Tag: ezpass

What Happens if My Transponder is Stolen?

Written on October 19, 2022. Posted in YTP News.

What Happens if My Transponder is Stolen?

When it comes to managing tolls, you most likely are thinking about how you pay your tolls and manage them. You may not have considered that someone may attempt to remove the transponder from your vehicle while you are away. If not taken care of promptly, this could result in thousands of dollars in losses. In 2016, one stolen E-ZPass transponder in Pennsylvania racked up more than $11,000 in fraudulent charges before its real owner discovered the crime. It is easy to believe that this could not happen to you. However, the act of stealing transponders happens more often than you may think and is something you should be aware of.

We have seen an increase in customers reporting transponder theft, and we want you to be aware of the steps you can take to ensure your transponder stays safe on the road and doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.

How does this happen?

Often perpetrators will target unlocked vehicles, so they do not have to break in. Once inside the vehicle, a thief simply steals the transponder and replaces it with a non-operating fake one. The perpetrator accomplishes this by swapping the label for another transponder that is often inactive or out of service.

The owner may not realize the device has been swapped because it appears to be the same device. The internal RFID (radio frequency identification) is used by the tolling authority to read the device and toll charges on the stolen device will go to the fleet’s account. This means that the vehicle with the inactive or out-of-service device will incur toll violations and the fleet will be paying charges from the stolen transponder.

In the event you are incurring violations that are not yours or suspect any wrongdoing, we recommend contact/ing the authorities once you confirm that your device was stolen. If you are a Bestpass customer, we will work with the tolling authorities on your behalf to ensure the charges are correct, and you don’t incur future incorrect violations.

Bestpass also offers a violation payment service that makes it easy to process toll violations you may incur and identify when your vehicle is consistently receiving them. This can help identify if a transponder has been stolen.

How can you keep your transponders/activity safe?

The best way to ensure your devices stay safe is to either remove the transponder from the windshield or lock it in the vehicle cab when no one is present. As an added precaution, be sure to monitor your toll activity regularly. If you notice charges of tolls for roads that are not a part of your regular travel patterns, you should investigate it immediately. If you are Bestpass customer, you can contact/ customer support to help identify the next steps.

At Bestpass, we provide an alert system in our online portal. This feature allows our customers to set days and times that devices should be in use, helping alert fleets to activity outside of their normal area and travel patterns.

What to do if you suspect wrongdoing?

If you suspect any fraudulent activity, immediately deactivate the tag and forward it to the issuing agency to confirm the RFID. If you are a Bestpass customer, you’ll return the tag to us, and we will work with the issuing agency to confirm the RFID.

Once you have determined that the information is mismatched, you will need to file a police report with your local authority so that they can subpoena transaction records to see if they can acquire any images that prove your case.

Based on the amount of the transaction, your local authorities will determine the best way to pursue it. We do not advise disputing the charges on your card for the suspected illegal toll activity, as this could have adverse implication on your existing accounts. Once the process is resolved by the authorities with the issuing agency, the goal is to get credit for this toll activity.

Are there other ways my information can be stolen?

Another tactic perpetrators will use to gather your personal information is using a phishing scam. Victims of this scam will receive an email appearing to be from Bestpass or a tolling agency. The email will use realistic logos and threatening language to inform you that you owe money for driving on a toll road without paying.

These emails also contain a “hook” in the form of a link to a website where you can view and take care of your supposed fine without fear of “further legal action” against you.

If you receive an email of this nature, it is not from Bestpass or your tolling agency. If you click on the link in this email, the perpetrator running the scam will try to put malware on your computer. By providing the perpetrator with any of your personal information, they will often use it to steal your identity. This goes beyond transponder information and can directly threaten your money, credit rating, and personal security.

How can I make sure this doesn’t happen to me?

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recommends that if you do find a suspicious email in your inbox, you should not click on any links in the message or reply to it. If you think the email may be from Bestpass or a tolling agency, please contact/ the customer service team directly.

To help stay safe from these dangerous scams, the FTC advises you should:

Never click on any links in emails unless you are certain you know or do business with the sender.
Never reply to any emails that ask for personal or financial information. Even if the sender is legitimate, email is not a secure way to send such information. In fact, it is never a good idea to include things like your Social Security number or bank account information in any email message, including those you send.
Always keep your computer security software current and active.

If you think you might have received a phishing scam email or be a victim of one, you can:

Forward the suspect email to spam@uce.gov and to the company impersonated in the email.
File an official complaint with the Federal Trade Commission’s online FTC Complain Assistant.

