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How Will Telematics Transform the Modern Supply Chain

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Archives, Global Logistics, Global Trade Daily, International Trade

How Will Telematics Transform the Modern Supply Chain

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Today’s consumers expect goods to be delivered faster and on shorter notice than ever before. For the logistics industry, meeting these demands for greater flexibility and agility has required change, where it’s the adoption of lean logistics principles or the use of Industry 4.0 technology.

Novel telematics technology, powered by recent developments like Internet of Things (IoT) devices and artificial intelligence, are already helping the supply chain satisfy the needs of a growing and accelerating global economy.

This technology could revolutionize logistics in the near future, and here’s how.

Key Benefits and the Impact of Vehicle Telematics

One of the most significant obstacles logistics companies have faced has been the difficulty of tracking vehicle location, health and performance. New telematics technology can help businesses overcome this obstacle by vastly expanding the amount of accessible information on trucks and driver behaviors.. New telematics technology can help businesses overcome this obstacle by vastly expanding the amount of accessible information on trucks and driver behaviors.

GPS trackers can continuously track a vehicle’s location. Other telematics devices can communicate directly with internal car modules, like an engine or battery control unit. This provides a company with direct access to information on the engine health and performance of fleets.

With the speeds offered by 5G, these devices can transmit information in near real-time to the cloud, providing telematics data to the fleet owner and their business partners. The technology has a wide range of applications for logistics companies. Better knowledge of a driver’s current location and behavior can provide more accurate estimates of when a shipment will arrive.

GPS and engine data can also help businesses conform to new regulations like anti-idling laws. If a vehicle remains parked in the same place for long enough while the engine is active, the system can automatically alert the driver and log an idling event. Having a direct line to car data can also be extraordinarily helpful for technicians wanting to maximize the lifespan of fleet vehicles.

On the road, telematics systems can provide a great deal of information to drivers. Some can continuously monitor and report diagnostic trouble codes. Vehicle operators and the technician they work with can instantly know if an illuminated check engine light is caused by something like a loose gas cap or a much more serious problem.

Typically, this information is only accessible via an OBDII reader or code scanner, which may provide codes without explaining what they mean. The telematics solution makes this data more accessible and useful to non-technicians.

Early notification on potential vehicle issues can help fleet managers avoid or mitigate some of the most common maintenance issues in semitrucks and similar vehicles.

Transparency, Traceability and Data-Sharing

Telematics makes it possible to create a log of all information relevant to an order while it was in transit — where it was, what conditions it was exposed to and even the speed it was traveling while in the care of a particular driver.

As a business grows, this information can help managers coordinate an increasingly complex network of drivers, fleet headquarters and vehicles. It can also help companies improve the transparency and traceability of their logistics network.

Data gathered on drivers and shipment location can be provided to business partners, allowing them a real-time view of where critical items are while in transit. This information can also be stored for later use — like providing someone with a fuller picture of how a shipment moved from point A to point B after the fact.

In other cases, IoT can also help provide businesses with more information about how goods are shipped. IoT temperature sensors can supplement an existing telematics solution to provide real-time updates on the temp inside a vehicle.

This information can enable drivers to take quick action if storage temperatures move out of a safe range during transportation. Stored data from a particular shipment can also resolve conflicts if a product spoils while in transit. Temperature information can determine exactly when an item spoiled and more accurately pinpoint who may have been at fault. This technology can reduce the scale of recalls and prevent them from happening in the first place.

Similar devices measuring in-vehicle conditions like humidity and vibration can provide additional information to drivers and managers. This data can help them optimize storage and transportation conditions — reducing the risk that packages are damaged while in transit or sent at suboptimal conditions.

Optimizing Processes With Telematics Data

The data gathered by telematics devices can have value long after the moment in which it was generated. The rise of artificial intelligence and big data analytics means the massive amount of information produced by telematics systems can be analyzed to uncover insights that may have been impossible to find with conventional analytic approaches. This includes moment-to-moment information on driver behavior, location and engine performance.

For example, real-time information on driver routes and vehicle health can be used to create route optimization algorithms that use traffic data and driver behavior information to plan the fastest way to a destination. It could also be used to determine roadways that minimize gas consumption.

Data from deliveries can also be aggregated and used to create new planning algorithms in the long run. They can help companies develop more accurate estimates of how long a particular delivery will take based on available information like drivers available, driving behavior, traffic and weather conditions.

