▲

[ technology ]

miles &
money
Ownersite.com proves
you can track and calculate your
fleet maintenance for maximum
savings. The recession is driving
more operators to the accessible,
online services.
By Martin Romjue

TEVEN EPPINGER has noticed a growing client segment for his services, which he never pursued
nor knew about before: Limousine operators.• In the last two years, the founder, president and
CEO of Ownersite Technologies of Roswell, Ga., has seen a small slice of limousine operators
show up on the Owersite.com radar screen of 18,000 to 20,000 vehicles in the online database.
The operators were among fleet clients such as mortuaries, Geek Squad-type services, land-
scaping firms, and HVAC companies that developed interest in the efficiencies of online fleet
maintenance.• The clientele splits about 70% consumers, with an average of three vehicles per
client, and 30% fleet-centered businesses, with an average of 20-25 vehicles each. With only a
handful of chauffeured transportation operators so far, Eppinger sees ample opportunity to help
operators in this recession and beyond.

WHAT DOES OWNERSITE.COM DO FOR CLIENTS?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Maintain a Reminds and Records Provides dozens Manages Connects to easy remote Offers data
comprehensive alerts clients other vehicle of easily gener- and tracks access and data entry entry capa-
at-a-glance via email, information, ated reports, such vendor- capabilities with its mobile bility through
service history wireless, or such as pur- as maintenance related Internet interface for micro Twitter.com.
for personal and on-screen chase details, history logs, cost- expenses web browsers, the iPhone,
company fleet reminders insurance data, per-mile figures, for tax and Blackberry, Treo, smart-
vehicles, such by odometer registration fuel economy stats, budgeting phones, and laptops. The
as details about reading or time dates, personal recalls and technical purposes. mobile interface accesses
fuel usage, oil period for more or business trip service bulletin sum- the most frequently used
changes, tire ro- than 70 service logs, factory maries, consumer features such as fuel record
tations, routine procedures and extended complaints, defect entry and usage reporting,
maintenance, or warranty, warranty investigation sum- service reminder review,
payments and insurance, reg- details, trouble maries, crash test maintenance history ac-
parts purchase istration, and logs, etc. and rollover ratings, cess, and business or
driver’s license etc. personal trip log entry
expirations. and review.

HOW MUCH On the low end, On the high end, Steven Eppinger estimates $200 per year savings
DOES ACCESS/ $60 per year for a $500 per year for a on maintenance per vehicle as a result of more
SERVICE COST? 10-vehicle fleet. 100-vehicle fleet. efficient tracking and use of detailed information.

32 LIMOUSINE, CHARTER & TOUR JULY 2009 WWW.LCTMAG.COM

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LCT0709financinsweb2.in
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[ technology ]

HOW IS IT
WORKING?
DAVE ALLEN, owner
of three transporta-
tion companies in
Spokane, Wash.
— Spokane Racing
■ Ownersite.com offers operators
Limos, ExecuVan,
detailed logs and spreadsheets of and Stars and Stripes
maintenance data, cost calculations, Shuttle — signed on
and payment schedules. with Ownersite.com in
February. Since then,
W
With the loyal audience of truck he estimates the online
maintenance service
owners, I developed Ownersite. has saved him 10% on
com.” the monthly insurance
Ownersite.com does not com- premiums for his eight-
p
pete with larger fleet management vehicle fleet.
companies, Eppinger says, opting Allen operates four
tto target smaller companies whose 14-passenger Ford
owners/executives operate more as shuttle vans; two 2008
Dodge Grand Caravan
all-in-one managers of smaller fleets. taxis, and two racing-
COMPANY EVOLUTION style stretch limou-
EPPINGER GREW OWNERSITE.COM out of an auto FUTURE GROWTH sines.
hobbyist website he started and previously THE SITE HAS evolved into its eighth or ninth The service saves
owned called F150online.com. The site is iteration, Eppinger says, and the company time, Allen says. “I’ve
geared toward owners of Ford F150 trucks. is eyeballing integration arrangements with gotten much more out
Internet Brands acquired it from Eppinger other online or software companies that of this than expected,”
he says. “I get e-mails
in 2007. provide applications or platforms for limo- and text reminders of
“Along the way I encountered people related accounting, scheduling and reser- when maintenance
who loved vehicles and wanted to know vations, and GPS-fleet tracking services. is due and vehicle
anything and “The econ- payments are due.

( ‘‘ )
everything go- Ownersite.com takes a omy is defi- That’s been a big help
ing on with fuel
economy, main-
tenance histories,
‘‘
‘holistic’ view of what’s going
on with vehicles, so information
doesn’t have to be entered
nitely driving
growth on the
fleet side,” Ep-
in keeping on top of
everything.”
Allen says the site
enables clients to look
recalls, and other manually. — STEVEN EPPINGER pinger says. “To at detailed computa-
items,” Eppinger this point, we tions of individual
says. “There was nothing on the Internet haven’t spent money marketing and pro- vehicle cost averages
that did it comprehensively, except some moting our fleet product, growing instead for fuel, mileage, and
handheld PDAs and desktop applications. from word of mouth.” service. “There’s a lot
of good information at
a glance as long as you
FASTFACTS put information in,” he
NAME: Ownersite Technologies, LLC CLIENTS: 30% fleet; 70% consumer says. “It saves me more
WEBSITE: www.Ownersite.com Top client locations: CA, NY, TX, FL, MI, GA on time than anything.
FOUNDED: January 2001 ANNUAL REVENUES: Less than $1 million (privately Ownersite allows us
LOCATION: Roswell, Ga. (suburban Atlanta) held) to have a proactive
OWNER: Steven Eppinger, president and CEO ANNUAL GROWTH RATE: 18-20% average
KEY SERVICES: Online maintenance tracking and EMPLOYEES: 5 full-time; part-time contractors
maintenance program
reporting INFORMATION: (404) 402-7117; seppinger@ instead of a reactive
VEHICLE DATABASE: 18,000 to 20,000 ownersite.com maintenance program.”

34 LIMOUSINE, CHARTER & TOUR JULY 2009 WWW.LCTMAG.COM

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