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 contacting 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 footprint 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 noncustomer 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.