Telematics – The Next Revolution in Fleet Management

Telematics is the latest in a series of disruptive technologies and, just like iPhones revolutionized the cellphone industry, this new technology can revolutionize transportation companies by increasing efficiency, Marcio Hociko, Director of Operations at LeasePlan México, told Mexico Automotive Summit 2016. “Seventy-five percent of companies in the S&P will not remain listed in 15 years if they do not increase efficiency.”

This growing trend, which involves digitally sending, receiving, storing and processing remote information, permits monitoring a large amounts of information, providing users a comprehensive account of the status of their fleets.

While tachographs, devices that record a vehicle’s speed, have been used in cars since 2000, it was not until 2010 that these systems incorporated wireless technology. Many companies now depend on these advances for their daily operations, from Uber to Cabify. Its applications are enormous. Telematics can help companies track their employees and analyze their work area to determine the challenges they face, said Hociko during his presentation “Improving fleet management through telematics.”

The technology can track the competence of drivers to measure whether and how individual users may be damaging their units. Telematics can even increase security as a close monitoring of driving allows fleet owners to identify guilty parties after an accident. By closely tracking the movements of a person and alerting authorities in an emergency situation, this technology can even prevent kidnappings, Hociko said.

While advantages are numerous, many users have concerns related to privacy. The do not want their private information available to monitoring systems. While telematics does permit this, there are many ways to protect this information and companies have to choose a trustworthy provider to ensure safety, said Hociko. Still, “50 percent of drivers feel comfortable using telematics,” he said.

Implementing telematics solutions may be challenging in Mexico where many fleets are outdated. An audience member asked about applications for small and mid-sized fleet users. As telematics becomes more accessible there are few economic barriers to access, Hociko said. “It is only necessary to develop uses for smaller fleets.”

The biggest barrier to the adoption of telematics is that some companies are unaware of how to use the large amount of data they obtain. Hociko suggested the help of an expert to fully understand the benefits telematics can bring to businesses.