GPS tracking for fleet management. insights into how telematics are being used in the Australian market

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1 GPS tracking for fleet management insights into how telematics are being used in the Australian market Pinpoint has carried out some research into the use of GPS tracking for vehicle fleet management in Australia. This research complements an industry study by ACA Research about the adoption of telematics technology in the domestic market.

2 Key findings Safety and compliance are important benefits but there are other significant advantages in using automated tracking A range of organisations have realised major efficiencies Benefits cover a range of areas and include vehicle maintenance, cost-management, compliance, customer service, billing Background Pinpoint supplies its GPS tracking devices and reporting and analysis software to different types of organisations including suburban and regional Councils, transport, utilities and infrastructure companies. Pinpoint conducted interviews with a cross section of its customers to find out more about how they are currently using GPS technology and the results they have achieved. This paper also looks at some highlights from a study by ACA Research who has researched the application of telematics technology in the Australian market and how it can assist in optimising fleet management. ACA said that the use of telematics systems is relatively unsophisticated and there is potential for the technology to be used more widely to improve asset utilisation and compliance management. For example, while 92% of those surveyed use telematics for vehicle tracking, only 22% use the technology for route planning and scheduling and 26% use it for driver communication and messaging. ACA found that typically it was the larger fleets that were taking advantage of a greater range of features offered by telematics.

3 Big pay-off for small investment For the mid-sized to larger fleets, the main reasons cited in the ACA study for not implementing a telematics system were not seeing a need, and expense. Pinpoint Sales Director, Stephen Grundy comments: There is a huge opportunity for telematics to help businesses become more profitable and competitive. Manual systems can be very inefficient and customer service can also suffer. This can lead to frustration for drivers, while managers time is taken up with tasks such as checking schedules. The savings from automation can be dramatic. One of our customers, a Local Government Authority, was able to reduce their administrative costs by $200,000 after implementing telematics. Vehicle maintenance ACA found that businesses that do not use technology to manage driver fatigue and vehicle maintenance prefer to rely on manual and people driven processes, with common explanations such as: the mechanic checks the trucks regularly. Pinpoint said: What we ve seen is that manual processes take up unnecessary time and are often inaccurate. One of our regional Council customers found that they couldn t always depend on drivers to report maintenance requirements. With GPS tracking installed, drivers can focus on their work, servicing is more efficient and ratepayers can be satisfied that their rates are being spend wisely. With GPS tracking installed, drivers can focus on their work, servicing is more efficient and ratepayers can be satisfied that their rates are being spend wisely.

4 Compliance management ACA also noted that many respondents didn t view telematics as being a cost-effective solution for compliance management. And while 69% of respondents in 2014 used technology to support compliance with speed restrictions, only 36% and 32% used it to manage driver fatigue and vehicle maintenance respectively. As ACA found, the larger fleets are more likely to use technology but often technology other than GPS as a tool to manage compliance, so it appears the smaller fleets are missing out. Pinpoint said: The benefits of utilising technology to support compliance are crucial such as increased driver safety and reduced accidents. A trucking company customer found the number of driver speeding fines they have registered has dropped from 2 per month to only 2 in 10 months since using GPS tracking to continuously track driver speeds. But it s not just about compliance, this technology can save lives. We have an infrastructure company who had a driver go missing in a remote area with no mobile signal. The GPS was able to track his location so the company could send a rescue team.

5 Customer service Another Pinpoint customer, a transport company, has seen significant improvements in its customer satisfaction since implementing GPS tracking. Previously customers enquiring about their orders were kept on hold, with customer service personnel having to physically contact drivers to manually assess when they would make future deliveries. Now customers are responded to rapidly and there has been a 13% efficiency gain for customer service personnel. In a further example, the Local Government Authority referred to earlier was able to improve customer service by reducing a garbage run from 1.5 days to 3 hours. Billing and invoicing A Pinpoint customer in the construction industry used GPS technology to record and analyse precisely the time spent on-site for each job, which reduced billing leakage to the point where the cost of the technology was neutralised. Pinpoint said: Inaccurate recording of time spent on-site meant the customers were being under billed. Drivers had to manually record time leaving them open to blame for any discrepancies, and accounts personnel had no objective data to justify the invoice amount with customers. As well as reducing billing errors, an analysis of the average time spent on jobs in this case revealed a 10% efficiency saving. Summary In assessing the adoption of their technology by organisations so far, Pinpoint has identified four key drivers: Transparency of location the ability to see vehicles in real time means new jobs are allocated quickly and customer service is enhanced Increased productivity of mobile assets leads to better decision-making about the use of vehicles in the field and reduces the need for multiple phone calls Verification of time sheets providing precise details about the activity and whereabouts of a mobile workforce Measuring driver behaviour such as speed, idling and aggressive driving will dramatically decrease fuel maintenance and cost, as well as improve driver safety and your company s reputation on the road. For the future, one development that Pinpoint predicts is the installation of many more data terminals in vehicles, further reducing the uncertainty and errors which can arise from more manual methods. Looking further ahead on a broad scale, Pinpoint envisions a dramatic reduction in operating costs of plant and vehicles for organisations. For example, being able to accurately measure both the way a vehicle is driven and the total distance travelled, and the corresponding effect on fuel consumption and maintenance.

6 Summing up their findings, Stephen said: With more legislation in the pipeline, compliance requirements will certainly help drive adoption in the short term but we ve only seen the beginning of the potential of this technology. ACA Research predicts that as the telematics market matures companies will make further use of the technology to innovate their service offering and monetise the value of the data that is collected. ACA said: The data that is collected is powerful and can be mined and analysed in multiple ways to increase asset utilisation and productivity. Fundamentally, telematics are about helping organisations run better and safer. About Pinpoint Pinpoint Communications helps customers in industries as diverse as Local Government, Utilities, Mining Oil & Gas, Transport & Logistics to improve the safety, traceability, efficiency and performance of local high value assets and individuals. With Pinpoint s technology including vehicle telematics, GPS tracking, in-vehicle management systems and works management Pinpoint s mission is to keep major human and machinery assets safe, productive and responsive. ACA Research The study referred to in this paper is: Telematics Adoption And Compliance Management in the Road Freight Transport Industry. The ACA research report is about adoption of telematics and the role technology plays in helping businesses comply with road safety regulations. ACA conducted over 400 interviews with fleet management executives, Australia-wide, over two periods in 2013 and The research covered a wide range of freight type including machinery & equipment, agriculture commodities, construction materials, household goods and waste. T: