Let's Face it,
thanks to big data, connected vehicles and IoT, the fleet of the future is going to manage itself

Co-Authored by Dian Govender

Dian drives Customer Experience through meeting what customers want most and what the company offers best.

She is an ambassador of telematics & IoT industry for over 18 years and has helped many blue chip companies efficiently manage their fleet using telematics data effectively. Dian understands what truly drives customer experience and how well to connect and communicate with customers. For the past one and half decades of she studied Transport market and challenges faced by Transporters. In addition, she spent several years of training and developing sales, retention and key account management teams from learners to experienced and seasoned Account Managers. She has an extensive technical knowledge of the telematics market, market demand and needs. Her vision is to groom and coach young people to blossom into successful people.

Co-Authored by Justin Demeyere

Justin is a highly motivated and disciplined professional with extensive experience in Solution Design, Sales, Strategic Planning, Business Development, Operations management and Customer Relationship Management within the ICT and Telematics environments.

Over the years he has explored markets both locally and internationally, worked with small to medium sized businesses to large enterprise and listed opportunities in various industry verticals.

Being confidant in his products and skillset has allowed him to adopt a “skin in the game” approach in all business encounters.

The reality is highly efficient connected fleets are the future of logistics. Why?

Because third party Software as a Service (SaaS) companies are providing plug-and-play technology that turns an efficient fleet into a highly efficient fleet. They can plan routes, detect driver behaviour, manage risk and avoid lost productivity, facilitate billing, and reduce maintenance cost.

Pointer SA has a full suite of purpose-built telematics hardware platforms, sensors, Software-as-a-Service and analytics offerings. For over 23 years Pointer has provided wireless solutions to hundreds of companies across Southern Africa, ranging from blue chip companies to SMEs, and over 2.5 million devices managed globally across the group. We can see where the industry is going and we're on the pulse of the technology driving change.

The right information to the right people at the right time to power your operations.

Whether you’re a fleet manager, a CEO, CFO, delivery (operations?) manager or HR manager, you need information about your fleet that is relevant, and highlighting the exceptions and problem areas, whether they be operational concerns, decreases in productivity, driving hours and on-time deliveries, or monitoring if the fleet is incurring any unnecessary costs.

Connected Vehicles & SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) platforms offer seamless connectivity for vehicle and cargo management continuously monitoring the location and condition of cargo and assets via wireless sensors, sending specific information should any management exceptions occur.

Thanks to the highly specific and relevant data that connected vehicles can provide, and the ability to integrate this data into your platforms and systems, the right people in your company can track the real-time status of vehicles and assets relevant to their operational needs and make the appropriate decisions to ensure the fleet is operating optimally. The intellegence data analysis is done for you so you only have to focus on exceptions.

You don't need IT experts

With the fleet of the future, you can run your professional fleet with a laptop via web browser or mobile devices. It’s that simple. The accessibility of data using the applications that are available means that you can manage your fleet on-the-go, anytime, anywhere and on any mobile device.

With the fleet of the future, there is no need for your own IT expert to manage servers or software updates. With cloud-hosted software aplications the hassles of managing your IT infrustructure are a thing of the past.

This is a far more efficient way to manage your fleet.

SaaS provides all the tools in one place

There is no longer a focus on computer hardware. SaaS means that everything to do with your fleet can be driven by connecting to a secure hosted software platform. All the necessary information to make your fleet as effective as possible is available in one place for you to access across all your devices.

Your SaaS applications and information can be easily accessed by a web browser or mobile device application on-demand, and all the tools you require to be as efficient as possible are available at your fingertips.

Assets that talk to each other

Up until now, fleet managers have relied on manual processes to manage operations. For example, the start of a delivery, tracking its journey, and final hand-over has relied on human-led practices to manage and monitor the start-to-end process.

The fleet of the future is all about connectivity.

A software-managed supply chain process, connected to the device installed in the vehicle, can monitor the start of the delivery, tracking it throughout its journey, to the final delivery point and with proof of delivery sent back. You can now have a ‘cradle-to-grave’ automated solution with complete control and oversight of your assets, cargo and customer service.

Manage exceptions not the routine

Connected fleets can produce tons of data but why waste your time wading through data that’s irrelevant. To manage a highly efficient fleet you want to be able to focus on your problem areas.

You want to be notified when there are exceptions that require your attention and have the ability to predict the resulting down-the-line consequences.

When you proactively monitor exceptions, you can anticipate and prevent potential risks. Dashboard analytics can flag and highlight issues across severity bands, making them easier for you to manage whilst ensuring you optimise customer service, reduce fleet downtime, effectively monitor on-the-road safety and reduce operating costs..

The connected fleet of the future puts the power in your hands to ensure the software does the work for you, presenting data of relevance so you can manage your fleet even more effectively.