Fleet management is a glorified and often thought of application of Internet of Things (IoT). Advanced telemetry and sensor technology have enabled fleet operators to monitor the location of its vehicles and the condition of the cargo it is carrying distantly. Fleet service providers all around the world provide a boasted fleet management solution. In such a fierce market place, it is essential for a fleet operator to choose an adept fleet management package out of numerous solutions offered by a myriad of fleet management service providers.
In the current market scenario, fleet management features like real-time monitoring and historical data management are quite basic. Fleet management services that are deeply infused with disruptive technologies like cloud computing and artificial intelligence offer more benefits in terms of automation and analytics.
It is hence important for a fleet manager to look for an end to end fleet management solution that aligns with his fleet’s requirements. Here are the top 4 considerations that you as a fleet operator must keep in mind before choosing an appropriate fleet management provider.
A. Align Business Goals with the Provider:
First things first, make sure that the service provider understands your business goals. It is a basic yet important step as it ensures that both you and your vendor are working towards a common objective. Moreover, it will help the service provider to give you the exact features that you really require to handle your fleet.
The solution of a fleet management provider should assist you in:
1. Measuring and optimizing your asset utilization:
A service provider should be able to provide features that help you to correctly measure details associated with your fleet trucks. These details include the truck’s performance and maintenance reports, its age, and times when it has been repaired.
An array of such information will help you to analyze different aspects related to the quality and performance of your fleet trucks. The nature of these studies will assist you to correctly right-size your fleet, optimize its use, and will give you a comprehensive understanding of the demands that are or should be integrated with your fleet services.
2. Rightsizing your fleet:
In order to cut costs, fleet professionals have a tendency to trim their fleet size. Also, it allows companies to comply with federal transportation regulations. However, doing so can substantially decrease your fleet’s efficiency and affect your business’ ability to make a real profit.
Telematics can really help you to correctly right-size your fleet based on rational and fact-based data gathered from the trucks. Thus, it is important to choose a provider that can analyze your business for you and help you manage the total number of trucks in your fleet accordingly.
“A good fleet management service provider must be able to put up the right systems in place for you to help you complete your business objectives and goals.”
B. Examine Tools and Features Provider Holds for You:
The amalgamation of sensors, networks, and software technologies builds an IoT infused fleet tracking solution. Different service providers incorporate different methods to build such systems. Hence, numerous fleet management systems are present in the market that boasts different features and capabilities. Thus, it is important for a fleet operator to choose a product that can unlock the full potential of your fleet.
An IoT product that supports fleet management will always include the following three components:
1. Endpoints:
Endpoints refer to information gathering devices like sensors and meters. These devices in a fleet management solution measure relevant and required truck/cargo parameters like speed, weight, temperature, etc.
2. Gateways:
Gateways and routers are devices that collect data from endpoints and transfer them to a platform hub.
3. Platform Hub:
A platform hub is a software or a dashboard that tabulates and represents the information it collects from gateways. The platform is generally accessible through a web portal or a mobile application. This platform is used by fleet managers to remotely monitor and control different fleet operations in real-time.
Types of components used in a system define its features and capabilities. As a fleet manager, you must look for a provider that presents you with the features that are really required for managing your fleet. Features like real-time GPS monitoring and advanced analysis are some prominent features that are generally required for fleet management. Some benefits that your fleet management solution will gain from such features are:
• Predictive maintenance and diagnosis of fleet trucks
• Time and money-saving through distant weather and road condition monitoring
• Improving compliance with laws, policies, and regulations
• Decrease in fraudulent fuel card expenses and uncovering of hidden costs
C. Check the Future Scope of Provider’s Existing Solution:
IoT is an ever-growing technology that undergoes a technical overhaul continuously. These repercussions affect fleet management services too. It is hence important to look for a visionary fleet management provider that invests in cutting-edge technologies to prepare your fleet management system for future requirements.
As security is a big issue in current IoT systems, it is important for a fleet manager to have a solution that is safe and reliable. Also, the existing fleet management platform must be built to support additional plugins and extensions.
D. Confirm the Support you’ll get from the Provider:
Make sure to investigate about the support you’ll get from the solution provider as it will directly impact your return on investment. They should offer effective training and consultation to your staff and help them gain traction with the working of the fleet management system. The training is essential as the solution itself won’t optimize your fleet, but the way you use the system and its tools.
Even after the training sessions, the service provider must act as a single point of contact for the fleet managers and assist them with 24/7 call support. These post-deployment and sales support, maximize the staff platform use and help managers to achieve their business goals.
On a Concluding Note:
Keep these considerations in mind before you choose a fleet management service provider. They will help you to pick a perfect solution for your fleet operations and allow you to complete your business objectives at a high ROI.
We at Biz4Intellia provides paramount one-stop IoT services in multiple verticals. With our widely implemented product named “Intellia IoT”, we offer a completely packed solution for fleet management that supports automation and analytics capabilities. With a small scale demo we confirm our product’s proof of concept and feasibility in your field of application.
Click here, to explore more about our fleet management solution.
