Ten ways telematics improves productivity and performance

Telematics technology is fast becoming part of the every-day monitoring and operations for a wide range of industries given the benefits a connected fleet can provide. Everything from fuel consumption, scheduling, vehicle activity, speed and driver behaviour to vehicle location, performance and maintenance schedules can be monitored on a cloud-based, web portal for you.

In effect, you get a bird’s-eye view of your entire fleet, its overall health, safety, compliance, profitability and productivity at the touch of a button. You can also respond to events as they happen.

EROAD’s sophisticated telematics platform collects the right data to provide you with a deep understanding of your business to improve productivity, efficiency, enhance your safety and compliance at the same time as helping you service your customers better.

Here’s 10 ways telematics improves your fleet’s productivity and performance.

1. EROAD tracks your driver’s and vehicle’s productivity rates

EROAD’s telematics solution allows you to monitor all parts of your fleet so you can better allocate resources, optimise routes, reduce turn-around times and plan schedules more accurately. This helps lower costs, such as fuel and labour, at the same time as lifting the bar when it comes to providing a high standard of customer service.

Correct driver identification enhances your visibility of what and where your drivers are and unlocks valuable insights on driver performance. EROAD’s Driver Login helps ensure you know exactly who’s behind the wheel at all times, giving you better visibility of your fleet to support health and safety as well as boost driver performance.

EROAD also provides businesses with the ability to geofence so you have complete visibility of what your assets are doing on a specific site. This includes data on arrival times, time spent on site, distance driven and whether auxiliary equipment was used.

“We installed the EROAD system to help us manage health and safety outcomes and improve fleet utilisation and it’s already paid for itself with improvements in efficiency generated by the daily trip information and fuel savings.”

Brad Courtney
Fleet Manager, HRV

2. EROAD helps reduce your fleet’s fuel consumption

One of the biggest, and most quantifiable areas, EROAD’s telematics solution can make an impact is in reducing your fleet’s fuel bill. Fuel is one of the biggest costs for your business and speed, excess idling, vehicle maintenance and route choices all have an impact on your fleet’s fuel bill.

EROAD provides detailed insights into fuel consumption by vehicle and driver. It helps you understand your fleet’s fuel consumption patterns and identify areas or instances of unnecessary fuel use to help reduce overall fuel consumption and improve vehicle performance.

It also simplifies fuel management by allowing you to compare fuel records against vehicle distance and location information and identify trends and exceptions across your fleet.

An EROAD study* found that our customers improved their fuel efficiency by an average of 6% after just one year.

3. EROAD nurtures a solid safety culture and a well-run fleet

The safe operation of your vehicles is a direct reflection of a well-run, productive fleet. Not only is it the right thing to do, it is also a legal obligation under Australia’s HVNL and Chain of Responsibility (CoR) legislation.

Operating safely has a direct impact on your productivity and profitability. This includes:

Reducing the risk and cost of accidents and injuries
Enhanced CoR compliance – particularly in regards to monitoring speed, vehicle standards, fatigue and mass and load configurations
Reducing your fleet’s insurance premiums and excess
Increasing driver productivity
Enhancing driver morale and retention

Monitoring driver behaviour, managing fatigue risk and vehicle maintenance are some of the key areas where EROAD can actively help you create a safer, more productive fleet.

4. EROAD helps develop safer, more accountable and efficient drivers

EROAD’s telematics solution helps reduce dangerous driving issues, such as seatbelt use, speed, harsh braking, cornering and sharp acceleration and their associated costs by providing more visibility of your drivers and better two-way communication while on the road to encourage better, safer driving.

It achieves this by bridging the gap between after-the-event management reporting and in-cab, behind-the-wheel influence on driver behaviour. In effect, it increases driver accountability, facilitates better driving choices at the same time as allowing you to reinforce and reward good driving habits.

With its two-way messaging functionality, you can stay in touch with your drivers while they’re on the road.

EROAD’s Leaderboard provides you with an inside view of your fleet based on key driver metrics, enabling you to set up effective driver training and reward programmes.

EROAD’s customisable reports allow you to organise the data by driver so you can coach those who need it at the same time as incentivising and rewarding drivers who improve or excel.

EROAD helps you keep track of your driver’s hours and also lowers the risk of accidental non-compliance with fatigue and rest time rules. It does this by alerting drivers when they’re ready for a rest break or at risk of violation.

