Electronic road user charges and transport services company Eroad is looking to hire 40 engineers by the end of the year.
These engineers will join the firm's current R&D force based in Auckland, according to Jarred Clayton, engineering manager at Eroad.
Speaking at the AWS Summit in Auckland today, Clayton said, "We are experiencing strong growth in the US market. The Oregon market alone, where we recently went through a federal audit, is six times the NZ market. The potential in the wider US market is around 50 times larger than the NZ market."
Clayton told ComputerWorldNZ that while the US market currently contributes a smaller portion of the revenues in comparison to the NZ market, this is likely to change in the future.
"We have an office in Australia as well and we currently operating there. We compete in the premium fleet tracking space, and we are also working on insurance telematics for heavy vehicles that are pretty lucrative. We also do fuel reporting now and one of our customers in Australia have reported saving 72 per cent on fuel costs in their fleet, which can offset the monthly Eroad charges.
"However, for us to experience growth in the market we need some sort of legislative hook. I think big growth for us in that market is about two to three years off. But it probably won't be anywhere as significant as the growth we are experiencing in America," Clayton told ComputerworldNZ.
According to him, much of the growth for the firm will be driven by the American government's federal mandate for electronic logbooks to be in place by mid 2015.
"We have got the electronic logbook in NZ now. We have validated that we can do that as a technology and we have got that as a mobile app for the driver. We are building one of those for the American market now. It is likely to come out this year," said Clayton.
Eroad is also working on an International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA) product that will come out this year as well. This will be relevant to US states that work on fuel tax.
Read more: Ritchies buses to sport Eroad units as part of solution rollout
"That and the logbook will set us on the stage for the wider market outside Oregon," stated Clayton.
Clayton believes that the firm's R&D base will remain in NZ even as it grows in the US market, and targets other global geographies, including the European market.
Send news tips and comments to sathya_ashok@idg.co.nz
Follow Sathya Mithra Ashok on Twitter: @sathyamithraa
Follow Computerworld NZ on Twitter:@computerworldnz