Fleet Management Software

Fleet Management Software is software, powered by telematics, that allows users take better control of the vehicles in their fleet. It can be used by rental companies, to gain better visibility of rental vehicles. Fleet management software can also be used by corporate users to track sales team or on-the-road staff, allowing them to make the best use of their time.

Using GPS tracking and advanced telematics technology, fleet management software shows where all connected vehicles are at any one time. It can alert managers when there has been an impact or when a driver has entered into an unauthorized area. But can fleet management software positively affect driving behavior? In this article, we examine how fleet management or telematics software, can change the way people drive for the better.

A Virtual Safety Car For Every Vehicle

You may have observed what happens in Formula One racing the moments after a crash. While the car, or cars, involved are still on the track, the chances of another incident occurring are elevated. Drivers may have left their car and be in danger from passing racers, debris from the crash also presents a risk to other drivers. To combat the increased risk, the safety car takes to the track. The safety car sets a slower pace that the entire field must follow. No overtaking, no dangerous maneuvers, just cautious and controlled driving from all.

Over the years, valiant efforts have been made to make our roads safer. It seems there is a 24-7 push to warn against dangerous driving and excessive speeding. Sometimes however, you wish that each driver could have their own safety car to follow. This, of course, would be totally unfeasible. It is impossible to expect that you can encourage road safety by holding the hand of each individual driver. However, with fleet management software, there is real scope to create a safer driving environment by championing better driving on a vehicle by vehicle basis.

Using Fleet Management Software to Promote Safer Driving

In a previous blog post we explored what is telematics software and the impact it will have on the automotive industry. But how do telematics software, or fleet management software, make driving better? This comes down to driver data and reporting. When a vehicle is fitted with a telematics device, the end user can collect data regarding the driving patterns of the vehicles being monitored. The end user in this case could be a fleet manager, sales manager or even an insurance provider, for instance.

Telematics software can relay data on driving aspects such as speeding, tailgating, harsh braking, as well erratic acceleration and deceleration. This in turn can be dealt with directly by the fleet manager, either through notifying the driver or, for commercial driving companies, through having drivers attend specific training courses for example.

Using RentalMatics Driver Behavior Reports

They say you are your own best example. At RentalMatics, of course, we are a provider of fleet management software. We have witnessed the effect that telematics solutions has had on driving behavior. There are two types of reports that are especially relevant when it comes to encouraging safer driving. Those are the impact reports and driver safety reports. Impact reports offer insights related to crashes through analyzing data directly before impact. Within the context of this article and the topic of ‘Why telematics software makes people drive differently’, the more relevant reports are the driver safety reports.

The data gathered by our telematics software in the driver safety reports represents a huge leap forward for road safety. In these reports, not only are measurables such as average speed, fuel usage and distance travelled given, there are also rated scores that are a lot more insightful. Within this there are smooth scores, which measure how many times a driver accelerated or decelerated during a journey. There are speed scores, which measure how often the driver stayed within the speed limit during a journey. Time of day scores, collate data regarding to when the vehicles were being driven, knowing that accidents occur more frequently at certain times of day. Fatigue scores monitors individual journey lengths, with longer journeys more likely to lead to an accident.

The Impact of Fleet Management Software on Driver Safety

It stands to reason that drivers that know they are being monitored will drive in a more responsible fashion. But what exactly does the evidence show? In our own reporting, carried out in conjunction with AIG, we have noted the hugely positive impact fleet management software can have. When a leading European car rental company applied RentalMatics (our own telematics solution) to a fleet of 600 vehicles, the number of bodily claims fell by 45%. Over 12 months, insurance savings of 1.8 million were recorded.

Outside of fleet management and our own observations, the introduction of telematics insurance in the last number of years is having a profoundly positive impact on driving behavior. Telematics insurance is something we plan on exploring in much greater detail in a coming blog post. Briefly however, telematics insurance is where insurance premiums are directly related to the driver’s behavior as observed by telematics software.

Analysis carried out by LexisNexis Risk Solutions in 2018 began to uncover the impact of telematics insurance and telematics software on driver safety in the UK. Car casualty rates amongst 17-19-year-old drivers have fallen by 35% since 2011. This is compared to 16% for the driver population as a whole. The one major difference between the subsections is telematics insurance. It is estimated that 4 in 5 young drivers have a telematics policy in UK today. The correlation cannot be ignored.

Conclusion – Fleet Management Software and Safer Driving

Earlier, we imagined having a safety car patrolling every car on our roads. This may be a pipe dream, but fleet management software that improves the way we drive is not. A report published in Statista, stated that by 2025 there will be over 116 million connected cars in the US alone. This represents a significant opportunity to improve driving behavior. With insurance telematics policies expected to become even more mainstream, the positive impact of telematics software or fleet management software on road safety is very real indeed.

Fleet Management Software can positively affect driving behavior. It can also positively affect business by generating proven returns. Learn more the incredible impact that telematics can have on your business – Benefits of RentalMatics.