Telematics technology is ubiquitous in the fleet and transport sector, as businesses endeavour to optimise safety, efficiency and performance. As we traverse a tougher economic climate, businesses must be increasingly sophisticated in using the right technology to improve efficiencies.
"The race for increased business efficiency is gaining momentum. Using telematics technologies fleet owners will continue to shift their focus from mere tracking to insights-driven intelligence. Based on our partners' experience and market observation there are several key focuses that we see worldwide in the sector", says Sergei Kostenko, Head of Product at Wialon, global telematics platform, which provides fleet management services to 3,5 million vehicles in over 150 countries.
Automation will turbo-boost efficiency
Fleet management systems have become critical for fleet companies as they seek to digitise and optimise their processes. The solution providers will increasingly invest in technologies that identify fleet operators' daily workflow patterns, automate routines, predict and recommend next actions – from smart devices connection to intelligent geofencing, automated route planning & vehicle dispatching, alerts auto processing.
We are seeing a shift from just "paperless" to "clickless" interfaces, where users don't need to spend 90% of their time on manual data inputs & checks, but rather focus on making the right decisions. For fleet operators and dispatchers this means the ability to turbo-boost productivity: from tracking 10-15 vehicles per operator on average, to effectively managing up to 50-100.
The use of telematics in insurance will gradually become the industry standard
Telematics systems gather hundreds of sensor inputs and analyse vast amounts of data to identify patterns that indicate poor or dangerous driving. Collected telemetry can be combined with additional data such as weather and service history, to deepen understanding and insights about drivers and vehicles.
For insurers, this can significantly improve the precision of risk assessments, and provide fleets with personalised insurance plans, taking into account hundreds of parameters in real time. Direct access to historical sensor data and videos empowers insurers to make more qualified decisions on claims. The use of telematics for insurance will gradually become the industry standard.
AI-driven fleet optimisation
Advancements in AI have unlocked the potential for broad adoption in fleet management. Vast amounts of digitised and structured telematics data create a fertile ground for AI to identify bottlenecks and suggest insights to improve the fleet business metrics. It will drastically improve asset utilisation, driving safety, fuel consumption efficiency and the inventory optimization. AI will act as a business enabler and will provide the fleet managers with transparent insights on how current activities impact the financial results.
"All these technologies are ready for wider adoption in the sector. In 2023 we will see more and more fleets leveraging AI to drive down Total Cost of Ownership and improve their assets efficiency. In fact, proper use of AI will become a great competitive advantage, so we recommend fleet owners stay open to integrating such technologies", says Sergei Kostenko.
