The CEI Group, Inc. (CEI) will showcase ClaimsLink Express Lane, the latest version of its online accident management application, at the 2013 Annual Meeting & Transportation Technology Exhibition, hosted by the American Trucking Association’s Technology and Maintenance Council (TMC).

The trade show will be held at the Gaylord Opryland & Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee March 11 -14. Luann Dunkerley, CEI’s national business development manager for truck and service fleets, will lead CEI’s contingent at the TMC show, whose theme is “Leveraging Technology for Quality Maintenance.”

Claims Link Express Lane is the fifth generation of CEI’s online accident management tool for fleet managers.

“Fleet managers today are having to do more and more with fewer resources,” Ms.Dunkerley said. ”Our goal in creating ClaimsLink Express Lane was to apply cutting-edge digital information technology to enable them to see as much actionable data as quickly and as easily as possible to further leverage their time and money – and we believe we’ve done exactly that.”

Among the enhancements and new features of ClaimsLink Express Lane are:

• Drillable dashboard graphics. As soon as fleet managers log in to ClaimsLink Express Lane, they’ll see a carousel of sparkline graphs showing the latest trends in 10 key accident management program metrics, including the number of accidents, preventable accidents, types of accidents, repair cost totals, subrogation claims filed and recovered dollars. By clicking on any graph, managers can see an expanded version of the graph, and by clicking on any data point can immediately see table of all the claims behind each data point.

• Repair process timelines. Each accident claim file features icons that represent the different stages in the claim process. As a vehicle enters each stage, the icon appears in bold colors; by clicking on the icon, a drop-down menus gives further information on the stage, including the date the vehicle entered and completed the stage, and other pertinent data. Completed stages appear in shaded colors, so managers can identify each repair’ progress at a glance.

• Interactive imaging system. Express Lane offers managers unprecedented capabilities for viewing photographs of damaged vehicles and images of important documents, like police reports and estimates. From an array of all the images, users can click to see an expanded image, or click and drag to see any two or four side-by side, for easy cross-referencing on a single screen. The system also enables users to zoom in an all documents, and to see damage photos in negative colors so they can view damage difficult to see in normal light.

• Quick and advanced search capabilities. Express Lane features a new quick search function that enables users to search based on as few as three consecutive characters, including numbers and/or letters. Entries immediately show up to 10 results, and clicking on any one brings the user to the complete file or document they’re looking for. Express Lane’s advanced search function enables users to look for documents or data based on a virtually unlimited number of parameters, including accident type, claim number, claim date, open or completed repair, and open or completed damage recovery.

• Data-Based Lockout Recovery. For added security, Express Lane will automatically lock down after 20 minutes of activity. By entering either their system password or a custom PIN number, users can unlock the application and return to the last screen on which they were working.

“Our key objective was to offer a more intuitive, streamlined interface that makes the most relevant information to a user more accessible, and an application they never have to stop using while they wait for more information,” said Jamie Pritz, CEI’s chief systems architect.

Mr. Pritz said the latest release of ClaimsLink Express Lane is accessible via all major browsers and on tablet computers, in addition to desktop and laptop computers. “We’re already listening to our customers and working on the next phase of our project, which will make what we think is the best available accident management application even better,” he said.