Category: Telematics

telematics improves fleet management

How Telematics Improves Fleet Management

Posted on | by Alexis | Leave a Comment on How Telematics Improves Fleet Management

As the commercial fleet industry continues to grow, evolve and adapt, having the right tools in your vehicles can help with improved productivity and efficiency. To that end, there are a number of ways in which telematics improves fleet management.

As fleet safety managers and owners work to retain drivers and integrate systems, it’s essential to consider fleet efficiency and new engagement opportunities. To that end, telematics provides valuable insights and data, changing the game in fleet management technology.

What is Telematics?

Telematics brings together two key areas – telecommunications and informatics. Telematics devices collect and transmit data on commercial vehicle use. This includes maintenance requirements and servicing needs.

Using telematics, it is possible for fleet managers to coordinate the vehicles they manage. It also enables them to have a complete view of the profitability, health, and productivity of their fleet at any time.

what is telematics

How Telematics Improves Fleet Management

What does telematics do for your organization? When it comes to investing in fleet management software or solutions, understanding the direct impact on your business’s bottom line is critical. Here are a few ways that telematics can help you to do that.

Decreased Fuel Costs

With fuel costs on the rise, it is critical to have a plan in place to reduce operational costs. Telematics can help identify areas of waste. For example, it can help identify problems with fuel slippage and idling, both of which can increase costs dramatically. 

Additionally, telematics enables better route planning and can create alternative routes that are more fuel (and time) efficient. Other examples of reducing unnecessary mileage and improving fuel efficiency using telematics include:

  • Improving driver behaviours that often increase fuel costs, such as harsh braking, idling or speeding
  • Creating maintenance schedules in a timely manner so as to reduce vehicle stress and improve overall engine health

Improving Overall Fleet Safety

Telematics improves the safety of your vehicles and your drivers, which contributes to your fleet’s financial gain, especially with regards to reducing insurance claims and accident-related liability claims. 

A continuous feed of recorded video footage allows fleet managers to assess driving habits, and to provide live in-cab coaching when an event is triggered. Ongoing training and coaching is just one of the services that telematics provides, and is equally useful in the moment, or for creating better driving behaviour in the future.

Secondly, the same video footage can be collected and reviewed in the event of an incident, identifying who was at fault and potentially reducing false claims while lowering insurance premiums, all of which feed into the safety and security of your fleet.

Improved Productivity

Telematics includes real-time GPS data that can be used to reduce costs and improve operational efficiency. Directly and indirectly, this increases driver productivity.

Accurate, real-time data can identify delays due to traffic and create alternative routes. It can also help fleet managers plan for poor weather that may keep drivers off the road, allowing them to adjust timelines or routes to minimize risk.

In addition, telematics data provides a bird’s eye view of your fleet. If the office manager needs to add a new stop or change a destination, having a holistic overview of your vehicles’ activities can help. 

Better Financial Management

Because telematics provides better insight into vehicle start and end times, it helps manage compliance requirements, such as hours of service (HOS).

From a business standpoint, telematics allows you to get the most out of your resources by identifying money going in and out of your fleet.

An Empowering and Essential Tool

Every fleet needs as much useful, targeted data about their vehicles as possible. Telematics can help organizations improve operational efficiency, save time and money.

At GoFleet, we have the telematics solution for your fleet, regardless of size. Contact us today to see how telematics can fit your organization.

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Telematics Can Help Your Fleet Reduce Fuel Costs

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Benjamin Franklin famously said that “nothing is certain except death and taxes.” Given today’s fractured economic climate, one could easily add the skyrocketing cost of fuel to that list.

In the transportation industry, fleet managers are challenged to mitigate rising fuel costs without compromising other aspects of their business. Many companies have chosen to add electric vehicles to their fleet. While these vehicles definitely save on fuel costs, they can be cost prohibitive.

So how can one maintain fuel efficiency across their fleet without impacting their budget? Telematics might just hold the answer.

Using telematics to reduce fuel costs

Telematics combines telecommunications and informatics. Electronic logging devices (ELDs) automatically record hours-of-service (HOS) and driving time data.

Through the use of GPS and communication technologies, telematics provides fleet managers with data about vehicle location, vehicle use, kilometres driven, idle time, fuel economy, driver behaviour, and engine maintenance.

Within the transportation industry, telematics can track all aspects of the vehicle, from electrical, mechanical engineering to software engineering.

In the context of saving fuel costs, telematics controls and monitors vehicles on the move; it acts as a single monitor for all the different sensory and electrical features of your vehicles, including fuel efficiency, all the while providing data on-demand and in real-time.

