The automobile sector has been gearing up for the biggest shift with the advent of Driverless Vehicles. With tech giants and the auto companies conceptualising, testing and enhancing their own version of autonomous vehicles, the reality of driverless vehicles hitting the road is fast approaching.

This transformation in the transportation sector will impact Fleet management in more ways than one. Let’s view the three ways driverless vehicles will affect managing a fleet.

Reinventing fleet management

Autonomous or otherwise known as driverless vehicles are designed with the idea of zero human intervention and the foremost step towards managing a fleet of AVs is to build a fleet management system that is capable of handling such innovative technology. Fleet managers will have to consider if safety standards should continue to be monitored, how the drivers will be employed now that they are not actively involved in driving the vehicle and how the productivity of such vehicles will be measured.

Enhanced road safety

On an average, 90% of the road accidents are caused due to human error. With driverless cars, the chances of human error leading to accidents and loss of investment are completely eliminated. In fact, driverless vehicles are said to cut down accident rate by 80%. This means, there is a better chance of road and customer safety. Fleet managers can control road accidents and focus on improving customer experience.

Broaden opportunities

Driverless cars have given fleet managers the opportunity to think about the different ways a fleet can be employed. For example, a passenger can use AVs to get dropped off at work while the vehicle proceeds to complete different jobs and comes back in time to pick the passenger and drive them home.  A single driverless car can serve more than one driver and complete different tasks at the same time. This kind of capability will help fleet businesses to reduce their fleet size and maximise productivity at the same time.

Fleet managers now have to rethink the way they can employ their fleet to acquire the maximum potential and handle multitasking efficiently.

“The actual impact of driverless cars will be evident in time. But, in the meantime, it is crucial for businesses to keep track of upcoming advancements and prepare for the arrival of AVs.”