Transponder theft and email phishing are only two of many ways perpetrators may try to steal your personal information. Bestpass wants to make sure you stay safe and are aware of the best practices to protect your information on the road.

Request a Demo of Our Toll Management Software Today!

Not sure which Bestpass plan is right for you? Our tolling specialists are here to help. They can identify the right transponder strategy to save you the most money and time.

What Are Toll Transponders and How Do They Work?

Written on October 7, 2022. Posted in YTP News.

What Are Toll Transponders and How Do They Work?

Jump to: What Are Toll Transponders? | How do Toll Transponders Work? | Benefits of Toll Transponders | What is a Toll Violation?

On the road, your fleet can pay tolls in various ways. The most traditional way is with cash, but your drivers will have to keep receipts, and your accounting teams will need to calculate reimbursements. Technology and cameras at collection points let you link your license plates to a prepaid account, but it may take some time for toll authorities to pair the plate with your information.

Toll transponders make connecting your payment information with toll authorities easy, letting you better track charges and identify miscalculations. But how does electronic tolling work? Understanding the method thoroughly and its benefits can help you determine whether it will best suit your company and fleet.

What is a Transponder for Tolls?

Toll transponders, also known as toll tags, are wireless transmitters that attach to your truck and send a radio signal to tolls. They connect toll authorities with your payment information, allowing collectors to charge your account efficiently and provide you with essential transaction data. When you need to manage large fleets of trucks, transponders can be a great tool to track and store toll information.

Toll transponders have many names and types. You can also call them toll tags, an electronic toll pass or by the transponder’s brand, like E-ZPass. Most toll transponders sit on your dashboard or stick to your windshield, so toll authorities can easily scan them. However, if you have a car-hauler or your windshield is blocked, you can also get an exterior toll tag that attaches to your license plate or roof.

How Does a Toll Transponder Work?

Toll passes function with electronic toll collection (ECT) systems, which are a group of transmitters, scanners and cameras. Lasers scan the area for oncoming traffic and alert the other tools in the system when one of your trucks approaches the tolling point. Readers scan for the transponders, which give off a radio transmission the readers can process. Cameras fixed to both sides of the checkpoint will take pictures of your front and back plates. Lastly, ground sensors will count how many axels the vehicle has.

Along with your account information, scanners will send the following data to tolling authorities:

Date and time
Location
The number of axels

These factors will determine the toll cost. Many toll authorities will adjust rates depending on the time and season to accommodate heavier traffic. Larger vehicles, like a truck, might also have varied prices.

The scanners link to tolling authority networks, which process your transponder data and attach it to an existing account. Once connected, it will charge the toll amount automatically. Your account will let you view and manage your payments online, making it more efficient than other tolling methods.

Advantages of Toll Transponders

While companies can use multiple methods to pay tolls, transponders have many benefits. When determining the right payment option for your company, learning the benefits of toll passes can help.

1. Ensures Safety

Accidents are common around toll booths. If paying with cash, drivers might turn their attention away from the road to find or sort money. Lines can move slowly, causing drivers to switch lanes suddenly to quicken the process. Electronic tolling is fast and hands-free, allowing drivers to pass through checkpoints with more care for other motorists around them.

2. Increases Efficiency

Toll transponders are great for increasing toll payment efficiency. Without the need to fumble for cash, your drivers can move quickly through checkpoints. Further, many tolls designate lanes for electronic tolling, increasing traffic flow by separating those who need to use cash.

Some tolling authorities are moving away from stopping to pay entirely. Instead, drivers will pass checkpoints at highway speeds, and toll technology will record vehicle and account information. This system can further increase driving efficiency by reducing the stops your drivers take.

3. Saves Money

Toll rates depend on many factors, and some toll authorities include your chosen payment methods. As more authorities try to switch to electronic processes, they offer discounts and cheaper rates to entice motorists to use options like toll transponders over cash or mail options. Discounts can save up over time, helping you cut your spending. Further, you can avoid hefty processing fees that come with other choices.

4. Functions With Many Toll Stations

Tolling work varies by state and locality, with each area prioritizing different factors. Toll transponders are compatible with all toll types. Whether drivers have to stop at tolls or drive underneath checkpoints, your fleet can travel everywhere it needs without surprises. Transponders provide a more widespread solution than other options.

