Transfinder Corp. closed 2018 with a 7 percent increase in revenue from the previous year total of $14.565 million. That marks over two decades of consecutive growth for the school bus routing and management software provider.
Transfinder has experienced an annual increase in revenue dating back to 1997.
Although the company said it is continuing to thrive, Transfinder CEO and President Antonio Civitella said that there are still many districts in the country that are not using any software product. Civitella added that half of Transfinder’s new clients in 2018 were not using a routing software previously.
The company attributed the 2018 increase to major product upgrades, as well as new products, and bringing in as a new client, one of the largest school districts in North America, Houston Independent School District.
In 2018, Transfinder worked with 157 new clients, attended 40 trade shows in 21 states, two Canadian provinces and in the United Arab Emirates.
It was also named a Best Company to Work for in New York for the second time. The win was important to the company, Civitella said, because it showed how Transfinder works to recruit prospective employees and makes sure employees know their work matters.
Transfinder also purchased the building next door to its Schenectady, New York headquarters, and Civitella said the company is looking to expand its architectural growth as well.
Other factors influencing their growth is the increase in customer training opportunities. In 2017, it hosted 139 days of onsite training. That grew 15 percent last year, to 160 days.
Transfinder also saw an increase in offsite training. Transfinder University expanded “On the Road,” a three-day routing class that covers such topics as geocoding, map editing, pre-routing and reporting. The hands-on class was held in 16 different cities in 2018, which was an increase from 13 cities in 2017 and it is still spreading from coast to coast.
Meanwhile, Transfinder increased one-on-one training sessions by 13 percent in 2018 and expanded its support hours.
The last highlight of 2018 mentioned by Transfinder was the upgrades made to several of its solutions programs.
• Viewfinder 4.0 was introduced to monitor the day-to-day operations of transportation departments. The program allows updated access to students, trips, field trips, vehicles and staff. The update enhanced the search, map tools and added an active directory.
• Routefinder GO is a mobile app, that gives the user access to transportation data on students, vehicles, schools, staff and trips. The app allows users to take attendance, substitute drivers and update trips.
• Servicefinder helps to simplify fleet maintenance for school districts. The program helps manage parts, schedule technicians, coordinate bus availability and control worker overtime.
• Cityfinder 2.0 is an app to help locate trolley stops, shuttle stops and points of interest in cities. The app is designed to help tourists know wait times of public transportation, as well as find restaurants, bars and entertainment that are along the route.
Civitella gave credit to the customer support teams. He said they closed 26,784 cases in 2018, increasing by more than 16 percent from the previous year.
“Transfinder and all our teams are running on all cylinders,” Civitella said. “With the release of our most significant product in our 31-year history, the browser-based Routefinder PLUS, we expect to see a major disruption in the school transportation industry. Buckle up.”
