The tactical applications for telematics are fairly obvious. But the data is giving you a lot more than simply location information and driver behavior.
There can be little question that companies benefit from the data retrieved by their telematics. In her recent IdeaXchange blog, Jane Clark, VP of Member Services for NationaLease indicated that the benefits that can be realized from this technology are more far-reaching than many companies might think.
At this year’s NationaLease Annual Meeting, a session conducted by representatives from GPS Insight LLC discussed the many aspects of telematics technology. According to Jane, the speakers separated the benefits into three distinct buckets:
- Tactical – Identifying a truck’s location and addressing driver behavior
- Operational – Factors in visibility into increasing fleet efficiency through data on fuel use, idle time, fleet utilization, etc.
- Strategic – Companies often underutilize the benefits they can realize from the telematics data to help make more strategic decisions. So if safety is a major concern, the technology can analyze things like hard braking and faster acceleration. Using this data, you can better instruct your drivers on behind-the-wheel behavior. Another possibility that Jane offers is to look at the data for instances of failure trends in specific components, like brakes. That information can then be imparted to your maintenance team.
Most companies fully appreciate how the first two benefits impact their fleet and utilize the telematics accordingly. However, ignoring that third benefit may mean you are losing out on identifying areas of improvement that will add efficiency, reduce costs, and result in smarter decisions.
Read more of Jane’s IdeaXchange blogs for many additional trucking topics.