Visibility is crucial for effective fleet management. With increased visibility into the status of their vehicles and the behavior of their drivers, fleet managers can make better decisions – both short term and long term – that boost safety, efficiency and cost effectiveness across their operations.
Data from telematics devices provides that visibility.
While light- and medium-duty vehicles and non-regulated heavy vehicles are typically not required to use telematics devices, fleets comprising these types of vehicles should not disregard the potential benefits that telematics can provide to their operations.
Benefits of GPS Tracking
GPS tracking allows fleet managers to know where their vehicles are at any given moment. This level of visibility delivers short- and long-term benefits.
In terms of day-to-day operations, fleet managers can make better dispatch decisions based on vehicle location, provide more accurate ETAs to customers (or proactively update them on any changes or delays) and ensure that drivers are sticking to their routes, helping to eliminate unauthorized vehicle usage. GPS tracking coupled with geofences increases these benefits by alerting fleet managers when a boundry has been crossed.
In the long term, historical GPS data can help fleet managers identify recurring trouble spots in routes and adjust accordingly to optimize routes, increasing productivity and improving fuel efficiency.
Benefits of Driver Behavior Data
In addition to telling fleet managers where their vehicles are, telematics provides data about how the vehicles are being driven. Through telematics devices, fleet managers receive information about safety-critical events, such as speeding, hard braking, rapid acceleration and harsh cornering.
Armed with this data, fleet managers can more effectively coach drivers to improve fleet safety (as well as give recognition to safe drivers). Eliminating dangerous driving also helps prevent vehicle wear and tear and improves fuel efficiency.
A report on the use of commercial GPS found that, “Vehicle tracking … helps increase mobile workforce productivity and safety and enables enterprises to reduce labor and fuel expenses.”
An analysis of industry studies cited in the report found that the benefits of implementing GPS tracking technology include average savings of
- 11.3% on labor costs
- 13.2% on fuel costs
- 13.2% on capital equipment costs (primarily maintenance and repair)
“Other reported benefits,” according to the report, “include a 25% increase in work orders (on account of faster completion rates), 45% fewer accidents and 40% fewer issuances of speeding violations.”
Benefits of In-Cab Video
In-cab video recorders – or dash cams – provide visual context to other telematics data and provide an extra level of protection for companies and drivers.
Free download: How Dash Cams Protect Your Drivers and Your Business
Driver exoneration: The No. 1 benefit of dash cams is driver exoneration. The road can be a risky place – especially for workers who spend a lot of their day driving. The possibility of a driver being involved in an accident is a constant concern. In some instances, commercial vehicles are targeted with staged accident schemes. In addition to putting people’s safety at risk and causing costly damage to vehicles, accidents expose companies to legal liability.
In-cab video recorders – or dash cams – help mitigate that exposure.
Dash cams act as an unbiased witness to what happens on the road. Video evidence can quickly show when a company driver was not at fault in an accident.
Expedite settlements: If dash cam video shows that a company driver was at fault in an accident, the company can move quickly to settle the claim – often saving the company money.
“Even in the event that the camera footage shows that the commercial driver was responsible, it’s better to know that and quickly get the claim closed,” says Dan Petrillo of LaPorte Insurance, an EROAD strategic partner. “The more quickly we can get a liability determination in the life of that claim, the less likely it will turn into a much larger dollar claim.”
Other incidents: In less serious situations, such as when someone calls in a complaint about a driver or claims that a driver caused property damage with a company vehicle while on the job, a fleet manager can use dash cam video verify whether the claim is true or false and take appropriate action.
Driver coaching: When you’re able to show a driver footage of a safety-critical event, such as speeding or hard braking, coaching becomes more impactful. In some instances, dash cam video may show that a safety-critical event was not the fault of the driver, such as a hard braking incident caused by poor driving by another motorist.
EROAD Clarity Solo Is the All-in-One Solution
EROAD Clarity Solo is a cost-effective, easy-to-install solution that delivers powerful data to help fleets better manage light trucks and vans and non-regulated heavy vehicles. A 4G connected device, Clarity Solo provides HD video, location and activity data, and driver-safety insights to help fleets with vehicles of all vehicle sizes, types and uses.
Here are some key benefits that Clarity Solo offers:
Total fleet visibility from a single device: No additional hardware is required. The in-cab camera unit provides video and telematics for an advanced yet cost-effective solution to help you manage and protect your fleet.
Dashcam video: High resolution front-facing or dual-facing video. Night vision supported by infrared LEDs.
Location and activity: Real-time GPS tracking and activity reports.
Driver behavior: Safety events automatically captured and uploaded to cloud so you can coach at-risk drivers.
Easy, secure driver log on: Drivers log on to the camera via NFC card, sticker or fob, making it easy to get the benefits of monitoring driver behavior.
MyEROAD Replay: Cloud-based review makes it easy to review footage and know where your drivers are from wherever you are.
Map-based video review: It’s been proven that it’s easier to remember where an incident happened rather than when. We’ve got you covered. With a new feature that’s now available in MyEROAD for all EROAD’s dashcam products, you can search for video clips by location in addition to time of day.
A Dash Cam Solution for Every Fleet
Whatever the size, type or use of your fleet, EROAD’s Clarity Dashcam products are designed to bring you all of the benefits of fleet dash cams. Clarity Connected integrates with the EROAD ELD to add HD video footage to actionable telematics data. Clarity Solo is an all-in-one device that provides video, telematics and GPS in a single unit for light, mixed and non-regulated fleets.