These improved estimates can ensure on-time deliveries and reduce the risk that a company commits to orders they cannot fill in a timely fashion.

Telematics Paves the Way for a More Efficient Supply Chain

Novel telematics technology, assisted by innovations in IoT and AI, greatly increases the amount of data that logistics companies have access to. A business can plug directly into their fleet vehicles with the right solution, allowing them access to truck health and sensor data.

Other telematics devices, like GPS trackers and temperature sensors, can provide additional information on the location of a shipment or the environmental conditions it may be in.

This information will allow businesses across the sector uncover new insights and develop algorithms that can optimize route planning and fleet management.

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Archives, Global Logistics, Global Trade Daily, Trucking

Challenges Facing the Adoption of Electric Truck Fleets

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Innovations in electric truck technology present a major opportunity for business fleets. However, these electric trucks have yet to make much headway in the commercial vehicle market.

Despite several notable milestones and significant corporate investment, consumers and businesses have been slow to adopt these new EVs. A handful of challenges will likely need to be addressed before electric trucks become widely adopted.

Maintenance and High Prices May Be Discouraging EV Adoption

One of the most significant barriers to EV adoption remains cost. The heavy-duty lithium-ion batteries needed to power a truck’s drivetrain can still be extremely expensive. This drives up the cost of new electric trucks compared to similar, gas-powered vehicles.

Reliability and maintenance may also pose a barrier to adoption for some fleet owners. While electric vehicles can sometimes be more reliable than gas cars due to their electric powertrain, they can also be just as or more expensive than conventional vehicles to maintain.

Lithium-ion batteries tend to have a long lifespan, but they don’t last forever. Replacing one can be a major expense. Battery replacement costs for early EVs, like the Nissan Leaf, can be up to $5,000, which is near the resale value of the car. This is due to the price of a new battery and the labor needed to replace the old one.

While most EV maintenance is similar to conventional vehicles, simple failures can cause more serious problems due to the complexity and uniqueness of electric powertrains. Entire components found in a standard, internal combustion engine-powered truck are missing or replaced by other parts, like DC-DC converters, reducers and battery control modules.

If a business wants to keep fleet maintenance in-house, servicing electric trucks will require either hiring new technicians who are knowledgeable about electric trucks or training existing employees in EV upkeep.

The experimental nature of many modern EVs and the use of proprietary firmware may also mean adopting electric trucks would require fleet owners to develop a much closer relationship with dealers and mechanics.

As new EVs age, they may face problems that are hard for businesses to anticipate right now. The reliability of these new electric vehicles may be proven over the next few years — but, for the moment, potential maintenance woes may convince fleet owners to wait on upgrading.

Limited Charging Stations and Range Anxiety May Discourage Adoption

Like most consumer EVs, commercial electric trucks also face the charging problem. Drivers can’t rely on the existing infrastructure of gas stations and truck stops to keep them fueled. There’s a constantly expanding network of EV charging stations being built around the country. Still, outside of a few major cities, available stations may not be common enough to provide a reliable source of power.

Range anxiety — or the fear that EVs don’t store enough power to get a driver from home base to destination to a charging station — is likely a major barrier to the widespread adoption of EVs. Even in areas where charging stations are widely available, the capacity they offer may not be enough to charge EVs in a timely fashion.

For example, the 2021 Tesla Model Y has a range of up to 326 miles and takes eight to 12 hours to get a full charge from a 220-volt power station. Higher-voltage power stations are available commercially, and it’s possible to fully charge a Model Y in just an hour and a half with a Level 3 or 440-volt charger.

However, most existing EV charging stations offer just 220 volts. This means fleet owners will likely have to invest in home charging stations and carefully schedule drivers so they can always make it back to fleet headquarters for a recharge. Businesses that adopt electric trucks would be significantly limited by the density and location of existing charging stations.

While several major infrastructure projects and new subsidies will help increase the number of high-power charging stations, it will be a while before chargers are as common as gas stations.

Investment in the EV Market May Make Electric Trucks More Appealing

Major automakers seem to have committed to the growing EV market. It’s a good sign that, while adoption may be slow, some of the challenges discouraging fleet owners from buying EVs may be solved soon.

