Driver and vehicle compliance and safety are some of the top priorities for any business that runs commercial vehicles. Software development has helped ensure that fleets are able to deliver on these duty of care responsibilities. Advancements to digital fleet management tools have also enabled fleets to benefit from the greater operational efficiency enabled by an enhanced level of connectivity and utilisation of real-time data.
For example, Jaama claims it has experienced significant demand from companies signing up to its Key2 fleet management software over the past 12 months, as fleets aim to tighten up on their operational and compliance administration. It has also says it has seen a rise in customers rolling out its MyVehicle App for commercial vehicle drivers for the distribution, construction and local authority sector, since Covid-19 began changing the business landscape from March last year.
The company cites the pandemic has accelerated the adoption of its MyVehicle inspection app for CV drivers to enable them to carry out vehicle inspections and log defects via their smartphones, helping move the transport industry away from a paper-based environment.
Information logged on Jaama’s app is transferred in real time back to the fleet team giving an immediate audit trail, while alerts of vehicle problems can be acted on immediately to reduce potential vehicle downtime. As we have previously explored in TNB, with the food and home delivery sectors working their vans and trucks harder than ever, keeping vehicles on the road has been a vital consideration.
An app-based system can also complement additional Covid-secure protocol, reducing close contact between drivers and the office staff processing their paperwork.
Replacing legacy systems for additional insight
Novuna Vehicle Solutions selected Jaama’s Key2 fleet management platform to manage its fleet of 70,000 funded and 14,000 fleet managed cars, vans, trucks, and plant assets.
Replacing legacy systems introduced in 2004, Novuna Vehicle Solutions’ investment has been made in a bid to futureproof the growth of its fleet, and to act as an end-to-end business system to manage its fleet from design and build to disposal.
Key2 gives Novuna Vehicle Solutions a central repository for all customer and asset information and the ability to add interfaces with new suppliers and systems very easily.
“It gives us the ‘complete truth’ on what is happening with vehicles on our fleet, which is very powerful for us and our customers,” said Jon Lawes, MD of Novuna Vehicle Solutions.
“We work with many different external suppliers and they are all seamlessly plugged into our intuitive system. Data can be easily extracted using a powerful reporting tool in real time, which provides access to management data far more quickly. It now takes minimal resource to compile reports, freeing up more people to act on the results.”
Fleet compliance is a key priority for operators, and a fleet management tool needs to understand all compliance regimes. In the case of Novuna Vehicle Solutions, the company set up a holistic truck compliance schedule, which can display all planned events split by asset and/or customer.
Reducing operating costs
Fleet management software provides vital intel that can reduce operating costs and unplanned downtime. Commercial fleet services company Fraikin has recently partnered with cloud operator Samsara to give fleets using Fraikin’s systems – utilised by more than 58,000 vans and trucks across Europe – real-time operational data that can be used to enhance vehicle management. The company says that by harnessing Samsara’s Connected Operations Platform, operators will be able to improve the safety, efficiency and sustainability of their connected fleets.
Samsara’s solution collates valuable data including speed and distance travelled, fuel efficiency, driving characteristics and diagnostic fault codes. Real-time visibility of this information, says Fraikin UK, combined with its ability to offer tailored data analysis and recomendations, can streamline billing, reduce vehicle downtime and even prevent accidents.
“Connected vehicle data, when interpreted in the right way, can be used to achieve meaningful efficiency gains and cost benefits for our customers,” explains Mike Hemming, Fraikin UK technology champion. “However, oftentimes visibility into this data is both limited and complex to understand. With Samsara as our preferred supplier, our customers will be able to maximise the benefits of actionable data coming from their connected vehicles.
“Through my years in the fleet industry, one thing that has remained constant is how the connected vehicle data available continues to be criminally undervalued.”
