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Derek Bryan, VP EMEA at Verizon Connect suggests geofencing could prevent fleet drivers being in the wrong place at the wrong time, avoiding costly penalties. 

In April 2019, London’s congestion charge will evolve, bringing in new, tighter regulations on exhaust emission standards and a revised fee for vehicle registration as part of the new Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ). While the ULEZ represents an important step forward in the UK’s efforts to limit pollution, fleet managers and operations teams will need to factor the revised regulations into route planning and operations for commercial vehicles travelling into London. 

In an industry driven by operational efficiency and narrow margins, the planning for ULEZ (and its potential expansion) will become an additional item on a manager’s to-do list. Geofences are one tool fleet managers can use to help reduce penalties incurred by drivers inadvertently entering the ULEZ with a non-compliant vehicle by providing near-real-time alerts when a driver approaches a geofenced zone. It can also help reduce the extra time spent factoring the ULEZ into route planning by clearly marking the area in navigation systems.

What is Geofencing?
Geofences are virtual perimeters set up around physical locations that can be categorised and clearly labelled on in-cab navigation systems to inform drivers of any areas which they should avoid entering. Geofences are created using mapping software, which allows the user to draw the geofence over the desired area. It is made up of a collection of coordinates (latitude and longitude), or in the case of a circular geofence, one point that forms the centre. They can also be applied to areas of a range of different sizes, from the size of a warehouse yard to city areas and individual routes.

Geofences are an indispensable tool for fleet managers in need of greater control and visibility over the location of vehicles. A geofence violation report tells you which vehicles have entered or exited a geofence, allowing you to see which drivers are making unauthorized trips. This information can then be used to create new policies regarding the use of company vehicles and enforce existing policies on a regular basis. Geofences can also help fleet managers to proactively resolve geofence violations with great speed and efficiency using alerts sent in near-real time via email or text message when a vehicle exits or enters a geofence.

More intelligent and more efficient operations
Setting virtual boundaries via geofencing is specifically helpful for businesses with on-demand business structures managing fleets of vehicles within a specified area. To keep time traveling between jobs to a minimum, drivers can be easily assigned to specific zones based on area demand, traffic density, vehicle capacity and in this instance, if it is within ULEZ conditions. As a result, fleets can be compartmentalised into sub-groups of drivers or vehicles suited to a specific area.

"Geofences are an indispensable tool for managers in need of greater control over the location of vehicles..." 

Geofencing is used to curate and categorise job sites by location, reducing the need to sift through thousands of points of interest by hand. However, geofencing jobs can not only cut down on manual categorisation. A business can potential unlock real ROI when the software automatically provides rankings, vital statistics and stop-by-stop details for fleet managers. Using this key data, business leaders can optimise routes and glean insight to apply to the organization, ultimately saving money.

A smarter and more holistic fleet management system
A number of recent technological advancements are helping to enable a wide range of new business use cases in the fleet management space. In-vehicle sensor technology, greater data analytics capabilities and enhanced mobile communications enable businesses to expand fleet management beyond just vehicles and have greater visibility on drivers themselves and the assets they carry.When used in combination with a holistic solution such as Mobile Resource Management (MRM), geofences can help verify that drivers aren’t taking on trips that would require more time than they are contracted, or trips that would prevent drivers from taking important rest breaks. Reports clearly show how many hours a driver has worked during a given time period, confirm any overtime costs and improve productivity overall.

A digital solution for a modern business
A lot of managers are unaware of what’s really happening out in the field. That can mean missed opportunities, poor productivity or unnecessary costs. Geofences can help change that, with a full 360-degree view of a fleet’s daily operations. With the right technology, fleet managers can have the visibility necessary to know what’s going on in the field so you can build efficiencies and reduce costs, an imperative for fleets both large and small.

Derek Bryan is VP EMEA at Verizon Connect.

 

Derek Bryan outlines how field service organisations can protect their fleets from an increasing risk of theft... 

There’s little doubt that buying and maintaining a fleet of vehicles can be expensive, especially for small or medium enterprises. Aside from staff, fleet vehicles are one of the biggest overheads for a business. And not only that, they often store vital goods, tools or equipment, meaning their whereabouts, safety and security is crucial to business success.

Recently, criminals have targeted vans up and down the country, and late last year West Midlands Police revealed that van thefts had almost tripled. Statistics like this are particularly worrying for fleet managers, as losing just one van can have a significant effect on revenue, productivity and customer satisfaction. While thieves can’t always be stopped, there are steps that can be taken to help fleet managers better protect their assets and prevent criminal activity.

 

Vehicle tracking and geofencing

One way to help thwart thieves is to install a fleet management system that includes features to help keep track of your vehicles at all times. For example, live map features that can identify vehicles’ locations in near real-time and trace the exact route each one has taken. From this data, fleet managers can run detailed reports via intuitive dashboards to monitor key metrics such as speeding and exact distance travelled. In doing so, if a vehicle is stolen it can be quite simple to track where your van ends up. Information like this can be critical in helping the police to track down any stolen vehicle.

[quote float="left"]One way to help thwart thieves is to install a fleet management system that includes features to help keep track of your vehicles at all times[/quote]‘Geofences’, a virtual perimeter that’s set up around physical locations that can be labelled and categorised, are a good tool for this. Managers can use them to map out areas that have been targeted by thieves and ensure that drivers do not leave vehicles in these ‘at-risk’ areas.

In addition, a fleet manager can also geo-fence their drivers’ homes to track if a vehicle leaves the area outside of agreed working hours, reducing unnecessary fuel expenditure and inappropriate usage.

 

Intelligent driver identification and real-time alerts

Intelligent alert systems, usually put in place to monitor driver behaviour, can also be useful for stopping thieves in their tracks. Fleet managers can also equip vehicles with driver ID functionality by providing each driver with a unique key fob that connects with a key reader in each vehicle’s dashboard. This system ensures that only registered [quote float="right"]This system ensures that only registered drivers are permitted to start the van[/quote]drivers are permitted to start the van; if a thief manages to break-in and start the ignition, fleet managers receive an alert that the vehicle has been started by an unapproved driver and an alarm sounds in the cab, helping deter any further criminal activity.

Alerts can also be set up to send fleet managers notifications if their vehicle has been used outside of working hours. In doing so, any unusual activity can be picked up quickly and a potential theft can be identified in good time. With crime numbers rising, it suggests that the thieves might be getting smarter and is growing wise to the steps fleet managers are taking to protect their assets.

 

Energy and efficiency

The steps used to keep track of vans can also have many other benefits for businesses: from monitoring driver behaviour to cutting down fuel costs and shortening delivering times via route optimisation. By using the advanced mapping tools available, fleets can easily identify the most suitable driver to a certain job based on their vehicle’s size, proximity, assigned geo-fenced area, and the amount of working hours they have available. Doing so ultimately helps fleet managers save time and money, and creates greater clarity when it comes to allocating jobs.

While there is no such thing as a theft-proof van, making criminals’ jobs that more difficult helps to deter thieves and helps the police to track down stolen assets. It’s therefore advisable to invest in a solution that monitors your fleet around the clock and offers safety and savings benefits.

Derek Bryan is VP EMEA, with Verizon Connect

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