Ford has made an $11 billion investment in the EV market and is set to begin delivering the electric counterparts to its flagship truck, the Ford F-150, in early 2022. Other Ford EVs include the brand’s all-electric Mustang Mach-E SUV and the 2021 electric Ford Escape. Notably, the price point for Ford’s new electric F-150 is close to the price of the ICE version of the truck. After tax credits, the base electric model may even be cheaper than the gas-powered F-150.

Ford has also argued that the cost of ownership for the electric truck will be cheaper due to lower maintenance expenses and the price of electricity versus fuel.

General Motors, owner of the Ford brand, has long been an EV pioneer. The company launched one of the first few plug-in electric hybrids on the market, the Chevrolet Volt, in 2011. Affordable, modern EVs like these may convince fleet managers interested in electric trucks but have been cautious about investing in an EV upgrade.

At the very least, the rise of new commercial and consumer electric trucks is a good sign that there will be a robust market for used EVs emerging within the next few years. If these vehicles prove to be reliable, preowned models could provide a stepping stone for fleet owners interested in an electric upgrade but cautious about committing to a fleet of all-new EVs.

What the Future of Vehicle Fleets May Look Like

As investment in the EV market increases, commercial adoption of electric trucks and similar vehicles will also grow.

Current barriers to adoption — the high price of EVs, limited charging infrastructure and concerns around maintenance — are serious but aren’t likely to last forever. Prices are falling, the charging infrastructure is improving and more EVs means more mechanics familiar with repairing these vehicles.

In the near future, fleet owners may begin moving away from conventional vehicles to electric ones, but only once these challenges become easier to manage.

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Archives, Global Logistics, Global Trade Daily, Trucking

Introducing FleetCheck: An Indicator of the Health of Your Fleet

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In an industry currently struggling with finding and hiring drivers, it grows more and more painful seeing your drivers inexplicably leave — especially when you have a gnawing feeling it probably could have been prevented with a simple conversation.

Not knowing what you don’t know is frustrating, but when viewed through the right lens it’s like so many things in life – an opportunity to improve. It’s not a revolutionary idea that you should want to focus on keeping the drivers you have and learn more about the issues they encounter that make their jobs difficult. Fortunately, the time to implement a retention program that listens to drivers’ needs couldn’t be better.

Putting a plan in place to effectively improve driver retention is easier than it sounds, and with the introduction of Insights earlier this year, Tenstreet clients now have a clearer view into what drivers experience at four distinct stages in their lifecycles. But what about getting a good read on your fleet as a whole, and on a more frequent basis?

Checking the oil in your fleet

Your fleet is the engine that keeps your company moving. If you neglect to regularly check the oil in your car, you run the risk of damaging vital engine parts, which could lead to expensive repairs or even a total replacement. Just like using a dipstick to check oil levels in your car gives you a good indicator of your engine’s health, you need a way to regularly check the overall health of your fleet.

Today, we’re introducing a new retention survey to our Insights platform that gives you a look into all the moving parts of your company. Our new FleetCheck survey module works similarly to an NPS tool in that it sends an anonymous two-question survey to your drivers once a week (or twice, depending on your preference). It gives you visibility into the current condition of your fleet at a regular frequency to show you immediately whether your fleet is running smoothly or if it needs something more to keep it going strong.

How surveys help you retain drivers

When drivers take your FleetCheck surveys, dashboard reporting automatically compiles the results, showing you an overall ranking, how many drivers responded, which drivers have not responded, and which drivers are detractors (or gave a below average score) – which may indicate an at-risk driver who could be saved with an intervention. Detractors are given the option of foregoing their anonymity should they wish to discuss their issue 1-on-1 with their manager.

You’ll also be able to see the satisfaction levels of your fleet week-over-week and month-over-month, connecting carrier and industry events to general driver sentiment–helping with that bigger picture objective–and ensuring your fleet is well-lubricated with everything it needs to give it power to drive.

As drivers start to see their feedback put into action, they’re more likely to feel like a valuable contributor in the organization and will grow more empowered to share things they otherwise might keep to themselves. Strengthening the driver-carrier connection cultivates a more dependable and loyal driver base, and ensures you get the most miles out of your fleet.

Finding and hiring drivers requires time, resources, and capital – all of which are wasted when drivers leave because nobody’s listening. Find out what you don’t know by checking in with your fleet. When drivers and carriers are communicating regularly, retention rates improve, trucks stay full, and your company runs more smoothly.

