The past years have been a challenge for every industry. Businesses were put to the test of sustainability and subsistence. Some even closed down due to a lack of customers or cut down on costs or employees to keep the business running.
The trucking industry, in particular, faced a shortage of drivers as well as stricter regulations and policies. With all these challenges, fleet managers have had to come up with innovative solutions to keep their operations running smoothly and efficiently.
These added pressure and challenges have also highlighted the importance of fleet management. Fleet managers play a crucial role in ensuring that all vehicles are well-maintained, compliant with regulations, and running at optimal capacity.
The natural advancement of technology, the pandemic, and its economic effects have also sparked bigger leaps causing the trucking and logistics business to adopt newer methods and approaches to better their services and make them more efficient for both the providers and clients.
These are just some of the things that we can look forward to in the trucking industry of tomorrow.
What is Fleet Management?
Fleet management is the process of managing and overseeing a fleet of vehicles, whether it be trucks, vans, cars, or any type of vehicle used for business operations. This includes maintenance and repair schedules, compliance with regulations and policies, fuel usage, driver management and tracking, routing, and dispatching, among others.
In theory, fleet management may seem simple enough. But it can be quite a complex and demanding task, especially for larger organizations with a bigger fleet of vehicles. This is why technology, particularly software and programs, has become an essential tool for efficient fleet management.
The Tech-driven Future of Fleet Management
With the rapid advancements in technology, it is no surprise that those in the trucking and logistics industry have embraced and adopted various technologies to streamline their operations. This includes fleet management.
Here are some of the ways in which technology can help with fleet management:
Telematics: Tracking Vehicle Location and Driver Behavior
Telematics is simply the work of tracking devices installed in vehicles. These tracking devices connect to GPS satellites and acquire data such as unit location, and miles driven by the vehicle. It also records driver behavior like the number of times one takes brakes, speed, and even engine conditions. It even draws data regarding speed of acceleration, the hour and minute of the drive, and points of stops. Telematics is also responsible for tracking trucks on their regular routes. It also electronically monitors fuel usage and mileage.
One can easily see the benefits of telematics in any business that includes movement so it is not surprising that many, not only trucking businesses, incorporate it into their system. The benefits of telematics are countless.
First, it improves productivity and efficiency. Encoding locations and stops allow software like Google Maps to plan a better map for the driver to follow. This prevents unnecessary returns and stops, and overall, improves the routing of the load. The electronic monitoring of fuel consumption and mileage also makes for a more transparent audit. This streamlined system results in more desirable results like decreased fuel costs, increased driver safety, more productivity, better vehicle maintenance and engine health, and a more accurate and transparent payroll system.
This also affects company-customer relations as real-time data is being uploaded and downloaded, allowing the customer support staff to give more accurate answers to client queries consistent with actual data. It gives a better experience to everyone and a better image for the trucking company.
More About Telematics and Geo-mapping
Telematics is mainly concerned with the vehicle units and their drivers but geo-mapping or geo-location is central to identifying terrain, traffic, and public spaces that can also greatly affect trucking routes. It makes sense that these two come hand in hand with providing systems with real-world information that drivers and managers can use to make decisions or changes.
Augmented by each other, telematics and geo-mapping both provide valuable information like routes with current traffic problems, weather disturbance to bottlenecks, narrow bridges, small bridges, and restrictions. These may also include real-time and predictive traffic and weather updates. All of these meet the clear-cut needs of each vehicle, driver, and type of delivery.
A well-built system would be able to optimize and streamline routes while also being able to react to sudden developments and adjustments. It all leads to the goal of reducing costs, bettering productivity, and preventing floating time.
Geo-mapping also concerns itself with accurate delivery locations. Locating exact addresses is the usual cause of delays for the delivery personnel. Geo-mapping ups its game by locating precise delivery addresses. Some systems even include customer information like their time of availability. Done right, this lessens the delay time and allows the drivers and customers to make the most of the transaction.
Road Safety for the Modern Driver
Every truckload and logistics company’s drivers are its beating heart. As a result, current fleet management systems prioritize building systems and protections that guarantee driver safety. Recent innovations have proven useful in the past by helping to find carnapped vehicles or missing units and drivers. Of course, carnapping and carjacking are the worst situations that trucking personnel can ever experience but it doesn’t mean that these new developments are only useful in those situations. With the data from built-in telematics and geo-mapping software, managers and drivers can make informed decisions.
Integrated telematics and geo-mapping technology help improve driver safety with intelligent data to create safer operations.
Providing precise roadside signs that alert drivers to dangers or highlighting particular circumstances, such as speed limit signs for trucks, are some of the ways it is done. To aid drivers in avoiding sudden curves that can result in harm or damage, some systems additionally provide information about adverse weather or angles on a road. To aid in proper acceleration or deceleration, geo-mapping supplies information like slope and height. The technology is also fed real-time information regarding average speeds and national speed limits.
Becoming A Driver of Tomorrow’s Trucking Industry
What is in it for aspiring truck drivers? For one, adjustments to the current trends mentioned above must be made to become competent trucking personnel. Updating and enhancing one’s driving abilities in line with modern technology will surely yield wider options and better employment choices. After all, driving a large commercial vehicle is not a simple matter and requires professional training under seasoned instructors with years of intensive commercial truck driving experience.
We Can Help You
The past years have accelerated the trucking industry in terms of progress in technology and regulations. With the right instruction and mentors, you can keep up with these changes and be the well-informed, expert, and professional driver that you dream of becoming.
The Gennaro Transport Training has been a steady and reliable training institution for aspiring drivers. For years, it has always been the go-to driving school for Edmonton residents and professionals. We keep our name in front of the industry by focusing on all the skills and knowledge our students need to become confident and safe drivers.
As an accredited and licensed institution, we ensure to look at the specific needs of our students to give you tailored instructions that will fill in the gaps and keep you up-to-date with the transport industry’s progress.
We offer flexible in-class and online programs that help you become an experienced driver that will be able to handle the meticulousness of the profession. Our experienced and professional instructors will always be there for you every step of the way to answer your questions and give you insights.
We are here to assist and help you realize your trucking aspirations. Contact us and we will be more than happy to assist you as soon as possible!
