The recent technological advancements made in the field of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Internet of Things has set the ground running for the next-generation of intelligence. The impact of this revolution has affected various industries, including Fleet management.

Fleet businesses are in the epicenter of complexities and unpredictable scenarios and incorporating predictive analysis into this sector has been groundbreaking. Using such Fleet Intelligence, businesses now have an edge across every process of the operation – thereby leading to better decision-making and improved cost savings.

The dawn of a new era

The ability to foresee events and control the outcome of possible problems in fleet management can be considered as a broad definition of fleet intelligence. Some may consider this godlike ability merely a figment of the imagination, but that’s where the technology revolution comes into play.

With the advent of Big Data, businesses find it easier to store a large amount of data from across the operation for analytical purposes. Using this data repository, businesses incorporate data mining, statistics, modeling and machine learning to identify patterns by analyzing historical and current events to make predictions.

Starting from road safety management, fleet utilization, cost management to fuel analysis, there are various applications of fleet intelligence. Let’s take a closer look at some of the major issues in fleet management and how fleet intelligence addresses it.

Accident prevention

One of the most crucial implementations of fleet intelligence is in accident prevention, risk management and driver safety. Fleet accidents continue to become a massive obstacle for businesses with accident costs taking up to 14% of the total fleet expenditure. But what’s important is that almost 25-30% of the accidents are caused due to driver negligence. This means, your business can save thousands by eliminating these preventable accidents.

By analyzing driver behavior, fleet managers can identify the areas where the individual’s performance is to be improved. Say, a particular driver is more likely to exceed the speed limit on highways which increases the risk of accidents. By identifying such participants and coaching them accordingly, your business can minimize the risk for both the driver and your fleet.

Predictive maintenance

Fleet downtime is dangerous to your operations as it has rippling effects on your entire process. With unexpected vehicle breakdown, your business faces delivery delays, customer dissatisfaction, overtime labor wages and expensive repair costs.

Fleet intelligence uses predictive analysis to understand a vehicle’s condition to anticipate future problems. Using vehicle maintenance history, engine usage, and other onboard diagnostics, businesses can rectify small vehicle errors before they blow into a bigger problem.

Fuel fraud prevention

Though fuel cards and digitization has made a difference in identifying fuel consumption, it falls short of monitoring fraudulent usage. By monitoring various factors like non-regular fuel refills, refilling at high-priced stations, purchasing premium instead of regular gasoline and exceeding tank capacity, fleet intelligence help businesses in preventing fuel theft and regulating drivers from using the company assets for personal reasons. This way, fleet owners can minimize unwanted fuel costs.

Today, businesses are in a better position at leveraging technology to reduce expenses and generate more profit. However, information overload may derail the business from the actual goal. So it is imperative that businesses identify which areas pose the biggest problem for their operations and use accurate data from that particular region to derive the best results from fleet intelligence.