5. Allows Better Toll Management

Because payments process electronically, your accounting team can access, check and file payments. When you use cash, you have to count on your drivers to save receipts and reimburse when necessary. Paying by mail causes accounting to wait for toll authorities to process and send dues. You can more efficiently manage your account and check payments for correct charges.

What Is a Tolling Violation?

Tolling violations occur when someone goes through a toll station without fully paying. Violations can include underpaying or passing without paying. Tolling violations are often caused by transponder problems, like having an expired, invalid or broken one. Another example of tolling violations include not having enough cash when reaching the terminal.

You can avoid most tolling violations by linking your license plate to a prepaid account. Because most tolling checkpoints document your transponder information and license plate, your license plate account can act as a backup plan. You can bypass a tolling violation if you have money in this account.

If you don’t have your trucks linked to a prepaid license plate account, the tolling authorities will send a payment request to the address registered with that plate. Because they had to search the plate and send you the invoice, the cost will likely include a processing fee. You might also have a time limit to submit the payment without further penalties.

Manage Your Electronic Toll Payments With Bestpass

When you want a safe and easy payment method for your drivers, electronic tolling is an excellent choice. Your drivers can pass efficiently through tolling points, and your accounting teams can access the transaction information as tolling authorities submit them.

With Bestpass, you can increase your payment management with our solution. Bestpass aims to help you save money on the road by working with tolling authorities to find discounts and make electronic payments accessible. We will work with you to pair your fleet with the right transponders from major providers, including the Complete Pass. You can ensure your drivers will have coverage at every toll. Our system makes payment history more visible to accounting teams, helping them better understand toll patterns and quickly identify mistakes.

Request a Demo of Our Toll Management Software Today!

Not sure which Bestpass plan is right for you? Our tolling specialists are here to help. They can identify the right transponder strategy to save you the most money and time.

E-ZPass vs. Bestpass — What’s the Difference?

Written on November 18, 2021. Posted in YTP News.

E-ZPass vs. Bestpass — What’s the Difference?

Jump to: Toll Management | Toll Coverage | Data and Reporting

As cashless tolling has become the norm throughout the United States, it’s become increasingly important for both fleet managers and owner-operators to have transponders installed in their vehicles.

If you’ve been researching your options — or even if you’ve just spent a little time driving on toll roads in many parts of the country — it’s likely you know about E-ZPass. E-ZPass got its start in New York in the 1990s, and it gradually expanded to multiple states throughout the Eastern and Midwestern U.S. to become the country’s largest tolling network.

E-ZPass may be the most familiar, but it’s certainly not the only option. If you only drive a passenger car, E-ZPass may be sufficient for your needs. But if your livelihood depends upon trucking, the smart move is to consider a toll management platform like Bestpass.

Systems like E-ZPass are primarily designed to do one thing — make it easier to pay tolls. E-ZPass alternatives like Bestpass offer a much broader scope of control. Here’s a closer look at the differences.

Toll Management

How toll is managed is probably the most crucial difference between systems like E-ZPass and platforms like Bestpass. E-ZPass is self-managed. That means that even though it’s an automated system, any issues that arise are the customer’s responsibility to handle.

For example, when a transponder misread results in a violation, it’s up to the E-ZPass customer to contact/ the appropriate tolling authority to resolve the issue. This might be little more than a minor annoyance for the driver of a passenger car with occasional toll activity, but it can be a significant and time-consuming challenge for commercial customers with ongoing toll road use. If misreads occur on trips involving travel through multiple states, the customer is responsible for contact/ing separate toll authorities from each.

And as most anyone who drives a truck can tell you, those transponders are really designed for the shapes and geometry of cars. Truck misreads are not at all uncommon.

Bestpass makes digital toll payments easier. If you already operate on a tight schedule, taking extra time to sort out inaccurate toll violations could take time and energy you don’t have. You may even take the path of least resistance and resort to paying any associated fines or penalties rather than argue your case. This could lead to revenue losses and shifting your focus toward tolls rather than increasing efficiency, taking on more jobs or other company goals.

There’s a lot of pressure on truck drivers and fleets to deliver goods quickly, and having a system for tolls helps. Toll management platforms like Bestpass change the equation. They assume the responsibility for whatever issues come up, leaving customers free to focus on their core businesses instead of spending hours on the phone with tolling authorities from across the nation.

With Bestpass, all of your important toll data is centralized and available on an online portal. This way, your staff can focus on your primary duties knowing your toll data is automatically being translated into insights you can access at any time.

