technologies, which makes mapping and routing software. During the first quarter, the Trimble transportation division earned $24.8 million on revenue of $156.1 million.
A major focus for ISE this year is its electronic logging as a service line. The federal ELD mandate starts in December, ordering almost all U.S. heavy-duty trucks to discontinue paper logging of driver hours of service in favor of an automated approach.
ISE’s electronic logging software can be integrated into a telematics system or used as a stand-alone application. The application can either be licensed to a telematics provider or sold directly to a fleet and used on its own, the company said.
PeopleNet has long offered electronic logging as part of its fleet management systems, which include a menu of more than 30 applications.
On the broadest level, trucking telematics systems collect information from onboard sensors, pulls the data into the cab for the driver and trasmits the information to the fleet’s back office.
While Trimble runs its subsidiaries as separate businesses, the corporation also pursues collaboration among the units when possible, McNabb said.
