Remember when a smart home seemed futuristic? When the thought of locking your doors remotely from your phone seemed simply incredible, and virtual assistants weren’t even a sparkle in Google or Amazon’s eye yet? Now these things are commonplace, and no one bats an eye when we have entire conversations with Alexa (or Siri, or Cortana).
The trucking industry has seen a similar evolution in recent years, with the much-hailed so-called internet of things becoming gradually integrated into fleets’ day-to-day, as well. Now, it’s common for trucks to sport sensors that monitor everything from speed to location. And this technology is all communicating constantly with the home office, sending updated information as often as every minute.
The question is, where does the internet of things go from here? And more importantly, how can trucking companies harness the newest developments to make their fleets more efficient? There are a few distinct areas where the IoT can make a real difference in your company’s bottom line.
- Driver Performance
When a truck employs sensors that can monitor every detail of a driver’s behavior, fleet managers finally have a way to gain a clear picture of what’s happening on the road — for their entire fleet. They gain visibility into behaviors that can signal safety issues, such as hard braking events, or drifting into other lanes. While behaviors like these might not seem like efficiency issues, the reality is that drivers with more of these events are more likely to end up in an accident, which can have a significant effect on delivery schedules — and company costs. By tracking driver performance, fleet managers will be able to address these behaviors with their drivers, thereby lessening the risk of a costly accident.
- Fuel Management
It’s one thing to use general best practices for getting the most mileage out of your fleet’s fuel. It’s another thing entirely to track each one of your drivers’ behaviors and trucks’ fuel consumption in real time, to gain a detailed picture of which practices or which routes present opportunities for fuel savings, and then making changes to both to maximize fuel efficiency. Maybe idling times can be cut. Maybe shifting gears can be done a different way. Maybe certain road surfaces can be avoided. The data can uncover a surprising number of ways to save.
- Proactive Maintenance
A major breakdown in the middle of nowhere. A tire blowout on a busy highway. Any problem that causes a truck to run inefficiently. All of these issues can affect your fleet’s efficiency — but IoT sensors that monitor your fleet’s repair and maintenance needs, warning you of critical failures before they lead to a catastrophe, can make such issues a thing of the past.
If you’re ready to take your fleet into the future, contact Omnitracs today. We can help you determine which IoT solutions are right for your fleet, and get you on your way to greater efficiency — and greater profits.