Here are just a few of the ways that telematics can help you reduce fuel costs.

Improving driving habits

Everyone develops bad habits over time, and commercial drivers are no exception. Idling, aggressive driving and sudden acceleration can all add up to large fuel costs.

With telematics data, fleet managers can receive alerts in real-time, allowing them to coach the driver to prevent future incidents. Many of these telematics systems are paired with powerful software packages to help track vehicle activity and manage fuel consumption.

Telematics can also help you keep scorecards for your drivers, allowing them to challenge each other, and themselves, to improve their performance on the road.

Deterring fuel theft

Telematics solutions in your vehicles can be accessed remotely to help you keep track of fuel usage. Instant alerts let you know if there is any suspicious behaviour around fuel consumption.

Monitoring and maintaining diesel fuel levels

A poorly maintained diesel exhaust fuel (DEF) level can have an adverse effect on your vehicles’ mechanics, resulting in inefficient use of fuel, and an unfavourable impact on the environment.

Telematics ensures that DEF maintenance is optimal. These solutions send real-time data alerts when diesel exhaust levels are not on par with the emission regulation threshold.

Providing proactive maintenance schedule alerts

Regardless of the telematics solution you choose for your fleet, running full-time diagnostics should always be a priority, especially if fuel conservation is a pain point.

If the device senses that something isn’t running as it’s supposed to, it proactively sends an alert to the driver, while simultaneously alerting the repair centre.

Maintenance alerts slow down the gradual wear and tear on your vehicles and helps prevent future breakdowns, all of which help you save on fuel costs.

Optimizing existing routes and finding new ones

The data collected by GPS integration (common in most telematics systems) can be used to find better, safer routes, which can reduce not only the overall travel time, but the amount of fuel it takes to reach your destination.

GPS can also provide real-time traffic or route status; in the event of heavy traffic, this feature can help you find an alternative route and avoid idling.

General tips on reducing fuel costs

The alerts provided by telematics give you a holistic overview of your fleet. Most of these alerts have a direct impact on fuel consumption and acting on them can create big savings with minimal effort.

Here are a few of the diagnostics that telematics can track and alert you to in order to save fuel:

  • Keeping tires properly inflated. You can increase your gas mileage by up to 3% by keeping tires inflated to the correct pressure.
  • Reducing the use of air conditioners and heaters, or keeping them at optimal levels.
  • Staying on top of alignments and other scheduled maintenance work. Regular maintenance not only improves fuel efficiency, it also minimizes the risk of accidents.
  • Telematics can identify if the vehicle’s payload is too heavy, which can cause damage to your fleet and exponential gas consumption.
  • You can improve gas mileage by using the vehicle’s recommended grade of motor oil. Motor oil that says “Energy Conserving” on the packaging can also support your fuel-saving efforts with friction-reducing additives.

Conclusion

Whether you choose a telematics solution that gives you real-time feedback on fuel consumption or provides data to help you make informed decisions about maintenance and vehicle replacement, the fact remains that telematics can improve the status of your vehicles while having a positive impact on your bottom line.

Contact us at GoFleet and ask us how our telematics solutions can help reduce your fuel costs!

 

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The benefits of telematics during the labour shortage

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When it comes to transportation of goods and services, truck drivers are the adhesive that holds the supply chain together. Given their importance, finding, hiring, and retaining truck drivers has proven to be more difficult than ever.

Once thought of solely as a system for improving operational efficiency, there is now opportunity to leverage telematics for driver retention.

By the end of this article, you will gain insight into the present trucking industry, and how the use of telematics can make a big difference with the current labour shortage.

What is ‘telematics’?

In broad terms, telematics is a field that combines telecommunications and informatics. Informatics involves the working of computer systems – the science involved in the processing of information, its storage, and retrieval.

When you apply this combination to vehicles, telematics becomes a highly sophisticated computing system that can track all aspects of the vehicle, from electrical, mechanical engineering to software engineering.

The use of telematics in the context of vehicle use often involves the following:

  • Using telecommunications to send, receive and store information to help control remote objects.
  • The combined use of telecommunications, and informatics to control and monitor vehicles that are on the move.
  • The use of GPS to help with the navigation and live tracking of vehicles.

Telematics acts as a single monitor for all the different sensory and electrical features of your vehicle, all the while providing instant information on a single vehicle, or an entire fleet, on demand and in real-time.

The trucking industry’s labour shortage

According to a recent report from the American Trucking Association (ATA), the shortage in truck drivers hit an all-time high of over 80,000 drivers in 2021.

The most prevalent causes were:

  • Demographics – The average age of current drivers is above 50, leading to more retirees and fewer hires year over year.
  • Fewer female drivers – According to the same ATA report, women only make up 7% of the overall existing drivers.
  • Lack of new drivers – The availability of potential drivers on par with a truck carrier’s hiring standard is extremely low.
  • Lifestyle –The lifestyle of the average truck driver is another important factor that deters people from choosing truck driving as a profession. Long hours, irregular meals and sleeping patterns all contribute to the decline.
  • The pandemic – Among the many people that were temporarily laid off due to COVID, most did not come back.

This labour shortage will be acutely felt for a long time and may persist until the trucking industry increases its bandwidth to allow younger drivers into the fold and/or improves its hiring and training practices.

Mitigating the labour shortage

There are two parts to managing the labour shortage. The first and most self-evident is to make the driving profession more lucrative and attractive to potential drivers, including:

  • Offering fair wages with extra benefits, including solid health insurance and pension plans.
  • An increase in freight rates.
  • A refresh in the truck industry’s branding, making it an appealing and viable career path.
  • Better work schedules and route assignment for improved work/life balance.

The second solution would be the adoption of technology. Telematics has massive potential to help your workforce mitigate the labour shortage while providing attractive solutions that make everyone’s job easier in the short and long-term.

How telematics can help

Telematics has the power to improve the working conditions of your existing and future drivers in a very significant way.

The benefits of telematics from a business perspective

  • Improves productivity and efficiency: The data collected by integrated GPS found in most telematics systems can be used to optimize routes, which reduces the overall time spent on the road, reduces delivery times, and improves fuel usage.
  • Reduces operation costs: All the improvements listed in the previous statement help reduce operational costs. Moreover, since telematics tracks and keeps records of virtually everything that has to do with the vehicle, there are opportunities to identify potential issues within your vehicles before they happen, thus improving operational costs and maximizing fleet efficiency.
  • Automates payroll management: With the time and distance data provided by telematics, it becomes easier to manage payroll without having to worry about clerical errors.
  • Streamlines telecommunications: Telematics systems help you seamlessly streamline all forms of end-to-end communication within your business operations, from customers to drivers.
  • Offers proactive maintenance and repair alerts: The diagnostics data provided by telematics can help you maintain your fleet and keep everything in working order. Issues can be flagged to your driver while also alerting your repair centre, preventing break downs before they happen.
  • Attracts and retains drivers: This is the most important benefit given the subject of this article. Vehicles fitted with telematics technology will always prove to be more attractive, and the many features that the tech offers, especially in them being engaged, and not disconnected over miles of long lonely road, will certainly help in their retention.

The benefits of telematics from a driver’s perspective

  • Improves safety and compliance: The built-in driver monitoring software encourages drivers to comply with all regulatory driving standards. This goes a long way in avoiding, and preventing accidents, ensuring the overall health, and safety of the drivers.
  • Opportunities for real-time coaching: Virtually everyone develops bad driving habits over time. Whether it’s harsh braking, frequent acceleration or failing to use a turn signal, telematics can identify these occurrences and alert both you and your driver to these behaviours as soon as they happen, giving you an opportunity to correct and coach in real-time.
  • Increases job safety: Contrary to popular belief, telematics isn’t the digital, overbearing “Big Brother” that everyone thinks. There are lots of ways to introduce telematics to your drivers that frame it as a benefit; less in-cab surveillance and more of an insurance policy that helps prevent accidents, exonerate your drivers and keep them safe.

Conclusion

While there is no singular solution to fix the entire trucking industry, an organized business that leverages telematics data not only lures prospective employees, but it can also help your organization use your existing drivers and vehicles more efficiently while keeping them safe on the road.

For more information, contact your GoFleet consultant and ask us how we can keep you and your staff in the driver’s seat.

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How telematics will improve your fleet operations in 2022

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Historically, fleet management has not been an easy endeavour. With so many moving parts and dependencies, companies have struggled with the bandwidth to stay on top of their operations and expenditures. There’s the need to ensure that vehicles and drivers are assigned efficiently, that resources aren’t constantly overstretched and that unnecessary costs aren’t racking up – all of which is incredibly difficult if you don’t have real-time information at your fingertips.

Thankfully, innovations in technology are revolutionizing the process. Telematics solutions are shifting the way in which organizations track and manage their fleet operations, yielding a wide range of benefits in the process. Here’s how telematics will improve your fleet operations in 2022.

The Benefits of Telematics

Telematics is a monitoring technique that uses a combination of GPS, dash cam technology and on-board diagnostics (OBD) to keep track of automobiles, trucks, machines, and other assets. By analyzing real-time fleet data, such as location and activity information, end users can use telematics to provide invaluable business insights into their operations and assets.

