Today you might have five or six devices on the vehicle that each have their own modem, SIM or airtime
Improving efficiency This is an example of the sorts of efficiencies operators are looking for. “Our customers want anything that can help improve their efficiency,” says Nadeem. “It’s being driven by consumer demand and particularly eCommerce, where people want to order more lower-value goods and get them faster and more cheaply to their front door. Now in some areas, we’re looking at same-day deliveries for very low-value items. And you’re not paying an awful lot for the delivery charge.” But there is plenty of technology to help haulage businesses now. “When Microlise first started out, we had just one device on the vehicle that recorded information about where it was,” says Nadeem. “Today you might have five or six devices on the vehicle that each have their own modem, SIM or airtime contract, reporting different things back to different systems. What you typically get on a vehicle is a telematics device installed by the manufacturer that collects engine information. Then you have a device that’s installed by a third party like ourselves post-sale, which looks at where it is and helps drive the logistics operation. You may also have refrigeration equipment on the vehicle that also has its own device sending back temperature information. There may be other sensors recording things like the weight of the vehicle or a device on the trailer.” Making life easier The aim of this technology is to make life easier for drivers and managers. “Operators
want the driver spending their time driving the vehicle from A to B, rather than filling out paperwork or at a location waiting for somebody else to unload their vehicle,” says Nadeem. “All of that is wasted time because that’s not moving goods, which is what they’re being paid for. So if you can reduce the admin and the turnaround time – the time it takes to do an actual delivery – then the driver spends more time driving and earning the operator money for moving goods. If they can get a few extra deliveries done within a set timeframe it brings the cost of the logistics operation down.” Communication is essential as not every delivery is pre-planned, so a driver may know where they start, but not where they will need to go that day. “In that scenario, you need to be able to have real-time communications with the driver and be able to send them updates on the address or even feed that directly into the satnav so it automatically appears as their next destination,” says Nadeem. Camera action While telematics systems tracking a vehicle have been bread-and-butter sales for businesses in this sector for many years, there is growing demand for camera solutions, Nadeem says. “Initially that was all about having camera solutions so that you could tell what happened if there was an accident,” he says. “Generally, if a truck has an accident, compared to a car, it’s going to cost you probably ten times more money because usually they cause more damage. But now we’re seeing demand for things like driver fatigue – cameras that look
contract, reporting different
things back to different systems...
...now we’re seeing demand for things like driver fatigue – cameras that look at the driver and check if they are exhibiting signs of being tired.
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