How a connected fleet can help your business streamline operations, comply with safety regulations and accelerate productivity

If your business transports products or goods to customers, you’re likely familiar with the challenges that come with managing a fleet of drivers and vehicles. From balancing fuel expenses, and locating your trucks and cargo, to monitoring how many hours your drivers have been on the road and preventing theft, staying connected to your fleet and assets can help your business operate more efficiently.

More and more businesses are implementing Internet of Things (IoT) solutions to streamline their processes and logistics. By establishing a mobile connection with their vehicles, businesses are gaining greater visibility and control over day-to-day operations. How? Read on, and I’ll elaborate on a few of the ways fleet management solutions can benefit your business.

Improve customer service and cost savings

With Fleet management solutions like Fleet Freedom and BSM Technologies, you can pinpoint the exact location of your vehicles and monitor how fast they are driving. This near real-time information allows you to keep customers informed on delivery status, and reduce delays by identifying issues quickly so you can make adjustments to ensure deliveries are completed just-in-time. And if your drivers are speeding, navigating off a planned route, or taking toll roads, these powerful tools give you the information you need to advise drivers – empowering you to reduce fines and fees, and redirect drivers if necessary.

Increase productivity and optimize routes

The ability to track the location of your fleet also helps with scheduling. You can assign drivers to jobs that are closest to their current location to get deliveries started sooner and save on fuel costs. And with the industry’s shift to just-in-time delivery, you can help manage your fleet’s routes. Navigate drivers through alternate routes when there is traffic or inclement weather to ensure deliveries are completed on-time. The time you save will give your team the flexibility to complete more jobs.

Keep your employees safe and comply with regulations

Your drivers are lone workers, and when they’re on the road, they’re sometimes far from help when accidents occur. A truck equipped with a fleet tracking device can alert your dispatchers when a collision happens so you can respond quickly. It also allows you to track how many hours your employees have been driving, so you can ensure that they have not been driving beyond regulated Hours of Service and comply with new transportation regulations across North-America. And if your company is working through a shortage of skilled drivers, having greater visibility of driver hours makes it easier to manage schedules.

And if your business transports food or temperature-sensitive cargo, IoT sensors can help you monitor the temperature inside refrigerated trucks. You can check to make sure that products are maintained at acceptable food safety agency regulated temperatures and reduce spoilage. With access to temperature measurements, you can provide customers with proof that their cargo was transported in proper conditions. IoT sensors also help manage the risk of theft. With sensors installed in trailers or on pallets of product, you can track locations and receive automatic alerts when unexpected things occur – whether it’s a refrigerated truck warming up, a sealed container being opened, or a vehicle moving when it shouldn’t be.

The bottom line

The Internet of Things might be the current buzz term of the day, but with good reason. IoT is changing the way many companies are doing business. By maintaining a connection to their fleet and assets with IoT, many businesses are able to do more, often with limited resources. For example, see how Sure Track Courier uses IoT to accelerate their business. Simply stated, smart fleets are smart business.

What do you think of IoT? Do you plan to include IoT as part of your business operations? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

Glenn Calderon is Bell Mobility’s Marketing Communications Specialist.