Ensuring your drivers are safe on the road can also provide other benefits to your business such as reduced fuel and insurance excess, less vehicle downtime, reduced fines and penalties, happier drivers and customers!

Driver accountability has a very real impact on speed and road safety.

An EROAD study found that vehicles where the driver was logged in had 50% less speed events than vehicles with no identified driver.

EROAD study, June 2016, across 1344 organisations

5. EROAD identifies under-performing vehicles and assets

EROAD can also help identify under-utilised vehicles and areas that need improvements to maximise efficiency rates and work-loads.

You can monitor the idle and working time of each of your vehicles to identify under-performing assets or drivers, improve fuel economy and reduce engine wear-and-tear, which can deliver significant improvements to your bottom line.

6. EROAD enhances better fleet health and maintenance

Unexpected repair costs can hit hard and can also result in unscheduled delays and down-time. EROAD can play a key role in helping maintain a healthy fleet and also reduce the risk of unexpected issues.

EROAD’s Service and Maintenance and Inspect features gives you the ability to track and stay on top of vehicle issues easily to pre-empt problems so they can be rectified quickly before they become expensive.

7. EROAD helps maximise your Fuel Tax Credits

Claiming fuel tax credits (FTC) is routine for a lot of Australian businesses operating fleets and off-road equipment – but many are missing out when it comes to maximising their FTC rebates.

This is because most typically use the standard on-road method to calculate their FTC as it is easy and doesn’t require a lot of record-keeping. All you need is your fuel receipts and your accountant does the rest!

But this means businesses could be missing out on thousands of dollars in additional off-road FTC rebates they’re entitled to.

Automating and capturing real-time, accurate data for your FTC claim rather than collecting it manually
Measuring all off-road activity so you can claim the off-road FTC rate which is up to 2.5 timesthe standard on-road FTC rebate rate
Establishing a six-month pattern of consistent use to help you recover under-claimed FTC retrospectively for up to FOUR previous years by showing a six-month pattern of consistent use
Being able to claim back off-road FTC for light vehicles
Create ‘geofences’ for work sites near or close to public roads or construction zones to also claim the maximum FTC entitlement

EROAD’s Fuel Tax Credit Solution, now makes it easier by automating your FTC rebate claims with the Australian Taxation Office’s (ATO). You could reduce admin time and enable higher rebates.

8. EROAD can drive down insurance costs

Insurance companies are consistently looking to telematics technology to provide customers with a more accurate insurance cost based on real driver behaviour. By installing EROAD in your vehicles, you can potentially reduce your insurance excess and premiums by participating in targeted insurance programs.

In addition, EROAD also offers anti-theft functionalities with its Asset Tracker, which accurately tracks and monitors mobile assets and provides a daily location update.

*Not all insurance companies offer discounts for utilising vehicle tracking systems.

9. EROAD can help accurately monitor your Fringe Benefits Tax

Most businesses opt to use the statutory FBT method, which is based on a car’s cost price, because it is generally easy to administer as it doesn’t require you to keep a logbook.

But with the gradual introduction of a flat FBT rate of 20% (in 2011) some businesses could unwittingly be paying too much under this method.

Alternatively, if you are already using the operating cost method, which is based on the operating costs of the car, but still using paper logbooks for your FBT for the operating cost method, you already know how much of a challenge it is to keep accurate records.

EROAD’s electronic FBT logbook, now makes it easier to collect the right data to comply with the Australian Taxation Office’s (ATO) requirements under the operating cost method – which could save you significant time, money and admin.

EROAD’s in-cab electronic FBT Logbook solution collects real-time vehicle data and automates the entire logbook process to record time, data, mileage and the nature of the trip at the touch of a button – saving significant time and money. No more filling in paper logbooks and hours of admin.

10. EROAD helps plan better routes

EROAD’s smart telematics platform helps identify the most efficient (or direct) routes for your fleet to reduce the overall amount of kilometres travelled. Not only does this cut down on fuel consumption, but also on carbon emissions (and your fleet’s overall carbon footprint).

This helps reduce the amount of time drivers spend behind the wheel (by driving fewer kilometres) and, combined with trip and fleet utilisation reports, boosts driver productivity. In effect, it enables your drivers to get more work done in the same amount of time or less, lowering costs and improving customer satisfaction.

Ten ways telematics improves your fleet’s productivity and performance