Since fleet managers don’t have time to measure every single aspect of the operation manually, telematics is a quick and easy way to assess your fleet’s performance at any given moment. The system automatically detects all the details you need to keep track of without needing intervention from human operators.

Telematics solutions offer a comprehensive list of benefits to trucking companies. It can tell you how fast you’re going, how much gasoline you’re using, where your trailers are, whether your vehicles are in good condition, and much more.

Regardless of the solution you choose for your fleet, telematics help your drivers stay safe on the road. Fleet managers can keep an eye on their drivers by checking the safety scores of each individual vehicle, which consider the hours driven and operating conditions. These metrics help fleet managers identify problematic driving behaviours before they become a major liability for the company.

Telematics offer solutions to fleet managers and drivers.

Where Video Telematics is Heading

Telematics is a rapidly expanding market that promises to reach $3,556 million in global sales by 2026, according to reports. The automotive sector is being pushed ahead by the advent of 5G, electrical engineering, vehicle technology, and AI as automobiles become part of the IoT family.

According to Berg Insight, the number of active video telematics systems in North America reached a staggering 2.1 million units in 2020. The active installed base is expected to reach more than 4.4 million units in North America by 2025, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.2 percent.

This new study identifies key insights into the video telematics market. It found that cameras are being integrated into commercial vehicle systems at increasing rates to provide a variety of video-based solutions and are becoming a priority in the transportation sector as such.

With such extreme growth, it is all but certain that telematics and the future of fleet management will go hand in hand.

Why The Adoption of Telematics Will Make or Break Fleets In 2022

Without a doubt, telematics is an essential integration for your operations. It helps you take actionable steps to improve your company’s performance and remain prepared for anything that comes ahead.

With the amount of data collected through telematics, fleet managers can easily identify trends surrounding their vehicles, drivers and assets, and make informed decisions about their company’s future. Moving forward, businesses will define a successful new year with the decision to either adopt or delay the integration of this technology.

How GoFleet Is Leading the Way

With the rapid evolution and adoption of telematics solutions, it can be hard to keep track of what changes are being made. So far this year, there have been some big changes in telematics—and they’re all happening right now.

GoFleet is leading the way in this technology and its shifts, offering new ways in which to take advantage of what telematics has to offer.

Zenducam, one of GoFleet’s most renowned products, has changed the telematics game, allowing businesses to effectively monitor their fleets and related operations.

The innovative dash camera offers features such as the real-time transmission of video, live GPS location, insights on driver behaviour and much more. Zenducam allows fleet managers to readily access data and leverage it to bolster their fleet’s performance while keeping driver and asset safety top of mind.

Solving Problems Through Expertise and Excellence

GoFleet leads the way in ongoing innovation and is helping solve some of the commercial trucking industry’s biggest pain points in the process.

Issues such as staffing shortages, safety and compliance can be daunting, but easily navigated through GoFleet’s revolutionary approach to fleet management.

With the increasing demand for more efficient, smarter, and safer fleets than ever before, GoFleet is positioning businesses to take advantage of the telematics evolution.

GoFleet helps measure, monitor, and manage drivers and vehicles, whether you have one vehicle or hundreds. We guarantee peace of mind by taking on the more tedious operational tasks while you improve your company’s performance.

Our advanced telematics systems are scaled to the needs of your business, delivering only the best quality and performance while following all compliance standards. This way, your business can proceed with clear and achievable goals in mind while we provide curated integrated telematics data to provide advanced support for all your fleet’s needs.

GoFleet’s products and approach to success are a trademark of its efficacy as a solution to fleet management, and ultimately revolve around the priority of customer care. Assisting customers in navigating this ground-breaking technology, GoFleet has established itself as an expert in telematics and is readily accessible to its customers for post-sales support.

By leveraging these cutting-edge solutions, companies will be able to monitor their fleet’s activity more effectively than ever before—and put together comprehensive plans for its future success. GoFleet continues to pave the way for automated fleet management, and plays a pivotal role in defining what it means to be successful in 2022.

Should Your Business Be Using Telematics?

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If you’re looking to grow your business, it’s important to review how telematics may be able to help. Depending on what your current and future needs are, telematics solutions that work to optimize efforts while boosting efficiency, productivity and safety, may be exactly what you need.

Click on the image below to learn more about how adopting new technology could in fact be what your business needs to move forward.