Bestpass also offers an automated misread identification service. It finds instances of max tolls, then looks at transponder activity and automatically adjusts for improper charges. Plus, Bestpass can help reduce violations by reporting on devices that may not be working or mounted properly. And when violations do occur, customers need only scan and upload them to an online portal. Bestpass takes care of the rest.

Without a toll management platform, you may not know how much time you lose dealing with tolling issues every month. Coupled with the money you could save from Bestpass’s access to the lowest tolls available, investing in toll management could be a game-changer for your company. You may even save time while driving, as you’ll experience less congestion when moving through toll booths.

Toll Coverage

Another advantage of a toll management platform like Bestpass is its much wider area of coverage.

Over the past 20-plus years, Bestpass has built and maintained professional relationships with tolling authorities throughout the country. This allows it to provide coverage that includes all major U.S. toll roads — coverage that extends far beyond the area currently covered by E-ZPass.

E-ZPass only currently covers 18 states, most of them along the East Coast. They also cover some central states like Minnesota, Illinois and Indiana. However, the Midwestern states and those along the West Coast are largely unaccounted for, meaning you’d lose the advantages of E-ZPass if you ever needed to travel to California or Texas. With Bestpass, you have coast-to-coast coverage for any business trips that might be necessary for your company.

The relationships Bestpass forged with tolling authorities also make it possible for Bestpass to consolidate business accounts with multiple tolling authorities, allowing smaller carriers to qualify for volume discounts to which they would normally not have access. Bestpass can also offer pricing structures custom-tailored to device needs, geographical bartprint requirements and fleet size.

Bestpass coverage is not limited to vehicle transponders and electronic toll payment devices. Recognizing that adding transponders to a fleet is not always practical, Bestpass also offers coverage by license plate, which gives you more options, especially if you have a much larger fleet. E-ZPass can use plate recognition to generate bills. This is something that has taken on greater importance as physical toll booths have continued to disappear — but E-ZPass only provides this service as a stopgap to capture data on non-customer vehicles.

Data and Reporting

You already manage a lot of data as a fleet operator, including driver schedules, invoices, insurances, vehicle paperwork and more. Even without thinking about the data gathered from toll booths, there’s a lot on your plate.

Toll management platforms like Bestpass put powerful data and reporting tools in the hands of commercial customers.

Fleet managers can upload entire vehicle lists, cab cards and manage their accounts with targeted searches and advanced filtering of transponder-related data. An advanced data visualization and analytics platform, Empower, can transform aggregated data into meaningful graphs and reports — offering data insight that can be used to improve operations.

Bestpass customers can also say goodbye to invoices hitting their inboxes throughout the month from multiple toll authorities. What they receive instead is an all-inclusive monthly statement that consolidates over 50 tolling authorities into a single report.

Our web portal services are available 24/7. With our data and reporting software, fleet managers can gain insights into specific transponders by filtering through the portal options. This way, you can compare toll data from one vehicle to the next and make a note of trends, such as if certain vehicles receive more real violations more often than others. Then, you can communicate with drivers about how they can improve.

You can also see which routes result in the highest expenses and get alerted when drivers go off course or pass through tolls without authorization.

These powerful tools will help your fleet become more productive and make good use of the data your fleet generates every day rather than letting it slip through your fingers. Stay on the route — literally — with Bestpass’s web portal services.

Bottom Line

The bottom line for toll management programs is that they are designed to do much more than simply process toll, which is the main purpose of self-managed systems like E-ZPass. E-ZPass was created with personal vehicles in mind, whereas Bestpass was created specifically for commercial vehicles and their needs.

Bestpass manages tolling issues on behalf of its customers, providing comprehensive coverage and tools made to maximize efficiency. Bestpass customers can also rely upon the support of a dedicated service team acting as an extension to their own resources — opening doors, sharing their expertise and solving problems.

Bestpass Can Save Your Fleet Operations Time and Money

If you currently use another system like E-ZPass and are looking for new U.S. electronic toll solutions, consider Bestpass. With toll management options, a 24/7 customer portal and a top-notch customer service team of commercial toll experts, you can make your fleet more efficient while out there on the road. Sign up with Bestpass to improve your toll experience, or contact/ a member of our team to learn more.

Request a Demo of Our Toll Management Software Today!

Not sure which Bestpass plan is right for you? Our tolling specialists are here to help. They can identify the right transponder strategy to save you the most money and time.