Efficient and profitable fleet management is crucial for business success in Singapore today, no matter your industry.
Many fleet managers have integrated GPS tracking systems and telematics that give driver and vehicle data to ensure their fleet vehicles operate efficiently, safely, and profitably. However, most fleets are missing out on the power of ‘Business Intelligence’ (BI) for fleet management.
Business intelligence is all about using innovative technology and big data analytics for fleet management and business success.
Let’s show you the true power of BI for fleet management.
Business intelligence is the process of using software services and strategies to collect and analyse data for tactical business decisions. BI tools help companies identify key business trends, mitigate business risks, track their overall performance, identify fraud and other reckless behaviour within their operations, and monitor their business’s performance over time. These data-driven insights help businesses gain a competitive lead in their industry.
When it comes to fleet management, BI tools can assist fleet managers in understanding their fleet and help them choose the best course of action to address their fleet shortcomings and achieve an efficient, productive, and profitable fleet.
Most businesses in Singapore use fleet management software, but integrating software services does not automatically mean you have achieved business intelligence. BI is a journey, not a destination. It involves the following processes in fleet management:
Business intelligence in fleet management involves the following processes:
True business intelligence helps fleet managers address three main fleet management challenges.
Fleet owners often have trouble tracking their fleet's location, scheduling driver routes, understanding the running costs of their fleet, or monitoring drivers' performance for safety. Failing to reduce these challenges can lead to serious fleet inefficiency. This unproductive and costly fleet can result in the following challenges:
With advanced fleet management software for business intelligence such as Cartrack’s, fleet managers can easily address these challenges using various tools. These tools include GPS tracking technology, telematics, driver performance monitoring and fuel monitoring tools, and automated vehicle and driver reports.
Reactive fleet management is a fleet maintenance approach where fleet managers only attend to vehicle and equipment problems after they occur instead of proactively preventing breakdowns and other issues. This approach is costly and inefficient for fleet maintenance, often resulting in the following:
With fleet management software, businesses can improve their fleet maintenance by preventing these maintenance challenges. Predictive analytics uses fleet vehicle data to predict vehicle maintenance and other service needs. It’s a strategic way for fleet managers to get proactive about fleet maintenance instead of reactive, which is made possible with true business intelligence.
Reactive fleet maintenance may be less costly in the short term because you only have to focus on one repair or maintenance issue. However, studies have shown that, in the long term, reactive fleet maintenance is more costly. Increased fuel consumption, tyre or battery replacement, vehicle repair, and depreciation contribute to fleet operating costs but can be reduced in the long term with predictive maintenance.
Fleet managers are responsible for fleet compliance and risk management. This involves ensuring the safety and security of drivers and vehicles while also ensuring that your fleet is compliant with regulations from the Land Transport Authority (LTA) in Singapore. It includes implementing measures to mitigate and address risks, such as:
A comprehensive fleet management software makes fleet regulatory compliance easy and assists managers with properly addressing fleet risks. Business intelligence uses risk-related fleet data analysis, such as driver and vehicle monitoring information, to ensure fleet security. Managers can use this analysis to decide on the best course of action for their fleet and drivers.
In the logistics industry, for example, inefficient, unproductive, and costly fleets are a major challenge. RichLand Logistics is one of the leading providers of supply-chain services and logistics solutions to enterprises across different Southeast Asian industries. They provide supply-chain services to customers in the technology, petrochemical, customer goods, manufacturing, oil and gas, and freight forwarding industries. In one month, RichLand can fulfil more than 40,000 deliveries. One of the biggest challenges for a leading provider like RichLand has been high fuel consumption and the inevitable high costs that go with it.
The rising fuel costs pose a significant financial burden for fleet operations, effectively increasing operational expenses and reducing profit margins for logistics companies like RichLand. The TS24 survey confirmed that rising fuel costs are a consistent challenge for fleets, with 47% of respondents listing fuel costs as their top business challenge. What’s more, the survey revealed that 35% of fleet operators plan to downsize their fleets over the next 12 months as a result of high fuel costs. High fuel costs can force businesses to downsize and reduce their fleet size and vehicle utilisation.
Logistic companies that either provide service or lease out vehicles are also challenged by fleet maintenance and safety issues.
Established in 1970, Island Concrete is one of the oldest and largest ready-mixed concrete suppliers for construction in Singapore. They can supply more than 3 million cubic metric metres of quality concrete per month from their batching plants and deliver it to various customers across the country. As their business has expanded, they have acquired more equipment, heavy machinery, and a larger fleet. Island Concrete needed help to track their load mixers' location and monitor activity and use. For any company leasing equipment at construction sites, this is a challenge that can result in devastating profit loss, increased vehicle or equipment wear and tear, and safety risks when there is unaccounted-for or unauthorised vehicle usage.
