The Fantastic Five: Fleet Trends for 2022
1. Telematics Take Over
In 2022, fleet managers will make greater use of advanced telematics to improve operations and enhance efficiencies. The global vehicle telematics market is expected to reach $103 billion in 2022, with no signs of slowing. According to Automotive Fleet, in 2018 only 30 to 40% of American fleets used telematics to improve operations. While that number has risen steadily over the last three years, we anticipate more organizations with a fleet of vehicles will take advantage of sophisticated telematics to improve operations and keep up with the competition this year.
Telematics provide fleets more and better actionable data to determine diagnostics in real time, track vehicle location, improve routing decisions, analyze driver behavior, lower overall operating costs, save time and more. Learn more by downloading our 2022 Fleet Management and Telematics Buyer’s Guide here.
2. Remote Fleet Management
In 2022, remote fleet management will play a much larger role. Across every industry, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has changed business for the foreseeable future, if not permanently. To ensure driver and employee safety, as well as recognize worker demands for more remote work opportunities and flexibility, fleet managers will use telematics to ensure greater driver productivity and to manage more of their own responsibilities through mobile apps. New fleet management solutions will allow managers to improve communication, better track critical fleet data in real-time, and stay connected to their entire team.
3. Improved Driver Safety Measures
In 2022, a key trend will be focusing on improving driver safety. Prioritizing greater safety was already a key part of helping operations during the pandemic, and fleet managers will continue to ensure greater driver safety by reinforcing strict sanitization measures on vehicle inspections and ensuring each vehicle is equipped with the necessary tools and products to keep drivers healthy and safe.
There are several options available to ensure driver safety and create a coaching program — read more here.
4. Renewed Focus on Managing Fuel and Maintenance Costs
The rapidly growing U.S. economy, pent up demand, and supply chain issues have led to significant inflationary pressure, particularly regarding fuel costs. Fleet managers will need to maximize their fleet management solutions to improve route planning, promote safe driving behavior, and enhance maintenance to mitigate costs. Learn how GPS tracking can help with all of the above here.
In fact, after fuel costs, vehicle service and maintenance represent the largest portion of fleet services’ operating expenses. To reduce those expensive repairs and the costs associated with out-of-service vehicles, predictive and proactive maintenance telematics provide important information on mileage needed, maintenance alerts and more.
5. Electric Vehicle Expansion
Across the globe, electric vehicles (EV) are becoming an ever-larger share of the automobile marketplace. Government incentives, concerns over the environment and climate change, greater fuel efficiency and fuel savings are playing a huge role in the increasing use of EVs among consumers, and commercial fleets are beginning to become a larger part of commercial fleets for the same reasons. Ford Motor Company announced a holistic charging system for electric fleets called Ford Pro Charging to accelerate this transition.
Indeed, in the very near future, EVs will become one of the most cost-effective solutions for commercial fleet services, but there are some factors to consider before adding them to your fleet, including their impact they have on the trucking industry as a whole.
Furthermore, there are new data security challenges specific to EVs. Fleet vehicles store and transmit scores of sensitive data that needs to be protected, and while most Fleet Management Software solutions provide excellent security, EVs -particularly EV charging stations – offer new ports of entry for cyberattackers to exploit. Electric vehicle charging stations are currently extremely vulnerable to hackers. In May 2021, US-based Colonial Pipeline fell victim to a foreign-fronted cyberattack as a result of a single compromised password. This one vulnerability halted fuel supply processes in the Eastern U.S. and cost the company $4.4 million in ransom. A successful a hack of EV charging stations could expose companies with fleets—and their clients—to significant dangers. As EV expands in 2022 and beyond, it’s important for organizations to stay vigilant.
The new year brings fleet managers new challenges and opportunities. Innovation will continue to drive the industry forward, providing real solutions to pressing fleet needs.
