The desire – and ability – to have greater control over fleets is increasing, with the industry able to meet these demands through new technologies, systems and innovations. We pick out some of the latest developments across the sector…
Knowledge of the networks
“There’s a once-in-a-generation change going on with mobile network frequencies, which makes it the perfect time to reassess what functionality you need from tracking systems,” says Raj Singh, managing director, Crystal Ball.
“With the phasing out of the 2G mobile network, and the adoption of 4G, rather than 3G as the network standard for the latest, advanced vehicle tracking systems, you need to check how ‘future-proofed’ your system is, but also look at the opportunities for technological and operational advancements this offers your fleet.”
Singh warns that mobile providers are detuning the UK’s 2G network, resulting in a reduction in coverage and vehicles and data ‘disappearing’ off the map, or vehicles appear stationary for long periods.
“Both Vodafone and EE have announced they will sunset their 2G networks in 2025 (within the lifecycle of a vehicle going on fleet this year), while O2 and Three UK have said 2G will be phased out by 2033 at the latest – but this will be sped up by a successful roll-out of 5G across the UK,” he adds.
Crystal Ball’s SmartCam solution, Raj believes, offers fleets a viable option to stay connected.
“SmartCam has cloud-based video recording and tracking and has been in operation for five years,” he reasons. “With 4G capability, it will protect and future-proof your fleet for years to come.”
Data management developments
Damian Penney, VP, EMEA, Lytx, acknowledges that telematics systems have become an established means for fleets to gain a holistic view of what’s happening on the road. However, with the technology comes a huge amount of data to be managed.
“Information on everything from traffic conditions to driver behaviour is being gathered in real-time by next-generation devices,” states Penney. “While this is providing plenty of valuable insights, large volumes of quality data have even bigger potential when embracing a preventative approach to risk.
“To achieve this, it’s essential that the commercial fleet industry focuses on collaborating to share and integrate data for the greater good. We’re currently trialling some of the ways this could work in practice in our Lytx Lab – for example, how fleet managers could tap into the external cameras of participating vehicles in other organisations.
“If a fleet manager receives an alert from a driver that there has been an incident on a particular stretch of road, for instance, they can tap into a camera from that vehicle and, combined with nearby CCTV, build a picture on the severity of the incident. This information could then be shared with other fleets and drivers who can be forewarned to avoid debris or seek an alternative route.”
Paperless progress
Covid really brought home the trend towards the digitalisation of fleet management. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the fleet industry had to adopt vehicle telematics systems to monitor fleets remotely and this pattern will continue, believes Thomas Maerz, chief development officer, Rivus.
“Approximately 400 million new cars are expected to have some form of connectivity by 2025,” he says. “The UK presents huge growth opportunities with significant advancements in IoT for vehicles (IoV) and impressive telematics capabilities.”
Data is streamlining the fleet management process and with Internet of Things (IoT) becoming part of daily life, it is crucial for businesses to benefit from trends in vehicle telematics to gain competitive advantage.
“IoV and embedded IoT is the next major evolutionary step for fleets,” believes Maerz. “Big Data, such as driver profiling and sharing data between vehicles, opens the door to possibilities like intelligent deployment, predictive maintenance and applying artificial intelligence to traffic management and speed control.
“The latest GSM changes are reshaping vehicle telematics. 5G and LTE-M technology is faster, more reliable, with improved bandwidth and reduced latency,” he adds. “Along with IoT hardware and computing power, 5G technology can unlock new opportunities in vehicle connectivity.”
Looking after the older generation
With the ongoing vehicle parts shortage set to rumble on throughout 2022, many businesses are facing up to ageing fleet cohort that is being expected to work harder – and longer – than ever before.
Recognising the importance of harnessing data about those fleets was the key impetus behind Trakm8’s Connectedcare package. Described as a one-stop solution that provides advanced vehicle status and health data insights Connectedcare ensures vehicles are better maintained and, ultimately, deliver maximum return on investment.
The system enables fleet managers to gain remote access to readings directly from the dashboard or instrument cluster. These include diagnostic trouble codes (DTCs) and dashboard warning lights from fleet vehicles through easy to use web portals and mobile apps.
Among the key insights Connectedcare delivers for fleet managers is real-time vehicle health updates. Capturing this data from fleet vehicles enables trend analysis, allowing for the identification of common faults within vehicles before they become critical, helping businesses to take a more proactive, preventative approach to vehicle maintenance – ultimately keeping key assets running for longer.
Other key features of Connectedcare include battery status alerts. A flat or faulty battery is one of the most common causes of unplanned vehicle downtime, so the Trakm8 solution can run checks that provide in-depth battery health feedback.
Speeding solutions
Just over four years ago, Quartix was granted a Queens Award for Innovation for its SafeSpeed database. At that point the company posed a fundamental question: What defines a safe speed?
