Protective masks have become a precious asset during the current health crisis, and as the government is providing them to all health workers, hospitals, town doctors, clinics and rest homes, huge numbers of them have been transported in recent weeks. Convoys are therefore being closely monitored in transit, from their arrival in the country by air to their storage location.
The French Gendarmerie’s Centre for Mobility Security (CNSM) is on the front line in providing support to mask transporters, and tracking solutions are valuable tools for this mission.
Novacom’s Trailermatics solutions help Geodis track its logistics assets in real time, thereby contributing to the performance and security it offers clients.
Thanks to their experience working with major logistics players and transport companies, the Trailermatics teams have been asked by the French Gendarmerie to provide Geodis with the data needed to ensure the safety of its convoys. Nearly 500,000 positions are fed into the CNSM system every day via the Trailermatics platform.
CNSM commander Fabrice Blanc explains how the French Gendarmerie went about accomplishing this unique mission.
What is the CNSM’s mission during these operations?
During the COVID-19 health crisis, the CNSM is focusing, among other things, on the land transport of masks. Our job is to ensure that the transport of the goods to the storage sites goes smoothly, but without replacing the transport operators’ remote monitoring center. In the event of an incident, we support units and partners to reduce the Gendarmerie’s response time as much as possible.
In this context, how are you working with transport companies?
We are partnering transporters and in constant touch with them. They monitor the convoys themselves via their online tracking platform and give us access to their tracking data, which is key information to help the Gendarmerie units in the field, which must intervene as quickly as possible.
Are tracking data collected by satellites key to the success of your operations?
Yes, we work mainly with tracking data from carriers, and even patrols. Without this data, the carriers would not be able to provide us with such accurate information remotely and in real time. On a day-to-day basis, we use mapping tools using the geolocation data from partner transport companies. All of this is fundamental to our support mission.
A key asset enabling the Gendarmerie to provide an effective operational response.
The CNSM asked the Trailermatics teams to integrate all the data flows from Geodis and to maximize cargo security.
To best meet the CNSM’s expectations and contribute to the national effort to manage this crisis, the Trailermatics teams federated all Geodis data flows into a single output, interfaced with the CNSM, thus simplifying the use of this information. The connection between the various systems was fast, and it was important to meet the needs of the Gendarmerie and to provide the highest level of information reliability in the context of the current crisis.