New Partnership: Working With Samsara To Better Help Fleets

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As the needs of businesses are continually evolving, it’s critical for organizations to stay on top of industry trends. This is amplified with it comes to the IoT and telematics sector as new tools and solutions are always transforming. With this in mind, GoFleet is excited to partner with Samsara! This partnership allows us to expand our solutions offerings to better help businesses stay efficient, safe and sustainable.

 

Partnership With Samsara

 

With Samsara’s help, we will now offer additional fleet management, asset tracking, camera and safety solutions. The core of these Samara offerings will provide businesses with end-to-end and cost-effective solutions that are billed monthly. In the past, Samsara has been highlighted to help those within various industries such as transportation and logistics, food and beverage, as well as state and local government. 

 

Fleet Management Solution 

 

Samsara offers end-to-end fleet management solutions that many businesses may find of interest as they offer a modern platform with real-time visibility in addition to AI-powered analytics. As the deadline for drivers is looming closer (or has already passed) for fleets to adopt innovative tools such as electronic logging devices, it’s critical for managers to find the right device for their needs as soon as possible. It’s important to note that Samsara’s fleet management solutions are able to connect to third party systems to improve real-time data and visibility efforts.

Learn more here: https://stagingms.gofleet.com/product/samsara-gateway-gps-system/

 

Camera And Safety Solution

 

Samsara has numerous camera and safety solutions that fleets can take advantage of. Among the basic features of being able to collect video footage, Samsara dashcams and sensors can leverage computer vision. This allows it to automatically identify unsafe driving behaviour, offer in-cab voice coaching and conduct automatic upload. All of the features truly pushing businesses forward to a safer future. 

Learn more here: https://stagingms.gofleet.com/product/samsara-ai-dash-cams-for-fleets/

 

Asset Tracking 

 

Lastly, Samsara offers various tracking options for fleets. Apart from offering basic trailer tracking to increase GPS visibility of your team, Samsara also offers wireless reefer and asset tracking products. So whether you’re looking to stay compliant to critical temperature monitoring regulations or monitoring where costly equipment is throughout the day, it can be done. 

Learn more here: https://stagingms.gofleet.com/product/samsara-ag24-trailer-tracker/ 

 

If you’re interested to learn more about our partnership with Samsara, and how it may benefit your new fleet management needs, contact us today!

Common IoT Frustrations After Implementing New Technology

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When a business adopts a new technology or tries a new strategy, sometimes the change can provoke frustration. This is because some employees may struggle to see the value in the change or employees may prefer to complete work the way they’ve always known. However, it’s important to remember that new technology is critical for businesses that are looking to grow as it drives new levels of success. So with this being said, managers must do everything they can to ensure a smooth transition of adopting new technology. When discussing the adoption of IoT solutions, managers must do what they can to limit common IoT frustrations among their teams.

 

Common IoT Frustrations & Possible Solutions

 

Having New Quantities of Data

When new IoT solutions are deployed, businesses can struggle and become frustrated about what to do with the vast quantities of data that they now have. This frustration is amplified when there is no guidance or direction as teams can become overwhelmed or unsure of their work. So whenever a business implements a new technology, it is always recommended for management to take advantage of the training and support available. Regardless of if managers feel as though their team can do so without it, having additional guidance about how to use the tool can help ensure that employees are not only using it properly but using it to its fullest potential.

 

Service Interruptions and Outages

When it comes to the service of your IoT solutions, there are concerns that there will be a lack of service with the technology. This comes from the fear that with any new computerized tool, there could be periods where it just doesn’t work. While this is a common IoT frustration that many could encounter for various reasons, it’s critical for businesses to do what they can to keep this frustration at a minimum. This includes managers or decision-makers to do their due diligence and research the company they’re about to work with. This will ensure that businesses are working with a service provider who is known to have uninterrupted service, generally fast log times and quick customer service response times.

 

Lack of Acceptance

One final frustration that many companies face is the frustration of team members not being open to adopting new tools. As many teams prefer to stick to routines, sometimes it can make implementing new technology difficult. And when teams are reluctant to take on new ways of working, it can make it that much harder for management to run departments or for organizations to grow. So management should always be encouraging and transparent about what the technology can do for employees and the company as a whole. Often, this can help encourage acceptance.

For example, at first, the implementation of new digital form solutions like ZenduForms may not be widely accepted by employees as it can appear to be more of a hassle to learn. However, after the right training is completed and employees are shown how it can help them and the company, it is likely that it will be more widely accepted. Interested to learn more about how ZenduForms could benefit your business? Contact our sales team to learn more today!

