Overview

Fleet Telematics Solutions

Approximate read time: 15 Minutes

What do fleet telematics systems do?

Today’s fleet telematics systems have evolved from simple vehicle location information to a pipeline of data that provide a wealth of information about both the vehicle and its operator—all traveling over high-speed wireless or cellular connections. Frequently, the information contains clues for a broad range of improvements, from increasing fuel efficiency and fleet tracking optimising routes to reducing collisions and saving lives. It’s no surprise, then, that fleet managers and operators have started to invest heavily in modern telematics systems, particularly video telematics, to protect their assets, both human and physical, while gaining a competitive advantage in their markets.

This article will explain the meaning of fleet telematics and how it works today, and how it is used in a variety of sectors to improve safety, operational efficiency, and customer service. Among the most significant developments in the field involve video telematics and the ability to harness images with video, machine vision, data mining and predictive analytics to drive further improvements. We’ll also cover trends in telematics that are likely to play a major role in the near future.

Components of vehicle telematics systems

At its simplest, telematics is a way to collect and use vehicle data to achieve any number of tasks, such as locating a vehicle using signals from GPS telematics. Today, companies can collect a wide variety of telematics data. This table shows a sampling of the major telematics technologies and the types of data each collects:

telematics

What is video telematics?

Among the fastest and most promising developments in field is the development of video telematics. In recent years, the simple addition of a camera has opened the field to a vast number of new uses. Prior to the use of video, telematics data provided basic information on where and when an incident occurred, but not why it happened. Video provided a way for companies to understand why something occurred so they can prevent it from happening again.

What is Video Telematics?

Simply put, video telematics combines video data, computer vision technology, and vehicle data to deliver insights that telematics alone cannot. Traditional driver telematics, for example, can provide fuel data, as well as information about erratic driving events such as hard braking, swerving, or collisions. Video telematics provides the critical context required to create long-term solutions. Because of its power to lead to lasting change, the global market for video telematics is expected to grow 23 percent every year through 2023 as more companies adopt the technology.*

Benefits & use cases for telematics

Telematics technology is used to help tackle a wide array of important tasks that help keep fleets running smoothly and safely. Together, the benefits of telematics broadly fall into three main categories: operations, safety, and compliance. Improvements in these areas can help companies focused on fleet productivity to save millions of dollars while helping to improve brand perception.

1
OPERATIONAL BENEFITS

Companies use telematics to optimise key aspects of their business, including:

  • Fuel management and reporting
  • Vehicle maintenance
  • Delivery tracking
  • Route optimisation
  • Cargo integrity and tracking
  • Real-time fleet tracking
  • Customer satisfaction through faster response
  • Driver exoneration
  • Driver retention
  • Brand & reputation protection

USE CASE:

Descrescente Distributing Co. used telematics to exonerate drivers after collisions, saving them from spending unnecessary time and money in legal battles. The company also significantly reduced maintenance costs by coaching its drivers on ways to avoid aggressive driving, which accelerates wear and tear on vehicles.

2
SAFETY BENEFITS

Organisations use telematics to measurably improve their safety metrics. Improving the safety profile of an organisation can help reduce insurance premiums and claims costs, enhance the perceived reliability of its brand, and boost employee morale. In the realm of safety, fleets typically use telematics to:

  • Reduce rates of collision
  • Increase use of seat belts
  • Reduce distracted and drowsy driving
  • Reduce aggressive driving behaviours, such as speeding or following too closely
  • Reduce claims costs

USE CASE:

Performance Food Group used telematics to improve its safety record and, as a result, cut its cost per claim by 40 percent. The Richmond, Va., company saw a 12 percent decrease in near collisions and a 24 percent increase in seat-belt use after deploying video telematics to coach its drivers and help improve their skills.

3
COMPLIANCE BENEFITS

Companies use telematics to comply with a host of policies and regulations including:

  • Electronic logging of hours of service 
  • Company policies such as seat-belt use and speed limits
  • Geofencing to ensure vehicles stay within authorised areas
  • Tracking collision rates and other metrics to calculate Compliance, Safety, and Accountability (CSA) scores

USE CASE:

One Lytx® client leveraged telematics to support a safety programme that yielded 42 percent improvement in its CSA score, a key indicator of safety and quality.

How Lytx video telematics solutions can help

Video telematics solutions combine video-based coaching with predictive analytics to help you take action before a collision happens. The DriveCam® event recorder extends your video telematics further, using livestream video of the outside view and on-demand continual video to expose operational blind spots and show you more critical moments in the field. We offer solutions designed to help companies reduce costs, manage fleet risk, optimise productivity, and improve driver performance. Our solutions are proven to change driver behaviuor and deliver rapid return on your investment to save you time, money—and most importantly, lives.

Learn more about how Lytx can help you leverage the most out of your fleet telematics systems. Schedule a customised demo today.

*Frost & Sullivan, “Global Truck Video Safety Solutions Market Forecast,” September 2017.