Why Should Every Good Fleet Manager Invest in Analytics?

Managing and operating a fleet is no small endeavor. Dealing with such high-value assets can put great pressure on managers to cut costs where possible without sacrificing fleet performance. Because of this, it is imperative for managers to justify that new investments and fleet upgrades will be profitable in the long run.

High quality data can be tricky to recognize as valuable at first glance. It isn’t a tangible asset that goes out to job sites on a daily basis and it doesn’t boost the physical performance of your vehicles. It is, however, one of the most impactful tools a fleet manager can have when it comes to quantifying fleet performance, spotting opportunities for cost reduction and tracking progress toward goals.

Let’s take a look at the many ways in which data analytics can be profitable for fleets and how it helps to optimize day-to-day operations.

How does investing in data pay off?

A fleet’s data is taken in regularly through various streams, whether it be through their telematics devices, FMIS, dash cams or fuel card systems. One of the biggest mistakes a manager can make is not taking advantage of these information gold mines.

Making the investment into a powerful data management system or business intelligence platform has numerous benefits for daily fleet operations, but also for your organization’s bottom line. Let’s discuss some of the ways in which the investment ultimately pays off.

Custom metrics and goals

Investing into a highly capable data analytics platform allows the ability to personalize data reports to the user. Business intelligence gives managers the power to customize metrics being tracked so that they accurately measure progress toward fleet’s goals. This is important because not every fleet has the same needs or goals, and a business intelligence tool recognizes that. Track year-over-year progress on idle reduction, fuel consumption, vehicle utilization and more, and compare performance to other fleets within your sector.

Prolonged vehicle lifecycles

Vehicle maintenance is one of the greatest costs a fleet incurs each year. In addition to regular preventative services that ensure vehicles are meeting OEM-designated maintenance schedules, older vehicles can be subject to more frequent break downs and servicing. Data analytics helps fleet managers limit costs by turning preventative maintenance into predictive maintenance. Essentially, data insights can be used to schedule vehicle servicing based on the actual condition of vehicles, rather than based on a preset schedule. This method of vehicle maintenance makes an investment into analytics worthwhile by saving companies time and money, and ultimately prolonging vehicles’ lifespans.

Managing driver behavior

Another way in which data analytics provide value for fleet managers is by helping to monitor driver safety on the road. Using the data being reported back from vehicles every day, managers can ensure that drivers are keeping themselves safe and not partaking in reckless behavior like harsh braking and accelerating that put additional wear and tear on the vehicle. Staying on top of this data helps managers to identify drivers who might need additional safety training and make sure that vehicles are being used properly to ensure longevity.

Optimizing operations

Fleet data can also give insight into how daily operations can be improved. Real time data gives managers an accurate look at vehicles at any time, making it easy for making last minute route changes and helping drivers navigate maintenance problems. Managers can also use this data to optimize vehicle management overall in order to cut down on fuel consumption and improve efficiency.

Utilimarc’s Business Intelligence Platform

Our BI platform combines the power of streamlined telematics data analytics, along with other data streams, with a team of fleet experts with deep domain knowledge. In addition to helping managers recognize the value in investing in their data analytics, our goal is to make these data insights as fruitful as possible, by assisting in meeting yearly goals and resolving tedious data pain points.

Our analysts work directly with managers to set up custom metrics to measure progress in annual benchmarking reports and daily analytics dashboards. For managers wanting to dig into their fleet data even further, custom projects with our Professional Services team can give actionable insight into fleet rightsizing, lifecycle projections, fuel and maintenance cost reporting and more.

At the end of the day, you can only get out of your data what you put in. Managers who go the extra step to unify and standardize their data with BI will ultimately reap higher rewards than those who spend hours a week manually sifting through their data intakes. Investing into powerful analytics lets managers leverage their data in a way that supports organization growth, efficiency and confidence.

If you’re interested to see how our platform and team of analysts are driving fleet success with telematics data, schedule a demo with us today.

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