Benefits of Telematics

To all businesses, ensuring products get to customers on time and maintain a quality uptime is essential. Telematics allows managers to keep a virtual eye on their vehicles, watch the health of their fleet, and schedule service when needed. Telematics has become standard across long-haul logistics and the benefits they come with speak for themselves. From reduced fuel costs and increased driver satisfaction, telematics help keep drivers on the road and vehicles out of service bays, no matter the size of your fleet.

What is Telematics?

Telematics is a method of monitoring and gathering logistical and vehicle information for a vehicle. There are a host of computer systems within vehicles today that collect data and allow managers to keep a virtual eye on their vehicles at all times. Telematics collect key information that will keep your fleet on the road, ranging from driver location and behavior to fuel levels, vehicle status, route tracking, and much more.

Reduced Fuel Costs

For anyone who is constantly running trucks, fuel costs are a major expense that is always considered. Because of this, many fleets and drivers themselves have turned to the use of telematics to help track their fuel use and edit their habits when needed to avoid waste and improve fuel economy. By using a telematics system, you have eyes on your vehicles, no matter where in the country they are. These systems collect data, so you can track anything from a wrong turn to fuel wasting idling or unauthorized vehicle usage. All this data is collected and sent to a central location where you can analyze where your vehicle usage can improve. This will allow you to optimize your vehicles’ performance.

Increased Customer Service

In today’s society of next day delivery and constant shipping updates, you must constantly give your customers an update on where their shipment is located and how soon they will receive their products. With the use of telematics, location information can be sent from the computers aboard your vehicles directly to your customers.

Track and Assist with Preventative Maintenance

When data on your vehicles is constantly being collected, it makes scheduling preventative maintenance easier than ever. This allows you and your drivers to proactively schedule service and prevent unnecessary downtime that would have otherwise been missed, cutting unexpected downtime. You can not only track your vehicle, but fleet managers can also see the nearest service bay, allowing you to keep downtime to a minimum.

Driver Communication and Satisfaction

It is no secret that technology has made communication easier than ever, especially in the trucking industry. Telematic communication has been a major way to attract and maintain drivers because of the complications associated with traditional hour logs. Mobile communication has connected drivers and managers more than ever, relieving the communication gap that is often fought between drivers and managers.

Increased Operational Efficiency
By knowing where in the country your fleet is, which vehicles need preventive maintenance, and which need serious servicing, you can plan your fleet’s budget more accurately than with traditional operating techniques. This frees up more capital for your business that would have otherwise been allocated to emergency vehicle maintenance.

Learn more about what OnCommand Connection, the telematics solution offered by Southwest International. Click here.