A high rate of fatal accidents take place on rural roads, despite drivers rarely exceeding these roads’ legal speed limit. While important to enforce, a smooth-driving, no-speeding policy alone isn’t always enough to ensure safe driving – context is key. As a result, Quartix developed a better measurement of safety that gives a clearer picture of driving performance.
In addition to a ‘Driver Score’ that indicates a driver’s level of harsh acceleration and braking, the Quartix system provides a ‘Relative Speed Score’. It does this by capturing the speed of thousands of vehicles every day across the country and intelligently comparing a driver’s speed at any location to the average speed of other vehicles that have travelled that same section of road. National road markings business WJ had success using the Quartix driver behaviour analysis reports in its recent initiative to reduce carbon emissions and fleet costs across its 420 vehicles.
“Quartix driver behaviour reports have saved us £160,000,” states transport manager, Scott Logan. “A 12% improvement in MPG and reduced CO2 emissions, plus fewer vehicle breakdowns and far less workshop hours… Results like these are precisely why we use telematics.”
Make sense of the stats
The use of telematics and data within the fleet industry is evolving, often proving to be a necessity when it comes to improving efficiency, maximising cost savings, managing risk and streamlining operational processes.
“Telematics has moved on from simply allowing fleet managers to know where their vehicles are located – the ways in which fleets are utilising the data is developing,” says Mark Young, account director, AX Automotive.
Monitoring driver behaviour is one such area where the use of data is increasingly central in assisting fleet managers in minimising risk. It is a fact that poor or aggressive driving can result in mechanical damage, road traffic accidents and even injuries or death.
Driver behaviour platforms such as AX Innovation’s AX Connect present data in a very accessible and comprehensible way, enabling fleet managers to identify trends and pinpoint specific incidents and events. “The evidence that the data reveals can be proactively used to implement the necessary driver re-education and training programs,” explains Young.
When it comes to the rise of EV fleets, AX can help. “Increasingly part of a package of services which support fleets, when telematics is adopted alongside seamless First Notice of Loss (FNOL) and incident management processes, such as AX Motor Assist, fleets can really benefit,” says Young.
The rising role of reporting
Automotive R&D departments and vehicle manufacturers might be at the forefront in delivering the transport revolution related to electric vehicles, telematics is not far behind and, in some cases, leading the way.
For example, Webfleet Solutions’ Fleet Electrification Planning Report enables fleet operators to identify the internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles that could be replaced with EV alternatives.
The report uses telematics insights from incumbent vehicles to allow fleet managers to select maximum daily mileages, as well as criteria including standstill times and road types, to identify a fleet’s EV potential. It gives a clearer picture than the published ranges of EVs based on dynamometer testing, which does not allow for the effect that ‘real world’ factors – such as terrain, load, temperature and driving behaviour – can have on performance.
Meanwhile, charging point concern has been addressed by Webfleet Solutions. A Charger Connection Report provides useful insights into the charging process and vehicle charge levels. It allows operators to charge vehicles at a time of day when tariffs are most favourable and can also minimise battery degradation by ensuring charge levels are maintained between the optimal 20 and 80%.
Finally, inefficient operation is a concern for fleet managers and Webfleet Solutions’ Energy Consumption Report addresses this by providing an analysis of energy usage in kWh, per vehicle, per day.
How to prevent drowing in data
Efforts to reduce emissions often lead to increases in carbon reporting and the introduction of legislation, such as those curtailing the use of red diesel. To keep up with these escalating efforts to improve sustainability, fleets are being urged to look at the accuracy of their fuel usage data, and how efficiently they can access it.
Many organisations are voluntarily choosing to pursue sustainability reporting. As a result, many fleet managers are finding themselves increasingly in demand for emissions data – both for evidence of sustainability efforts and cost-savings.
Selecting the relevant fleet operations data for a sustainability or emissions report, ensuring its accuracy and using it to make informed, purposeful decisions can appear to be a mammoth task – but technology can help.
Abax’ telematics solution monitors exact mileage and produces emissions reports. Such data can also be consistently presented year-on-year, arming organisations with evidence of trends and, hopefully, improvements over time. The tracking of fleet vehicles can also provide opportunities for route optimisation, meaning savings in mileage, emissions, time and productivity.
On average, Abax users save 18.5% on fuel costs, find up to 30 minutes per employee, per day in timesheets. In addition, they are able to analyse driving behaviour for a safer, greener fleet that spends £22.30 less per vehicle, per month.
Safe and secure
SimplySecure from Simplytrak has a simple aim: making vehicle theft a thing of the past. Drivers, faced with ever shorter times to park, often run to doorways leaving the keys in the vehicle. Opportunists jump in and drive the vehicle short distances before unloading the goods into another van. The value of the goods often far exceeds the value of the vans. What is more, vehicles stolen using the keys are very often not covered by insurance for any loss.
