Opinion: Effectively Utilizing Telematics Solutions

This Opinion piece appears in the March 20 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.

By Skip Kinford

President and CEO, Americas

MiX Telematics

The electronic logging device mandate for tracking hours of service has brought a lot of attention to truck telematics, and many experts are providing advice on how to prepare for that transition. But one aspect of telematics that few are addressing is how underutilized most existing systems are. In my estimate, only three in 10 fleets are utilizing their telematics system to the max.

Kinford

Every week, I speak with fleet executives who have had bad experiences with telematics. When we delve into the reasons why, two factors come to the forefront: Buyers chose a telematics system for one particular reason — such as safety — and haven’t tapped the other capabilities, and their vendor did nothing to help them succeed.

Both are easily addressable with the right knowledge.

It’s typical for fleets to have a single main driver for their telematics implementation. But telematics systems are designed to provide benefits across three main areas: safety, efficiency and compliance. Some benefits that accrue in each of these areas are:

• Safety: Reducing driver behaviors that cause crashes — such as speeding, harsh deceleration or acceleration and corner handling — leads to a reduction in crashes. This benefit in turn can lead to lower insurance costs and elimination of the direct cost of crashes and, most importantly, it helps keep drivers safe.

• Efficiency: Reducing driver behaviors that waste fuel, such as over-idling and off-route driving, has a direct effect on fuel costs. Telematics also can help fleets optimize driver and vehicle utilization. In addition, e-logs save paper and time, potentially enabling more deliveries in a day and/or reducing labor costs.

• Compliance: Telematics can ensure ELD/HOS compliance, of course, but also automate fuel-tax reporting and enable compliance with other state and federal regulations.

You can see how focusing on just one of these three areas leaves a lot on the table in terms of ROI. Once you have a telematics system in place, there’s no reason not to take advantage of all of its features. So why aren’t fleets doing that?

It is my belief that they don’t know how. Why should they? Fleet managers are operations experts, not IT experts. Yet telematics vendors sell them costly IT systems and then pat them on the back and leave.

If that sounds familiar to you, here are some tips for getting the most out of your telematics system.

• Make sure your telematics vendor understands your business and your business objectives. Vendors with expertise in your industry are going to provide better insight due to experience with your peers. They can be more proactive in ensuring you are achieving maximum benefit because they know what’s worked for other fleets in your space. If they aren’t educated about your industry and it’s too late to bring in another vendor, then you’ll need to educate them. The better the vendor understands your business challenges, the better equipped it will be to help you overcome them.

• Make sure your telematics project has the support of senior management because change management is hard. Implementing a new telematics solution is a big deal. This isn’t a low-level tech tool that you roll out in a day — it’s a complex technology that drivers, managers and company executives will use daily to manage fleet operations. Implementation requires a detailed plan for who’s doing what and when. It also brings cultural change that can create anxiety for drivers, so their buy-in is crucial. Your vendor should help you with all of this: It has been through this many times and should know the ins and outs.

• Lean on your vendor if it isn’t supporting you — not just during implementation but continually afterward. It is inexcusable that telematics vendors take their check and then head for the hills. Ongoing support is essential for telematics success. If your vendors aren’t providing resources that align with your business objectives and demonstrating a strong commitment to helping you drive results, call them on it.

A fleet that leverages telematics in safety, efficiency and compliance should see a net cost savings, even after taking into account the cost of the telematics. Your goal should be a net savings of $50-100 per month, per vehicle, across the fleet.

I have yet to meet a company with a “spare no expense” budget for fleet telematics. By contrast, nearly all of the fleets I talk with are looking to reduce costs and get the most out of investments they already have made.

The advice offered here should help, and it’s especially relevant now, with so many fleets looking either to implement telematics for the first time or to upgrade their current system for ELD compliance. Following this advice can help fleets avoid a lot of headaches and ensure that they maximize the use of their telematics solutions — and reap the maximum ROI — from day one.

MiX Telematics is a leading global provider of fleet and mobile asset management solutions. Kinford is a 20-year veteran of the technology and telematics industries.