The world is changing fast, and businesses that cannot keep up with the change become redundant. Technology is transforming businesses, logistics, lifestyle, as well as interactions, and IoT is leading the race when it comes to fleet management.
According to estimates by Market Insights Reports, the projected market reach for Global IoT Fleet Management will be $17.5 billion at the end of 2025, with a CAGR of 21.0% during 2019-2025.
The article highlights the importance of IoT in modern-day fleet management for trucking companies, and how technology is preventing problems arising from mismanagement of time, resources, and money while automating complex and repetitive processes.
What is IoT?
Internet of things, often known as IoT, is a network of internet-connected devices that collects and shares data via sensors. It uses a common cloud to communicate across various devices to increase efficiency and automation, helping you to manage functions with a lesser workforce. IoT has applications in various fields, ranging from business, logistics to medicine.
How IoT Has Changed the Fleet Management Business
When you have a massive fleet, it is not feasible to keep track of every vehicle, driver, and product shipment in real-time using the old traditional way. This is where the Internet of Things comes in and amplifies your entire logistics chain, reducing downtime, while increasing safety and clients’ trust.
1. Real-Time Tracking for Route Planning
The fleet business requires a lot of management. In the traditional model, it was impossible to have a real-time idea of your fleet drivers’ whereabouts. It often results in idling and routing problems, which led to cost overruns.
A Telematics IoT device lets you track your vehicles in real-time. You may use it to guide drivers when they take any wrong turns or are heading towards a congested traffic zone.
Route planning is one of the most important tasks of fleet management and must be updated in real-time. According to Diesel Net, trucking vehicles spend about 40% of their time idling due to improper route planning. With real-time tracking, you can easily suggest your drivers a few alternative routes that will help them reach the destination ahead of time.
The City of Cocoa Municipal Fleet team provides numerous services in central Florida, using its 400 vehicles in 20 different locations. Real-time updates and route planning are essential in case of emergencies. Life and business became easy as they installed the best dash cam to manage various vehicles suited to different tasks and deploy them whenever and wherever necessary, swiftly.
2. Temperature Tracking and Alerts
When it comes to food and beverages, you need to make sure they are temperature controlled.
For example, dairy products and ice creams need to be maintained at chilly temperatures. You can use IoT to regulate and maintain temperature for these edibles, which need to remain at higher or lower temperatures throughout the journey, such as ice creams.
Failure to keep them in these conditions may ruin the product’s taste or quality. Earlier, the drivers used to do routine checks of the materials. However, with automation, they save a lot of time. It also provides real-time feedback and has greatly improved the delivery time.
Cowgirl Creamery has a fleet of delivery trucks that employ IoT temperature sensors that track down minute variations because of its low tolerance range of +/-1.
3. Legal Issues
The use of Electronic Logging Device (ELD) can serve as a continuous tracker and is a mandatory requirement for trucking vehicles in the United States, as it determines the Hours of Service (HoS) of the drivers. It serves as a log of the driver’s movements and actions. It also helps in promoting safe driving, and fewer accidents, saving you from long paperwork, and court cases.
As per the new mandate, all commercial vehicles must be equipped with FMCSA-approved ELDs like Samsara. Furthermore, you can use the Samsara Fleet Login to view your driver’s activities. Since the driver’s log can not be edited, it can forever remain free of data tampering.
The use of ELD has resulted in 88% less harsh events in the Dohrn Transfer Company and has made its 645 drivers ELD-compliant.
4. Security and Maintenance
It is always better to prevent dangers before they happen. IoT sensors present in vehicles, monitor and send early warning alerts about the condition of parts that require maintenance or are about to fail. It also provides alerts for coolant temperature, fuel usage, battery meter, brake pads, and many other essential things that can make the difference between a safe journey and a disaster.
An IoT device also provides valuable feedback like weather, weight load, and tire pressure, which can help in better vehicle scheduling.
An IoT-enabled dashcam alerts drivers who are driving recklessly and prevents accidents. It also alerts you about the behavior of the driver. In case of a breakdown, it can even call a tow truck, and get some immediate assistance for the vehicle.
Additionally, the rise of carjackers who steal your vehicle can easily be identified with the dashcam attached to the vehicle and tracked using GPS. Samsara has ELDs with built-in Wi-Fi hotspots to help you track the location, even where network speeds are slow.
While Ghilotti Bros. Inc., focused on a streamlined asset management and maintenance system, Blue Lightning recovered over $20,000 worth of assets, thanks to its IoT tracking system.
5. Analytics and Costs
The different sensors in the vehicle work out different tasks and provide valuable insights about the vehicle, the driver, the environment, and the location. Furthermore, they automatically send notifications, help in problem diagnostic and solving, and improve performance.
It helps to decrease fuel costs that are a result of various malpractices by sending notifications to the driver. Moreover, in this age of technology, there is a guarantee that IoT will improve, while human capabilities will remain the same.
Clover Dairy found out that a client was lying just because it had IOT-enabled asset management doors, saving them thousands of dollars.
Conclusion
IoT has improved fleet’s efficiency and safety, reduced costs, and helped to find a way through the jargon of yesteryear, and create an advanced system that works seamlessly and supports frontline drivers and fleet managers alike to form a stronger, transparent and united organization. The IoT technology is soon going to become the sine qua non of fleet management.
Also read – Top 5 Case Studies of the Internet of Things in Healthcare