Telematics: More than just tracking

Today’s fleet indus­try is focused on lever­ag­ing vehi­cle telem­at­ics to help lower oper­at­ing costs, save fuel and lower emis­sions, improve dri­ver effi­ciency, and improve safety. While each of these objec­tives by them­selves may pro­vide some ben­e­fit, how can you ensure that you are man­ag­ing all of them with your telem­at­ics solu­tion to pro­vide max­i­mum returns?

There are many telem­atic prod­ucts in the mar­ket­place today that offer what seem to be robust solu­tions sim­ply by lever­ag­ing tra­di­tional GPS func­tion­al­ity. But is that enough? The chal­lenge is that many orga­ni­za­tions require more than just a sim­ple tech­nol­ogy solu­tion; they require a more robust, end-to-end pro­gram to help them achieve their goals.

There are sev­eral key things that a com­pany must under­stand before choos­ing a telem­at­ics solution.

• Many telem­atic prod­ucts offer an over­whelm­ing num­ber of fea­tures and/or func­tion­al­ity — most often at a pre­mium price — that may not be lever­aged within a given orga­ni­za­tion. It’s crit­i­cal to fit the solu­tion to your par­tic­u­lar needs.
• A stand­alone telem­atic prod­uct fails to address the dri­ver edu­ca­tion require­ments. A robust train­ing and com­mu­ni­ca­tion effort needs to be imple­mented to ensure dri­vers under­stand their impact on effi­ciency and over­all cost. With­out this, an orga­ni­za­tion may not fully max­i­mize their returns.
• While some reports may be avail­able in the short term, the need for ongo­ing, easy to under­stand score­cards at both the fleet and the dri­ver level is needed to drive change and hold long-term gains.

Find­ing the right tech­nol­ogy solu­tion that fits an organization’s needs is the key to pro­vid­ing a strong ROI. Whether it’s the fleet, IT, or sus­tain­abil­ity group in your orga­ni­za­tion that is dri­ving the busi­ness need for a telem­at­ics solu­tion, find­ing the most com­pre­hen­sive solu­tion of mea­sure­ment, train­ing, and report­ing is the key to cost effec­tive success.

About the Author

Nicholas Ehrhart
Nick Ehrhart, Donlen’s Telematics and Driver Behavior Analyst, manages the Donlen Telematics® program. Nick is a Certified Automotive Fleet Manager (CAFM) and uses his experience as a fleet manager to help customers maximize the benefits of Donlen’s GPS/Telematics program. Nick earned his B.S. from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University in Business Process and Operations Management.

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