Are you aware of exactly how your vehicles are being operated by your drivers? Do you know where your vehicles are at all times? Is keeping up with vehicle maintenance schedules a burden? The real question you should be asking is this: am I utilizing any type of telematics solution to manage my fleet of vehicles?
There are countless telematics offerings on the market today. Everything from basic data capturing of a vehicles performance, all the way to artificial intelligence and active accident-avoidance systems. Choosing the right telematics system for your specific needs can seem like a daunting task. However, the first step is deciding you want to deploy a telematics solution, and from there, it’s all about your specific needs and desires regarding its capabilities. For most small fleet operators, 1-50 vehicles for example, understanding exactly how your vehicles are being driven, where your vehicles are at all times, and maintenance intervals are among the first things that come to mind. It’s impossible to truly understand each of these elements seamlessly across your fleet without deploying a management system in the form of fleet telematics.
You may have hired the most competent, most capable, and most reliable candidates to drive your vehicles for your company. However, you can only physically ride in one vehicle at a time. Without a telematics solution installed in each of your vehicles, how would you know if your driver is truly operating the vehicles as intended and instructed, and in a safe and courteous manner? Even the most basic fleet telematics systems are capable of capturing data such as excessive speeding, harsh braking, hard acceleration, and idling times, all while alerting the owner of each event based on the parameters set by that owner. Knowing exactly how your drivers are operating your vehicles, and having the data to support it, allows for proper, and timely, driver counseling should the need arise.
Having the ability to know exactly where your vehicles are at all times has a number of benefits. It’s easy to know where you’ve told a given driver to go, but are they really going where they were directed? Are your vehicles being utilized for unauthorized personal use? Is a given driver utilizing more fuel than normal? Having a GPS monitoring system installed in your vehicles will give you the answers to those questions in real time. Set up a geo fence yourself, and be alerted when any of your vehicles are driven outside of a designated area of operation. Instead of calling your driver to find out where they are, know exactly where they are, and exactly where they’ve been.
Keeping up with routine vehicle maintenance schedules can be a time-consuming task, especially when not every vehicle is on the same maintenance cycle. Let your fleet management system do the hard work for you. Know exactly how many miles are on each vehicle without having to physically be with the vehicle. Preselect alerts to notify you when a particular mileage is hit. Always know when it’s time to change the oil, replace the tires, or if it’s inspection time. Enjoy the confidence of knowing that your vehicles are being properly maintained, and are safe for the road, your drivers, as well as your passengers.
Implementing a fleet telematics system is one of the best decisions you can make for your transportation business, but with so many options available, finding the one that best suits your company can seem like a daunting task. NEMT Insurance takes the guessing work completely out of the equation. Our team has evaluated the pros and cons and capabilities of numerous telematics offerings and has partnered with a telematics team that understands the NEMT industry. We offer our telematics solution with every quote we produce, and can even add it to your finance agreement to drive down your up-front costs. Apply today for a quote to learn more about our telematics offering and high-quality insurance solutions.