Simplytrak has developed a bespoke CANbus system based around the company’s vehicle tracking software to support the training and behaviour of courier drivers. If a driver fails to follow protocol and the driver’s door is opened with the keys still in the ignition, the horn will sound, hazard lights will flash, and the vehicle is automatically immobilised. To mobilise the vehicle again, the driver must first contact their head office who are the only people able to re-mobilise the vehicle in these instances.
The SimplySecure solution can prevent theft altogether. It comes with full vehicle tracking and reporting suite as well as driver behaviour scorecards to improve driver behaviour. Being CAN-based the system is installed without interruption to vehicle wiring and with no risk of warranty issues.
Ready to switch?
Targa4Electric has been developed by Targa Telematics to analyses a company’s fleet of cars and identify the profitability and environmental efficiency of a potential replacement with electric models.
Evaluating the feasibility and managing the process of fleet electrification is where Targa Telematics can help. Companies can evaluate the potential decrease in emissions across the whole car fleet by using Targa4Electric, which also helps in understanding the economic viabilities of a conversion, such as cuts in fuel costs, traffic charges and carbon taxes.
Targa4Electric functions through the analysis of a car’s historical data, considering a range of variables. Some of these include: average distance travelled; type of driving; and the position of existing charging stations. These variables are part of the assessment which evaluate whether replacing the vehicle with an electric alternative would reduce costs and increase efficiency.
Once the fleet replacement and optimisation project have been completed, Targa Telematics continues to support the customer in managing the electric vehicles. The system provides tools that enable the efficient use of batteries, help sizing and placing the organisation’s charging infrastructure and ensure that the charging procedure is carried out correctly, allowing optimal use also by drivers.
In addition, Targa Telematics assists the fleet manager in managing hybrid vehicles, providing reports on when the car is using thermal or electric propulsion, with the aim to help them achieve their sustainability goals.
And one more…
Evolution with EVs
An EV planning technology has arrived on the market and is set to help optimise electric fleets and fleet management. Spark’s EV Fleet Convert provides insight to fleet operators, helping to identify the right vehicle for their needs, meeting the correct specification and validate that the vehicle will be fit for the intended purpose.
The technology has been designed to help keep electric fleets on the move. Indeed, EV Fleet Convert uses AI to account for where the vehicle is going, driver habits and other real-time factors. For example, it monitors battery health, terrain, weather and traffic to accurately predict the energy needed for each route and vehicle. The core application’s interface displays the state of charge of the vehicle’s battery for each journey across a driver schedule, highlighting when and where recharging the vehicle will be required.
Justin Ott, CEO and founder of Spark EV Technology, explains more: “With many fleet managers looking to transition their vehicles from internal combustion engines to electrification, our technology is very timely in supporting as they changeover. For them, ensuring vehicles can reach their destinations plays a huge role as it can have a detrimental effect on their business.”
INDUSTRY INSIGHT
Ian Wood, managing director, Simplytrak
Simplytrak is a long-time member of the tracking sector and has looked to drive innovation and react to customer demands at every turn. When the company was established 17 years ago, the company marketed what would now be considered a basic tracking system. Essentially our technology made the vehicle visible 24/7. At the time, it was what our customers demanded, but the pace of change we have seen in those 17 years has been phenomenal.
Today, most fleets have some form of tracking in their vehicles, whether it’s via mobile phones, plug and play, or built-in, such as ours. Our own solution is based around the desire for fleets wanting more security. We believe that a built-in tracking system enables drivers and fleet managers to gain added peace of mind over their vehicles and reassurance that our advanced technology will help them improve efficiency and reduce costs and downtime. It’s important to note, however, that the most important factor is to have some form of tracking system and that customers understand what it can do for them.
At Simplytrak, we believe it is imperative to listen carefully to our customer and – at every possible opportunity – give them the tools that we believe will help improve the way they run their operations. As an example, when an employee is going about their daily work, we can show them real-time traffic information and effectively provide more accurate route guidance. By adding an algorithm onto our system, we can instantly help customers – and also improving our own product portfolio at the same time. A knock-on effect of that scenario is that the overall level of technology within the tracking and telematics sector is increased, which can further help customers with subsequent product and software updates.
The technology has moved from tracking to immobilisation to camera systems. And now we find ourselves talking more to customers about security. There is a growing demand for them to be able to secure their vehicles, so we are building that functionality into our existing tracking systems.
The biggest next step in the automotive sector is the electric vehicle – and, at Simplytrak, we are already working hard to meet the needs of our customers. One of the biggest issues is around the charging process – from a security as well as financial point of view. Having supplied vehicles to their staff, companies are asking us if can introduce functionality that shows how much energy is being used and and what costs are incurred. As Simplytrak products already include a camera and a tracker, the challenge is to adapt the platform to show how many kilowatts are being put in, so that they can reimburse their staff.
But where there are challenges, there are also opportunities. The sector is evolving at a very fast pace and we are committed to meeting the needs of our customers, as they are the most important part of the whole process.