Every business will feel growing pains at some point, especially when new tools are continuously introduced. However, it’s important to anticipate such frustrations related to the new tools and for managers to do what they can to limit them. Not only does this require management to ensure that the proper training is completed when a new IoT tool is introduced and to be enthusiastic for the growth it could allow, but to do their due diligence while researching the success of the service provider. Keeping these three IoT frustrations and solutions in mind will not only make the transition to innovation easier, but will help ensure success rather than failure.

Taking Your Fleet Telematics to the Next Level

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With basic telematics implemented into your fleet, you are now able to track the location, movement and speed of all of your vehicles, which helps your organization increase efficiencies, and effectively, reduce wasted time and improve costs.

So, what comes next?

Advanced Fleet Tracking
Once you have the basics in place, you can start to dive deeper into telematics technology in order to really fine tune and optimize your fleet operation.

Check out these major benefits your company can gain by implementing advanced fleet telematics solutions.

Increased Safety
By monitoring driver behaviour – things such as how fast your driver is driving and how aggressive their driving may be – you can use technology that allows you to talk to the driver and coach them through safer driving practices, thereby increasing safety for them and for your vehicle.

It has been shown that drivers who are aware that their driving habits are being monitored, are more apt to perform safer behaviour which not only increases their safety, but also reduces accidents and damage to vehicles and freight.

Increased Efficiencies
By using real time communication as an add-on to your basic telematics, and adding in some routing apps, you can manage driver routes more efficiently – if there is an accident, you would be able to re-route the driver and eliminate wasted time having them stuck in traffic with high priority loads on the vehicle.

By using some of these type of add-ons to your basic telematics, adding a few minutes more to your driver’s HOS (Hours of Service) can really increase your fleet efficiency and delivery rate.

Reduce Operating Costs
In being able to track even the smallest things, such as idling time and minimizing it, a fleet can increase savings by reducing fuel costs. Other things that can be looked at are tracking at a more granular level, such as live movements on a map, maps routing, stopping vehicles, accidents and who’s responsible, which allows for increased productivity thereby reducing costs.

Optimize Vehicle Performance
With advanced telematics, sensors can send out alerts about engine issues and other diagnostic problems. Further to that, the data can be used in a predictive manner to determine when service should happen on a vehicle and allow for advanced planning in order to ensure as much uptime for the fleet as possible and manage the expenses related to repairs.

Reduce your Carbon Footprint
It’s a hot topic these days more and more companies realize that not only is this good for business, it’s good for the planet as well. By reducing your fleet’s idling time and decreasing speeding (thereby reducing the amount of exhaust and CO2), not only are you increasing the safety of your fleet and drivers, increasing your efficiencies and reducing your costs, you are also helping to do your part in reducing emissions in the air for our future generation.

Streamline Compliance
With the Canadian ELD mandated for June 21st, 2020, it is imperative that fleets ensure they are compliant and implementing advanced telematics not only ensures this but provides many other benefits previously mentioned. In addition to the benefits, the cost of not being compliant is expensive and can be avoided with the correct telematics solutions in place.

Do you need to upgrade your telematics plan for advanced fleet tracking?
Some features are already built into your tracking device that collects the data and some solutions require you to step up to the next level of offered services and products.

In order to get the most out of your fleet telematics so that you can save your company time, money and increase efficiencies and safety, give GoFleet a call. We are here to help create a customized and fully integrated telematics solution that is specific to your needs and lets you get the most value for your money.

Advanced fleet tracking is much more than GPS services and with the telematics of the future, there are and will be so much more you can do in order to continually create the best fleet management company you can envision.

GoFleet – Connected Technology. Smarter Solutions.
Discover more about GoFleet and its Telematics Services

How Telematics is Changing Fleet Management Systems

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Introducing Telematics

Telematics systems provide complete fleet management solutions for businesses big and small. Installing telematics fleet management systems enables the complete tracking of vehicles from optimizing vehicle maintenance to improving customer service. Telematics fleet management solutions benefit businesses by improving efficiency, lowering operating costs, and promoting better driver safety.

Vehicle telematics systems use a combination of a GPS receiver, a telematics device, and communication devices. These devices monitor and relay important information on vehicle use. In some ways, you could call telematics systems the “black box” of the vehicle industry.

In this article, you will learn exactly what a telematics system is. You will also find out how these technological solutions can improve corporate fleet management. 

What is Telematics?

The term “telematics” is a combination of telecommunications and informatics. In the context of fleet management systems, telematics allows information to be sent from vehicles to a centralized database. Fleet managers are then able to analyze and process the information to develop transport solutions and optimize the use of company’s resources.

