In support of your CoPilot rollout, Trimble Maps can run a complimentary FastPass Analysis to help make sure that addresses and GPS coordinates in your company files match up with locations in the map data used to route commercial vehicles in CoPilot. 


In this article:


How is FastPass performed?

  1. We run a batch analysis of your addresses and, if provided, your geocodes against Trimble Maps geocodes.

  2. We break out the results of our matching into four confidence levels. (Exact, Fair, Uncertain, Failed)

  3. We provide recommendations on how to improve your data to ensure the best routing in CoPilot.


FastPass is a complimentary service meant to help identify potential problems with location data in your existing database. It is not meant to replace your database. Always be sure to double-check any location you intend to send to a driver.


How do I submit a FastPass analysis?

If you are using Account Manager, you can submit your request for a FastPass Analysis directly to our Support team at [email protected].


Otherwise, contact your Trimble Maps sales rep or the telematics provider who sold you CoPilot and let them know you would like a FastPass Analysis.  You will need to provide the .csv file of your customer master, store, DC, or company approved fuel stop data. Read below about how to format these files. 


How should I format my file?

If you would like to submit a file of your company and customer locations for FastPass Analysis, it should be saved as a .csv (Comma Delimited) file. 


Saving your spreadsheet as a .csv

  1. Open your file in your spreadsheet program.
  2. Click on File and choose Save As.
  3. Under Save as type, choose CSV (Comma delimited). Click Save.
  4. You may see a message that your file "may contain features that are not compatible with CSV." Click Yes to continue.


Formatting your location data

Entries are broken into the following columns in excel. Other information can be included for your record in separate columns. This information will simply be ignored by the import tool. 

  • Place ID 
  • Place Name
  • Address (All addresses need to be clearly typed and free of any extraneous information (i.e. Suite and Building numbers, special characters etc.). Remove any unnecessary commas.
  • City (Cities need to be spelled properly)
  • State/Province
  • Country
  • ZIP/Postal Code (ZIP codes need to be accurate)
  • Latitude
  • Longitude
    • The latitude/longitude points provided should contain a (-) for directional designations, no directional designations if possible
    • For best success Latitude/Longitude coordinates are up to 6 digits beyond the decimal point (Why is Latitude/Longitude decimal precision important?).
  • Directions (Optional) - How to get to and enter a facility, along with any phone numbers or special steps needed.
  • Number of times in 12 mos. (Optional) - Number of visits to the location in the past year.
  • Any other data to help you prioritize (Optional) - i.e. Date last visited.


What do I do with FastPass results?

FastPass results are returned in two .xlsx (Microsoft Excel) files:

  • A standard geocoding file. It reports how well the locations in the .csv file you submitted match with locations in our map data.
  • A Places file. It reports whether your locations match any Trimble Maps Verified Places. 


Geocoding report

The geocoding report includes our recommendations to help make sure the locations you send to CoPilot—or other Trimble Maps applications—are a good match with our map data. The first tab of the report breaks down the results into four confidence levels (Exact, Fair, Uncertain, and Failed) with our recommendations.

 

 

The remaining four tabs sort your data by confidence level. The initial columns are the data you submitted, and the remaining columns beginning with "TM" include the matching information in Trimble's map data. 


For Confidence Level 1 matches, the most important column is TM Distance. It shows the distance between your latitude/longitude coordinates and the coordinates for the same location in our map data. Any location with a TM distance greater than 0.3 miles, or a message in the TM Errors column, should be reviewed and edited.


Matches below Level 1 should all be reviewed and edited. 


Why are matches important?

CoPilot always routes to latitude/longitude coordinates—either the coordinates you enter or, if you enter an address, the coordinates returned by Trimble Maps geocoding. (Those geocoded coordinates are under TM Lat and TM Lon columns in the report.) Closer matches between your address and coordinates and Trimble Maps data result in more precise routing by CoPilot.  


Places report

The second .xlsx file returned by FastPass is a Places report. It reports which of your locations are within 0.5 miles of Trimble Maps Verified Places in our map data. Verified Places include millions of commercial locations across North America that serve the transportation industry, including distribution centers, intermodal terminals, manufacturing plants, truck stops, and many more. 


If FastPass shows a location matches a Trimble Maps Verified Place, you can choose whether to instead use Trimble data when routing to that location. With Trimble data:

  • Every Verified Place includes a polygonal geofence around its perimeter, and it may include additional details including specific entry and exit gates for trucks. To ensure the coordinates you are routing to fall within the geofence, use the Trimble Place Lat and Trimble Place Lon coordinates returned by FastPass, instead of your original coordinates.
  • You can add your own details about the location in ContentTools, including notes displayed to the driver in CoPilot.
  • You can use the trimblePlaceID to call information about the location using our Places API. (Must be separately licensed to use Trimble Maps Web APIs.)


If FastPass shows that a location does not match a Trimble Maps Verified Place, you can:


Note: If you are an existing Trimble Maps customer, you can also request that FastPass search for matching Custom Places in your account. If FastPass finds a matching Custom Place, you will see a value under the Trimble Place customPlaceID column in the report.


Learn more with our short e-learning course

Learn more about FastPass, and view in-depth examples, by watching this short course in the Trimble Learn center. (May require sign up if you are not already enrolled in Trimble Learn.)