What's in Store for Fleet Management?

Within the craziness of the most recent year and even now, the supply chain has been working overtime to filter through the number of parcels going through its system. That means there is likely double the amount of fleet trucks and vessels out on the open road to deliver goods. In that scenario, fleet management technology is commonly utilized to help serve the transition towards gaining better real-time visibility towards where those transports are in their route. This real-time information grants companies with an advantage into providing an added sense of granularity, which is much more detail than expected of today’s business insights nowadays. Vehicle fleet management solutions haven’t always been prioritized at the top of the totem pole, but now in the midst of a global pandemic, companies are under an immense level of pressure to provide for their customer base, and mastering fleet management can make all the difference.

On the Road Again…

Whether by semi-truck, train, or plane, there are so many use-cases for fleet maintenance and management systems to help manager overcome challenges and road bumps. Of course, just a few of these challenges include the rising cost of fuel, environmental concerns, lack of communication with drivers, scheduling mishaps, safety protocols, and so much more. Fleet management development is gaining popularity as companies strive to stay connected with their drivers as they endure the open road, securing a sense of stability for their mobile transport systems. Truck-tracking technologies can provide a significant amount of efficiencies including, GPS tracking, routing and re-routing, geofencing, alerting or delays and accidents through advanced analytics and machine learning processes.

A growing number of companies are embracing remote diagnostics and how this process can streamline vehicular maintenance and reduce downtime, while also knowing how to leverage this data to perfect operations. Such remote diagnostic services can enable fleet managers to keep a close eye on engine fault codes and any pressing maintenance issues while the truck is in route. The detailed failure feedback has can assist engineers to build up better and more improved features for the vehicle’s makeup, ensuring higher functioning capabilities. For example, if a truck has a broken headlight, the technician can contact and notify the driver of the issue in real-time, resolving this issue for everyone involved.

It’s all in the Telematics

Telematics is all about bringing telecommunications and informatics together in one pristine union to assist fleet vehicles as a whole. Installing telematics systems allows one to automatically gather and transmit data that can be used to figure out how things are going with their fleet vehicles across the course of their trip; this means acquiring an insight on when drivers are braking, when they are accelerating, turning, stopping, and so on. One of the most basic mistakes a fleet coordinator can make is failing to properly plan out the required routes, because without this thought-out plan one won’t be able to save where they can on miles driven and fuel pumped. Telematics solutions can also deliver a clearer message into what cost will look like based on miles previous traveled and analyzed.

The health and safety of a fleet driver has to be the number one priority in these situations, no matter what, especially during the global pandemic that we are all living through. Smart fleet tracking solutions can be implemented to monitor driving habits and implement alerts when a driver is traveling too quickly on a highway or side street. Many fleet companies will enforce driver safety programs that seek to reward their drivers for practicing safe driving patterns, avoiding preventable accidents and steering clear of traffic backups.

Fleet Management systems are continuing to increase the amount of information available in visibility’s reach, and moving from current data pools to potential predictions about the future health of equipment and assets. These platforms can also work to expose more information to the carriers about the current and future availability of shipments to reduce deadhead and optimize backhaul opportunities by showcasing the freight that they aren’t able to see clearly. Fleet management operations work to optimize a supply chain’s performance value and ultimately through a means of improving any financial standing that the business can achieve, but cutting down costs wherever the initiative can.