The main industries that benefit from telematics solutions are logistic companies, insurance companies, and businesses who operate commercial fleet vehicles.

For example, vehicle telematics systems can record information such as location, driving speed, idling time, fuel consumption, tire pressure, vehicle faults, and driving habits. Business owners and managers are then able to schedule vehicle maintenance, use resources more efficiently, and improve their employee’s driving habits.

As a result of these reports and diagnostics, investing in telematics systems can result in great savings in transport operating costs.

How Does Telematics Work?

The main components for a telematics system in a car or other vehicle to work are:

  • a GPS telematics antenna
  • a telematics device that includes an accelerometer
  • a SIM card to transmit data over a cellular network

Due to these components, telematics captures areas such as productivity, driving habits, and diagnostics.

Productivity

The GPS telematics system shows in real-time and records data such as speed, location, and types of roads the driver uses.

Driving Habits

In addition to monitoring productivity, telematics devices uses sensors to record driving habit data. For example, suburban fleets may use telematics to monitor and reduce risky driving habits such as harsh braking, harsh cornering, fast acceleration and speeding.

Diagnostics

Because the vehicle telematics “black box” is connected to the vehicle’s onboard computer, diagnostic data is also recorded as part of the intelligent telematics reporting. 

Telematics Solutions for Fleet Management

Why are fleet management telematics a standard part of the industry? The biggest reason is because telematics goes hand-in-hand with effective fleet management.

Fleet managers are responsible for goals such as optimizing fleet resources, improving customer service, increasing safety, and monitoring maintenance. Telematics provides data for fleet managers to realize all of those goals.

 

Telematics Navigation: Vehicle and Trailer Tracking

There are multiple ways that GPS telematics can be used as tracking software for fleet management solutions.

For example, logistics companies can work out the best route to take to increase delivery time or maximize fuel efficiency. Or, real-time GPS fleet tracking can help dispatch the nearest driver to a job or incident (in the case of emergency services).

However, vehicle tracking is also useful to locate stolen cars, trucks or trailers. In fact, if a trailer or vehicle is moved without authorization, an alert can be sent instantly to the fleet manager.

 

Telematics in Cars: Maintenance Monitoring

Telematics devices improves maintenance schedules and extends vehicle lifespans.

For example, by using fleet telematics solutions, businesses can schedule preventative maintenance and track engine hours. Diagnostic alerts can also help repair small issues before they develop into major costly repairs.

Due to the fact that vehicle telematics helps keep cars in a safe operating condition, they also go a long way to improving road safety.

 

Fleet Telematics: Safety Reporting

By analyzing reports on driving behavior, business owners can minimize the risks caused by poor driving habits.

Apart from telematics monitoring driver behavior, there are many telematics device add-ons that can boost safety. For example, devices that prevent driving distractions, collision avoidance systems, and lone worker safety solutions all help improve safety.

Telematics solutions are also effective to increase productivity and safety in large industrial vehicles. For example, the Go RUGGED telematics device has been specifically designed for vehicles such as farm machinery, off-road vehicles, dump trucks, and mining equipment.

It is also good to remember that bad driving habits don’t just put other road users at risk. They also shorten the life cycle of the car by putting the vehicle under unnecessary wear and tear. Fast acceleration and harsh braking also negatively impact on fuel efficiency.

In the event of an accident, GPS telematics devices along with dash cams can provide accurate data to reconstruct the event. This can help to save money on falsified insurance claims. What’s more, by installing telematics devices on fleet cars, companies may be able to save money on insurance premiums.

 

Intelligent Telematics Solutions

Apart from being useful in tracking driver habits and optimizing fleet vehicle management, there are a number of practical ways that telematics work.

Using telematics for predicting traffic conditions can help drivers plan their best route to avoid congestion and hazards. This can not only help companies continue to provide good customer service but it can help to minimize driver stress and improve job satisfaction.

Intelligent telematics fleet solutions also save money on fuel costs. Choosing the most effective route, avoiding idling in traffic, and driving at reasonable speeds all improves fuel efficiency.  

 

Fleet Management Telematics Use Case

Lastly, let’s explore a 2019 use case. Consider one of our recent clients. Like many other fleets, they were a second-time telematics user. Also similarly to other fleets, they understand that using telematics is much more than tracking vehicle location.

For that reason, their use case was more complex. They wanted a custom solution that tracked their vehicles, actionized vehicle data, and provided rich data. As a result, our product team designed the following solution.

GO9 Device

Firstly, our product team provided the brand-new Geotab GO9 tracker – an updated version of the Geotab GO7. The client was one of the world’s first GO9 users. In addition to providing rich telematics data, the GO9 is future proof and will be able to handle future fleet management needs such as tracking electric vehicles.