Need help building a retention solution?

Complement FleetCheck with additional Insights surveys to get a more holistic view of a driver’s sentiment both across his tenure and at specific stages therein.

Not sure what you need or how to get started? Reach out to us today! Our industry-experienced team will help you create a plan to help you listen to your drivers so they stay with you for the long haul.

Talk to Tenstreet

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Archives, Global Trade Daily, Trucking

Why Fleet Managers Need Mobile IoT Asset Tracking

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Not long ago, local grocery stores were lined with empty shelves. Toilet paper and hand sanitizer shortages gripped headlines from California to New York. In the throes of the COVID-19 era, demand for basic goods had so abruptly shifted that transportation and logistics companies were forced to react at breakneck speed to the unprecedented surge, all while maintaining worker safety.

The issue is, managers can only truly manage what they see – and need to know exactly where vehicles and equipment are in order to properly use them. Real-time visibility of critical assets, which can be anything from fleet equipment to humans, is essential for operating a supply chain at peak efficiency. The pandemic is exposing a need for access to insights for moving assets across all sectors, especially when multi-tiered distribution models are relied upon. Fast, real-time decisions are only delivered when a fleet manager knows the real-time location of all tools in their arsenal. Fleet managers need an end-to-end asset tracking solution that works anywhere, indoors or outdoors, with no-nonsense setup to scale.

GPS Sucks More than Just Power

Historically, fleet managers have leaned on GPS to track higher value assets, though being able to yield a location report has been far from guaranteed. Due to GPS’ inherent limitations, enterprises were only able to pinpoint assets when they had a clear line of sight to the sky. Yet many times, equipment and goods were inside a container or warehouse, rendering GPS useless. With steep price tags and quickly drained battery life, GPS trackers are difficult to maintain and to frequently replace on the field. If a fleet manager wanted to layer on indoor coverage, they’d need to accumulate additional costs and infrastructure for the incorporation of Wi-Fi or Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). Amalgamating these location solutions with other existing software platforms to offer valuable data becomes a burden on crucial resources: finances, time, and manpower.

Thankfully, other changes in the market have been brewing long before COVID-19 entered the picture. With the onslaught of digital transformation and Industry 4.0, enterprises are turning to newer technologies such as Mobile Internet of Things (IoT), cellular-based location techniques like Cell-ID, or more accurate alternatives, such as Cloud Location over Cellular (C-LoC) to help solve the growing challenge of providing end to end supply chain visibility. Innovative players are realizing they can leverage existing, ubiquitous 4G and 5G cellular networks for connecting asset trackers through Mobile IoT. New Mobile IoT standards such as LTE-M and NB-IoT are changing the game on cost, battery life, and extended coverage and have been deployed by carriers around the world. Mobile IoT is the foundation for 5G Massive IoT, which is poised to usher in a new era of hyper-connectivity.

Fleet managers are now able to connect millions of low bandwidth asset trackers to tap into their equipment’s location, whether it’s inside a building or out on the open road. Small, agile devices make for flexible systems, so sensors can be easily affixed to any object needed to be tracked. Using cell towers that already reach 97% of the global population (ITU), there’s no need for new infrastructure. Deployment costs are slashed, and scalability is streamlined. The battery life of a tracker extends from days to years.

Mobile IoT allows actionable intelligence to present itself in the form of various sensor data, including temperature, humidity, shock or other conditions, with the backbone being location. Used in conjunction with asset tracking platforms, configurable alerts and customizable geofences can help make sense of the information in order to act quickly. The point: real-time data enabled by Mobile IoT and cellular-based location provide the best context for fleet managers to rectify problematic situations before they result in business disruption.

Mobile IoT and Fleet Management

Fleet management is evolving to include not only gaining visibility into a vehicle’s location, but even further – into the items on or associated with the vehicle, whether they are scooters or pallets of soda. This encompasses tracking the trailer, the vehicle cab, in addition to the individual items inside the trailer (i.e. hand trucks).

Moreover, fleet tracking doesn’t always mean a vehicle in motion. A fleet of vans stored on an expansive property can rack up hours in labor costs for personnel who are tasked with finding a needle in a haystack. This knowledge is important for automobile manufacturers, car dealers and leasing companies.

