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When managing and operating a fleet of vehicles, a number of unforeseeable issues can arise that will inevitably reduce the amount of effective risk management you availably have. At MarshallGIS, we have curated a software system called LiGO® that utilizes automatic vehicle location (AVL) and global positioning systems (GPS), in cooperation with vehicle telematics through on-board sensors of your vehicles that display data integral to operational risk management.

As the saying goes, “It is hard to manage something that you cannot see.” With LiGO®s AVL and GPS systems displaying both geographic locations of vehicles and metrics, it aids fleet managers with the ability to keep track of where vehicles are and how they are functionally operating. Multiple out-of-box event notification, reports, and alerts will keep you up to date in real-time, with any unusual activity regarding your fleet vehicles. With these metrics and information presented in real-time, fleet managers have the power to monitor events like this in the hopes that risk management increases.

In the case that an accident regrettably occurs, either to or by a manager’s vehicle, LiGO® has the capability to draw the history of tracks related to a specific vehicle. This aids the fleet manager an associated company in potential litigation. Showing real-time data that displays the geographic position of the vehicle, if it was moving or was stopped, if moving – how fast it was going, etc.

For companies that operate fleets of vehicles, the ability to track those vehicles out in the world and how they are functioning is an integral part of peak risk management in all its associated avenues. With LiGO® this tracking is deliberately easier on all accounts. Being able to minimize potential risk and maximize overall risk management is the pinnacle of operational efficiency in today’s modern world – with LiGO® the ability to reach that pinnacle is not beyond the horizon.

Owning a fleet can be an expensive affair. With all the money invested in the purchasing of fleet vehicles, it is now up to the fleet manager or director to keep costs low. A well-managed fleet can be a valuable asset, but a poorly managed one can be a money dump.

There are many areas where costs occur, mainly the buying of new vehicles, the maintenance of currently owned vehicles, and the everyday usage of vehicles.      

The main way to cut costs is by being selective with the number of vehicles that make up a fleet. Having more vehicles than needed is a waste of money. Smaller fleets need to be extra vigilant of underutilized vehicles because of economies of scale, where a single vehicle in a small fleet can have a much larger financial burden. Although this concept seems logical, in practice, it can be hard to determine whether all vehicles are getting enough usage to make them a valuable asset. This becomes increasingly evident in larger fleets. Having fleet telematics can help a manager analyze usage numbers to see if a vehicle is a valuable asset or if it should be removed to cut costs.

Maintenance of fleet vehicles is another important area of management. The costs of oil changes and basic repairs remain predictable, as long as they are done on a set schedule. Pushed off repairs, or forgotten about repairs end up costing more in the long run.  

Finally, vehicle usage plays a major role in the total cost of a fleet. And it can be the hardest to manage. To make the most of an asset, fleet vehicles need to use the shortest routes and idle less to cut fuel costs. They also need to be treated well. Unnecessary wear and tear can lead to extra maintenance costs, and possibly shorter vehicle life spans.

Managing a fleet is a balancing act, if well balanced, the fleet will pay for itself. Underutilized vehicles, failure to keep up on maintenance and poor usage habits by drivers can tip this balance. Managers need reliable data to keep balance.  

Telematics is a broad term used to describe a variety of services that can be provided by connecting vehicles with devices that can track and monitor a number of metrics for your fleet. Telematics is GPS tracking, vehicle sensor monitoring, engine diagnostic measures, job and dispatch management, maintenance management, and everything in-between. Choosing to apply a telematics solution to your fleet does not force you to apply all these measures, but also doesn’t limit you to any single part of the solution.

As with telematics, “Fleet” is also a broad term. Both public and private sector fleets perform a range of duties. One solution does not fit all, and it is common for management teams to request all kinds of customizations as to track the data that really matters for them. Some organizations just wish to be able to organize dispatch jobs by closest most available vehicles. Others, wish to track time spend in GeoFence areas to monitor productivity and other metrics. While others still, just wish to track the accurate location of their vehicles at all times.

You can imagine how quickly an organizations’ “telematics” requirements could get complicated. LiGO®, the telematics solution developed by MarshallGIS takes all this into consideration. We put an emphasis in our ability to customize, and integrate with organizations’ existing systems.

LiGO® fully supports and is capable of interfacing with OBD II and J1939 ECU through our hardware through this we are capable of acquiring all the metrics mentioned in the blog as well as accurate real-time vehicle tracking for light, and heavy duty vehicles. Our software engineers are constantly formulating new reporting capabilities that enable fleets to gather the data that actually matters to them. We make an effort to offer our customers customized telematics solutions that fit their operations.

At this point we’re starting to sound like a broken record, repeating the impact, and importance of IoT innovations in the automotive and public sector spheres. Every couple of years’ new technology comes around that completely reshapes one or more existing industries. Telematics, is no exception to that phenomena.

Telematics has, and will continue change the way governments and private organizations manage their work vehicles and the crews that manage them. Moreover, Telematics will continue to impact the relationship between residents of certain areas, and how information is disseminated to them.

How many times have you wished you’d taken the alternative highway to get to work because you hadn’t realized that your cities snowplows hadn’t yet made their routes through the road you were on? Maybe where you live doesn’t snow often; still, bus routes, traffic congestion, garbage pickup routes and times, the list goes on. My point is that there are many criteria residents of certain areas depend on to get their daily tasks completed.

Essentially Telematics provides a dual purpose solution. The first, providing support to the management side of handling government and private fleets (that we’ve gone over numerous times on previous blog posts), and the second in providing a platform for transparency in government operations with around the clock updates.

The City of Tumwater has utilized this to their advantage by displaying up-to-date reports and visual data on a public facing website for residents to access any time, any place, from any device. The map tracks the location and activity of snow plows and deicing trucks. Priority routes that ensure access to critical facilities like hospitals and schools are marked to assist drivers in selecting safe routes for travel. Users can choose as much or as little information they want by choosing the number of map layers to view.

With the advances in technology and the automotive IoT world, telematics solutions such as LiGO® are beginning to have much more far reaching positive effects. Not only are telematics improving management of many large government fleets; it is also improving the ability of these organizations to operate in a manner that aligns with people and governments push towards more sustainability and reduction of overall greenhouse gas emissions as per Executive Order 13693.

Using telematics Fleet managers are not only able to monitor vehicle metrics that have an effect on emissions; but also are able to set threshold limits and other forms of reductions in unesescary utilization of equipment and work force. Following the model of ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ telematics, when properly implemented might enable managers to decide when to decommission vehicles that have very low usage times. it could also bring to light the opportunities to synchronize work orders and vehicle usage between drivers.

At the end of the day, the best decisions, are data driven decisions. Actions made based on accurate metrics provided by a good telematics solution.

With the advances in technology and the automotive IoT world, telematics solutions such as LiGO® are beginning to have much more far reaching positive effects. Not only are telematics improving management of many large government fleets; it is also improving the ability of these organizations to operate in a manner that aligns with people and governments push towards more sustainability and reduction of overall greenhouse gas emissions as per Executive Order 13693.

Using telematics Fleet managers are not only able to monitor vehicle metrics that have an effect on emissions; but also are able to set threshold limits and other forms of. Following the model of ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ telematics, when properly implemented might enable managers to decide when to decommission vehicles that have very low usage times. it could also bring to light the opportunities to synchronize work orders and vehicle usage between drivers.

At the end of the day, the best decisions, are data driven decisions. Actions made based on accurate metrics provided by a good telematics solution.