Big companies often have fleets made up of tens, hundreds, or even thousands of vehicles.
Enterprise fleet management is the process of overseeing and optimizing these transportation assets to boost efficiency and cut costs across supply chain operations.
It relies on powerful technologies that simplify real-time tracking, support data-driven decision-making, and make fleet operations efficient.
Key Technologies in Fleet Management
Here are some of the most important tools in enterprise fleet management.
Internet of Things (IoT) Devices
Common examples of IoT technologies in fleet management include:
- GPS Trackers: To track vehicle location in real time during transportation
- Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs): To record how long someone has driven a vehicle
- OBD-II Readers: For connecting to a vehicle’s on-board diagnostic system to troubleshoot issues
- Fuel Monitoring Systems: To track fuel-related data, including consumption and cost
- Fleet Dashcams With Internet Connectivity: For monitoring driver behavior and recording video evidence of incidents — all in real time
Cloud-Based Solutions
After collecting live data, IoT devices use cellular, satellite, or Wi-Fi connections to transmit it to cloud-based software platforms. That way, fleet managers can access the insights from anywhere using a dashboard or mobile app.
For example, you can use cloud-based fleet management software to track vehicles, analyze driver behavior, and monitor fuel consumption in real time.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Artificial intelligence has several uses in enterprise fleet management. For example, in route optimization, AI algorithms analyze real-time traffic, weather, and historical route data to find the most efficient paths for each vehicle.
AI also supports predictive analytics by analyzing vehicle performance data to detect potential issues before they lead to costly breakdowns. This enables proactive maintenance scheduling and helps reduce downtime.
Big Data Analytics
In enterprise fleet management, big data analytics helps analyze vast amounts of data from different sources, including IoT devices, to identify hidden patterns and correlations. You then use the insights to make data-driven decisions.
All the technologies above work together to form an advanced fleet management system.
Benefits of Advanced Fleet Management Systems
Why use fleet management technologies in your company?
Improved Asset Utilization
With real-time asset tracking, fleet management systems show you how each vehicle is being used, making it easy to spot underutilized assets and put them to better use.
Enhanced Customer Satisfaction
By using a fleet management system with GPS tracking, you can provide customers with real-time updates as their orders move along the delivery route. Plus, AI and big data analytics help you find the fastest routes to speed up delivery, which can increase customer satisfaction.
Reduced Operational Costs
When you use fleet management systems to optimize routes, your vehicles follow the shortest, fastest, and most affordable paths during cargo transportation to reduce fuel costs.
Additionally, AI-powered predictive analytics in asset management enable proactive maintenance, where you address potential problems in your fleet before they arise. As a result, you minimize asset failure, which in turn saves you money on repairs.
Increased Safety and Compliance
OBD-II readers can automatically troubleshoot mechanical issues, so you can quickly identify and fix them to reduce the risk of accidents caused by vehicle malfunctions.
In addition, electronic logging devices track how long a driver is on duty. You can use this information to prove compliance with the Hours of Service (HOS) regulations, which set the maximum amount of time drivers are allowed to be on duty.
The Role of Real-Time Visibility
Real-time visibility plays a huge role in enterprise fleet management.
Proactive Decision-Making
Real-time visibility provides fleet managers with instant access to vehicle location, performance data, and potential delays, such as heavy traffic observed through a live dash cam. With these insights, you can anticipate issues and take necessary action to prevent them from happening.
Minimizing Disruptions
With real-time data like traffic and weather conditions, you can quickly ask drivers to reroute to avoid delays. Additionally, vehicle status data from OBD-II readers can help you address issues early in your fleet to prevent breakdowns.
Ensuring Regulatory Compliance
Real-time visibility into a vehicle’s location and traffic conditions can allow you to instruct drivers to take faster routes when any delay is likely to cause noncompliance with HOS driving hours.
Streamlining Communication
With real-time updates in your enterprise fleet management system, you keep your teams and customers informed without back-and-forth calls or emails.
Optimizing Operational Efficiency
To improve operational efficiency in enterprise fleet management, focus on the following key areas:
- Route Optimization: Leverage AI-powered route optimization software to find the fastest and most cost-effective paths for drivers to move cargo from one point to another.
- Maintenance Scheduling: Use vehicle diagnostics data from OBD-II readers and predictive insights from AI-powered fleet management software to schedule proactive vehicle maintenance.
- Fuel Management: Use fuel sensors and monitoring systems to track normal consumption. Abnormal usage may help you detect fuel theft or inefficient routes (if you’ve recently changed your delivery routes).
Challenges and Solutions in Fleet Management
Here are some of the biggest supply chain challenges in fleet management.
Data Security Concerns
IoT devices collect sensitive data, such as a driver’s location and personal information. Make sure the fleet management software you use complies with data protection standards like ISO 27001.
Integration With Existing Systems
Not all fleet management solutions integrate with the tools you use in daily business operations. Select a solution that integrates easily with your logistics, ERP, HR, and other existing platforms to enable seamless data sharing between your tools.
Managing Change Within Organizations
Employees often resist change in their organizations. To overcome resistance when launching new fleet management tools, communicate the change in advance and offer enough training before rolling it out throughout your enterprise.
Future Trends in Fleet Management
According to the World Economic Forum, the development and testing of autonomous vehicles is already underway in the United States and China. As governments ease self-driving safety rules to accelerate the deployment of autonomous cars, it’s clear that these vehicles are the future.
Besides autonomous vehicles, sustainability is becoming more popular in fleet management. According to McKinsey, the majority of companies have started integrating green shipping in their logistics programs. For this reason, sustainability will increasingly be popular in fleet management services.
Gain Real-Time Visibility With Surgere
Surgere provides you with IoT solutions (sensors, tags, and supply chain software) so that you can track assets, inventory, and shipments in real time. You can easily manage all the data from IoT hardware in our centralized platform — Interius.
Learn more about Surgere to see how it improves supply chain visibility and asset management.