Using Mobile IoT and cellular-based location, systems can also be supplemented with cost-effective trackers in areas where many signals aren’t available, such as inside warehouses or covered parking garages.

Fifth Wheel Dolly Mini Case Study

When fifth wheel dollies are no longer needed, drivers for one LTL company often drop them off in a manufacturing/warehouse district, or hook them up to another, second trailer. These dollies are then left susceptible to theft or damage by other drivers. Though it’s difficult for fleet managers to know where an individual dolly is at any given time, they have not seen the ROI in using GPS trackers for this type of equipment. If drivers don’t pay attention to where they drop dollies, or they’re damaged and can’t be pulled, this is typically only discovered later through walk-throughs and manual checks around the truck yard.

Using a Mobile IoT location solution with cellular-based location, the LTL company can now leverage existing mobile infrastructure and lightweight devices for asset tracking, no matter what unplanned lot or district a dolly is left in. Less power consumption and heightened indoor/outdoor coverage leads to simpler scalability and increased efficiency in preventing theft, as well as recovering dollies or other goods after loss.

Mobile IoT is driving down the cost and eliminating the barriers to entry of asset tracking for smaller, individual assets. With millions of new IoT devices coming online rapidly, this technology is proving to have a real impact on fleet managers’ bottom lines. While Mobile IoT can be used in combination with various location solutions, choosing the right method can make or break implementation success.

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About Ed Chao, CEO, Polte

As CEO of Polte, Chao leads the team to position Polte as the premier location technology provider for Mobile IoT. Chao brings 26 years of leadership experience, serving as an executive for companies such as MetroPCS, T-Mobile, Lucent Technologies and with the U.S. Digital Service at the White House.

Chao holds a Master of Business Administration from Columbia University, a Master of Science in electrical engineering from Georgia Tech, and a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from Rutgers University.

Archives, Global Trade Daily, Software

Momentum IoT Changes the Pace for Fleet Management Tracking

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Momentum IoT separates itself a provider of fleet management solutions by addressing roadblocks commonly experienced by companies operating on a smaller scale. With simplicity and innovation as primary focal points, the company reinvents its approach to solutions by first “breaking” things through methods of revamping, upgrading, and development.

“I like to break things,” says Justin Silva, CEO of Momentum IoT.  “I like looking at how things are done and try to make them better. I grew up around contractors and worked at a field services company, so I understand the challenges of smaller fleet service businesses—the local plumbers, contractors, electricians, and maintenance inspectors.  The big boys all have fancy ways of tracking their equipment and checking the maintenance of their trucks, but these guys don’t. Stolen equipment and misused trucks are more than just a write-off.  They hurt.”

This idea of “breaking” for success started when CEO Justin Silva who ran Information Technology at AppDynamics and reinvented the process of IT systems by utilizing automation. Through this approach, Momentum IoT has earned recognition from industry analysts including “Mobile IoT Innovator” by the Global Telecom Industry Association, the GSMA and receiving top honors at the 2019 CompassIntel Spring Awards for Connected Solution Leadership: Fleet Tracking Management.

“I wanted to create something that was user-friendly, where people could just plug it in and go,” continues Silva. “No one wants to deal with a platform that is cumbersome or requires technical expertise. I also wanted to design a system that was flexible enough not to require customization, and would work well with existing hardware in vehicles and equipment used by smaller field service businesses. So we built it.” 

Momentum Eagle 1 – a recently released tracking software and hardware solution, aims to provide a simplified, cost-effective option to small and medium-sized businesses. As many of its competitors cater to bigger players, Momentum IoT identifies opportunities beyond fancy, complex telematics with heavy costs and offers systems that provide the highest level of security, robust reporting systems, real-time tracking and updates. Additionally, the company is the first Fleet Telematics company to deploy on the advanced LTE Cat-M network.

To further reiterate the company’s position on cost-effective options, it offers customers free demos for their products without an added contract obligation and offers flexible monthly pricing.

“Businesses want superior products at low prices,” furthers Silva.  “Many telematics products on the market are expensive, have an up-front hardware cost, and require a long-term contract, which is a huge pain for small and mid-sized businesses.  My vision is to make it easy to try, with no risk.  So we have no contracts, and let businesses try a device for free.  If they like it, they pay us a low monthly price.”

“My goal is to solve real-world problems with simplicity and innovation–and have a lot of fun in the process.”