With fleet management software, businesses like Island Concrete can monitor their vehicles and equipment to ensure there is no overuse and customers are accurately billed. With predictive maintenance solutions, businesses can also reduce the impact of wear and tear and avoid vehicle and equipment breakdowns and downtime.
Poor safety performance is a major problem in the construction industry worldwide too, and vehicle collisions are often cited as one of the causes of construction worker fatalities. 33% of fleet operators use telematics solutions for fleet compliance, and over 30% are planning to invest in driver well-being and safety technology.
Business intelligence in fleet management is all about using fleet software solutions and services to tackle major fleet challenges. We’ve given you a breakdown of these challenges and looked at how they play out in two different industries. Curious about how to take on these challenges?
Let’s show you how Cartrack’s comprehensive fleet management system takes on fleet management.
Our data-driven fleet management software provides strategic business intelligence insights for addressing major fleet challenges. We’re proud to say that Cartrack has helped over 112,000 commercial fleets improve their fleet management.
Here’s how our fleet software has helped leading enterprises in Singapore and the Southeast Asia Region.
This transportation and logistics giant sought to tackle three major challenges within their fleet management. Firstly, they needed a system that could track their fleet and drivers' activity and give updates to fleet managers to monitor drivers. Secondly, RichLand required financial insights into their fleet's operational costs as they hoped to improve their fleet's productivity and profitability by reducing expenses. Thirdly, RichLand needed to ensure their deliveries were always on time, so they achieved and maintained good service levels with clients.
Using advanced GPS tracking, telematics solutions, and fuel monitoring tools, our fleet management software helped RichLand tackle these challenges. Our GPS tracking helped RichLand monitor their fleet and drivers accurately while making deliveries. The fleet manager could monitor drivers in real time and contact drivers to understand delivery delays. This helped them ensure good customer service and on-time deliveries every time.
Our fleet system provides RichLand logistics with data analytics and reports on driver and vehicle performance. This helps them pinpoint problematic driver behaviour that causes delivery delays or reflects badly on the company, such as idling or speeding. They also use driver behaviour reports to coach drivers and keep them accountable for their actions and tasks, resulting in improved productivity.
Richland can make intelligent business decisions from the automatic updates it receives about its fleet, like fuel usage. Our fuel monitoring solutions, including fuel sensors, detect and report vehicles' fuel consumption. Managers can use fuel consumption data to detect and verify any suspected fuel syphoning, validate claims, understand their overall fuel expenditure, and ultimately make informed decisions to improve fuel efficiency.
The Head QHSSE, Frankie Koh, Fleet Management and Procurement at RichLand said,
“Cartrack's fleet management system provides us with automatic updates on fleet information that helps us make intelligent business decisions to decrease operational costs and maintain our services levels”
Island Concrete approached us because they had no way of knowing where their vehicles and equipment, such as concrete mixers, were at any given time or when their loaded mixers arrived or departed from various job sites. This made it difficult for them to assist drivers if there were delays or update customers during delivery, which impacted their fleet's productivity and efficiency.
GPS tracking and other mapping features help Island Concrete see exactly where their mixers are en route and ensure that managers can quickly identify delivery delays, resolve issues faster, or communicate issues with customers throughout the delivery process. Using geofencing, managers can set virtual boundaries around various construction sites or delivery sites and receive alerts when mixers enter or exit these areas. This helps them see whether drivers arrive on time, view daily vehicle activity, or detect any possible cement theft.
Overall, our customers can continue their operations more efficiently thanks to our fleet management software. Companies primarily working in the construction industry, like Island Concrete, can make intelligent business decisions about their fleet by automating tasks and generating custom reports. Getting accurate vehicle and fleet information is a strategic way for companies to retain clients, accurately bill clients, identify and address theft and improve productivity or efficiency.
Goh GJ, Senior Operation Manager at Island Concrete, said:
“We are extremely pleased that Cartrack’s Fleet Management gives us the fleet insights we need to ensure effective dispatch of ready-mixed concrete that's delivered on time.”
Cartrack’s multifaceted fleet management platform and asset tracking tools can help improve your fleet’s pain points, no matter the industry.
GPS tracking and telematics are indispensable to fleet management. Our advanced fleet management solutions support businesses, small and large, across different industries globally with a range of fleet management challenges.
Beyond GPS tracking, our Software-as-a-Service fleet solutions make true business intelligence possible. We use advanced tools to help fleet managers make data-driven decisions every time.
Our BI fleet management tools include:
Our fleet management system has the tools and software you need to make data-driven insights. True business intelligence can solve any fleet management challenge. Contact us for a demo.
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