Essential features for efficient fleet management in 2023

Real-time GPS fleet tracking
In order to be able to manage your fleet with utmost efficiency, you need to know the exact location and status of each one of the vehicles. GPS fleet tracking provides this data so you can streamline your operations and be alerted when a vehicle may be stolen (e.g., when it’s not where and when it should be). Having all the information at hand in a web-based SaaS platform and/or app with push notifications/email/text alerts is important for viewing the real time status 24/7, from any location.

EV and micromobility vehicle tracking
Many fleets are currently incorporating electric vehicles (EVs) and micromobility vehicles (MMVs) alongside their fuel-powered vehicles. Your fleet management system must be able to monitor and control all of these vehicles, as well as handle any problems that arise with them specifically. This involves maximizing travel time between charging stations and maximizing battery life for EVs. When it comes to micromobility vehicles, this entails monitoring their whereabouts in real time and being notified of any abnormal behavior (location, speed, permitted hours). All these should be available from an easy to use, friendly app.

ADAS connectivity
ADAS have the ability to prevent accidents in real time, but most are not designed to use real-time critical information once the threat has been removed. A fleet management system that integrates with ADAS can convert information from moments before an accident into measurable data that provides a clear picture of driver behavior and provides business-critical insights that help improve vehicle usage, driver behavior, fuel consumption and prevent accidents. Fleet managers can improve organizational driving practices and ease the integration of safety policies into organizations by having access to information gathered over time. As a result, the occurrence of accidents is reduced, as is the risk of physical injury and vehicle damage, keeping drivers safe, fleet intact, and insurance and maintenance costs at normal levels.

Advanced reporting and analytics
Big Data is no longer “nice to have”! You should be able to receive reports on fleet performance on a regular basis and you should be able to define the types of reports that are received, who receives them (fleet manager, driver, company owner, etc.), when they are received, and how (app/desktop/text message etc.). For example, you may want to receive a report every morning on which vehicles never left your parking area the previous day, which vehicles were driven with excessive speed, etc. Make sure your reporting system also provides analytics, such as activity within the fleet’s predefined working hours and after working hours - insights to help make data supported business decisions, such as whether or not to integrate EVs into your fleet, and help meet your KPIs.

Driver behavior monitoring
Fatigue and distractions are key risk factors for professional drivers. Safer drivers are better drivers, are involved in fewer accidents, and as they drive more responsibly, they save on fuel consumption. One of the challenges fleet managers face is how to help their drivers practice safer driving. A good fleet management system enhances driver safety by monitoring driving activity, detecting potentially dangerous behaviors such as drowsiness, yawning, smoking, use of a mobile phone or paying attention to distractions along the way and providing alerts to both drivers and fleet managers. Drivers receive direct real-time alerts as well as ongoing feedback and training on how to avoid dangerous driving behavior, such as braking or speeding. Fleet managers can use this data to analyze driver behavior and identify drivers who take risks more often. In the event of an accident, it is crucial that the fleet manager receives real-time alerts so that he can provide assistance as quickly as possible. However, these alerts also provide the ability to investigate the incident and draw conclusions for more efficient and secure conduct in the future.

Video telematics
A dashcam installed in a fleet vehicle allows fleet managers to keep track of the vehicles, drivers, passengers, and goods at all times. Furthermore, with a camera recording in the vehicle, drivers are more engaged, drive more safely, and act more responsibly. A fleet management system with a video telematics solution adds another level of control and monitoring, with the dashcam providing not only incident details but also the entire context, as dual facing cameras capture both the drive and the road at the same time. Aside from the fact that insurers now offer lower insurance premiums for vehicles equipped with a dashcam, the benefits are numerous. With live view, real-time detection of specified events, GPS tracking and analysis, historical footage stored on the cloud and available for viewing and sharing at any time, video telematics adds an extra layer of safety, security, and protection by encouraging drivers to obey driving and traffic rules and deterring violations of property.

Diagnostics
An advanced fleet tracking solution should monitor the mechanical status of your vehicles on a regular basis – engine temp, oil pressure etc. and provide real time vehicle health diagnostic alerts that will help you discover technical faults before it is too late.

Predictive maintenance
A successful fleet monitoring system should include a vehicle maintenance module for managing all routine vehicle servicing - based on time (e.g., annual maintenance), distance (e.g., every 12,000 km) or actual operational driving time. This will ensure that fleet vehicles are maintained on time, and are therefore safer, perform better and last longer – all of which lead to fleet cost effectiveness.

Remote driver and vehicle management
A good fleet tracking system should provide the ability to control your fleet and drivers remotely. This can come in handy in many cases, for example you may want to remotely open or close vehicle doors, disable driver ID mechanisms – for drivers who have forgotten the code, deactivate vehicle use, protect the vehicle code when it goes into the auto repair shop for maintenance, and more. In addition, it should provide an easy intuitive interface for managing your drivers – add or remove drivers, manage their work schedules, block inactive drivers and always know which driver is using which vehicle, when, and where.

Customization
Different fleets have different needs, and the ideal system should be customizable. For example, fleets that are used for transporting sensitive goods require the ability to monitor the temps of sensitive goods in storage and during transport (Reefer monitoring) to answer that need, and the ideal fleet tracking system should be able to measure deviations from the temperatures that you define and send alerts when these deviations occur. In addition, it is important that your fleet tracking system interfaces with your existing the systems already in place in your organization such as route scheduling systems, financial systems and more, via an API, . This that will enable extracting data such as location, driver identification etc., and implementing it into external systems such as route scheduling systems, financial systems and more.