ALK Technologies announced the release of the PC Miler 25 product line. The routing, mileage and mapping software now includes time-based features and other enhancements.
A core enhancement allows users to specify a route’s departure or arrival date and time to calculate an ETA at stop-off points or an ETD to help meet delivery schedules. Additionally, PC Miler 25 empowers users with real-time traffic maps and traffic forecasts for calculating the best routes as well as more precise transit times and ETAs, ALK says.
Through a partnership with Inrix, an international provider of traffic information and driving services, ALK has added real-time and historical traffic speeds to its routing network. Users can see real-time traffic maps as well as access traffic forecasts for more than 1 million miles of roads across the United States and Canada.
To introduce this new capability to customers, ALK is including the Inrix traffic speed data free of charge in PC Miler 25 and will remain so until the release of PC Miler 26 in 2012.
“ALK is pleased to be the first and only provider of enhanced truck-specific route planning and mapping capabilities based on real-time and historical North American traffic data,” said Craig Fiander, vice president of marketing – PC Miler Solutions at ALK Technologies. “Realistic transit times and ETAs are essential for optimization, customer service, compliance with hours-of-service rules, and pricing decisions.”
PC Miler 25 also has an expanded capability to calculate toll costs for both heavy and light vehicles – with the addition of automobile toll costs. Users can now calculate toll costs based on time of day travel, vehicle weight, axle configuration, single or multiple trailer designation, and for 31 discount toll programs in the United States and Canada.
ALK has also updated its toll plaza abbreviations for easier toll cost reporting, verification, and auditing.
The new release also includes map tools to create geofences. When a route crosses a geofence, PC Miler 25 either displays a warning in the route itinerary or avoids the geofenced area altogether, depending on user preferences.
Routing improvements are a major part of each annual release. PC Miler 25 integrates nationwide improvements including the verification of truck-designated routing attributes, the realignment of the existing road network to GPS standards, and the addition of newly constructed roads along with their exit interchanges.
With these and other improvements, ALK says that PC Miler 25 includes nearly 220,000 new and updated truck restrictions and allowances in addition to over 3.74 million road-specific attributes that affect truck travel. These include height, length, width and weight restrictions, and allowances. In addition, 53-foot trailer and state oversized routing restrictions have been enhanced. 2011 U.S. ZIP and Canadian Postal Codes, as well as over 28,300 Mexican Postal Codes, are now included in the database.
Additionally, the suite of PC Miler 25 integration products has also been updated and enhanced. PC Miler 25 integration products interface with all leading transportation and supply chain management systems. These products include PC*Miler|Connect, PC Miler TCP/IP, PC Miler Mapping, PC Miler Spreadsheets, PC Miler Batchpro, and Multi-Version Switch.
PC*MILER runs on Microsoft Windows, UNIX, and Linux platforms as well as IBM AS/400 and mainframe computers.
For more information, visit: www.pcmiler.com/25.