Automation Software

Secondly, our product team developed and provided automation software. Automation software actionizes telematics data by assigning tasks to telematics triggers. For instance, our client used ZenduMA to automatically assign a mechanic job whenever a driver reported a vehicle defect on their DVIR.

Rich Data

Thirdly, our product team provided rich data by providing a camera solution. ZenduCAM provides valuable video footage to make sense of numerical data. For instance, our client started using footage to follow up on safety incidents and unexplained vehicle damage.

 

Key Takeaway

Hence, the key takeaway is that fleet telematics is now more than collecting vehicle data. In 2019, fleets expect telematics to provide rich data and to actionize that data into business activity.

Sources

Business Fleet

Telematics Helps Materials Placement Company Reduce Costs

Research Gate

A Telematics Application for Stolen Vehicle Recovery Using On-Device Position Fixing

2017 Was a Big Year for Electric Vehicles (Pt. 1) | Electric Truck

Posted on | by Jimmy Song

The electric truck, led by the big Tesla reveal, is making a big buzz!

Earlier this year, Elon Musk dazzled the audience by revealing the Tesla Semi. The Tesla Semi is Tesla’s all-electric truck and is an amazing feat for electric vehicles!

What’s with the electric vehicle buzz?

Electric vehicles are soaring in popularity. A lot of people wrote off electric cars. Just a few years ago, there was even a documentary called “Who Killed the Electric Car?”. For a long time, electric cars were slow selling and were tagged as a toy for green geeks.

This isn’t the case anymore! For instance, there are now at least 34 electric vehicles on the American market. In the last few years, engineers designed electric cars to be affordable, quick charging, and powerful.

In addition to regular people looking into electric vehicles, many fleets are doing the same. Let’s take a look at why fleets are excited about the Tesla Semi.

year of electric vehicles

Highlights on Tesla’s big electric truck reveal:

Pure electric

The Tesla Semi is fully electric! The truck can be used for both short haul and long haul jobs.

For short-haul jobs, the Tesla Semi can be used on a single charge per day. This is because its battery life has a range of 500 miles. How convenient!

What about long haul? Long-haul truckers can quickly charge their Tesla Semi throughout their route. The Tesla Semi uses Megachargers, which are mega powerful solar-powered battery chargers. As a result, truckers can fully charge their truck during their 30-minute break.

Economical

Elon Musk promises that the Tesla Semi will save money from the start. He went as far as saying that using diesel trucks would be “economic suicide”.

To Tesla’s point, a lot of people were surprised at the Tesla Semi’s affordable price tag. The trucks start at $150,000, which is in line with some diesel models.

The real savings, however, start after using the truck. The Tesla Semi only has a cost of about $0.85 per mile. This is lower than diesel trucks and rail alternatives.

Super performance

Sure, the Tesla Semi runs on electricity and might be cheaper per mile. That’s all cool, but how does the Tesla Semi perform against traditional trucks?

Alas, the Tesla Semi does not disappoint. Onlookers felt giddy about the technical specs. For example, the tractor can go from 0 to 60 mph in just 5 seconds! Musk also promised that the truck is sturdy enough to have 0 breakdowns in its first million miles.

Safety and autonomous driving

Another big part of Tesla’s reveal is autonomous driving. In addition to just being an electric truck, Musk said that the Tesla Semi can drive itself on the highway.

Indeed, to the crowd’s amazement, the Tesla Semi uses collision avoidance and lane assist technology to get the job done. These tools ensure that Tesla Semis can drive safely and avoid accidents.

Also, it allows Tesla Semis to “platoon”. Platooning is where trucks are connected together and drive in a line. As a result of platooning, driving efficiency and traffic flow is improved.

How are fleets reacting to the Tesla Semi?

The Tesla Semi is popular among fleets and will soon be on the road. Production is scheduled to start in 2019 and some fleets already committed to adding these trucks.

Just like digital products, fleets eagerly pre-ordered the Tesla Semis. Companies on the preorder list include JB Hunt, Walmart and Loblaw.

Electric vehicles are indeed alive!

Check back in for part 2 of our electric truck series, where we explore tracking for electric trucks!

Links:

Truck News: Tesla semi hits the streets

BGR: Tesla reveals pricing for the Tesla Semi and it’s surprisingly competitive

Wired: Meet the Tesla Semitruck, Elon Musk’s Most Electrifying Gamble Yet

Mashable: Tesla’s new ‘Megachargers’ will give its Semis power for 400 miles in 30 minutes