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According to a Juniper Research report published in the latter half of 2014 in-vehicle apps are anticipated to reach almost 270 million within the next four five years. This increase, more than five fold on last year’s figures – is a clear indication that the hotly anticipated arrival of connected vehicles is here.

With smartphone major players Apple and Android both launched their vehicle specific version of their OS in the first quarter of last year, (CarPlay and AndroidAuto respectively) the report predicts uptake will be fairly rapid with report author commentating 

 

However, whilst in the consumer realm the usual suspects were sharing the headlines in the world of enterprise telematics there was one company that were storming ahead of the pack when it cames to integrating their technology into commercial vehicles. That company was Telogis.

Across the summer of last year Telogis were busy confirming and announcing a raft of key strategic partnerships including Hino Trucks, Volvo and Ford.

The Hino partnership resulted the HINO INSIGHT 2.0 which was developed as part of Hino’s ongoing strategy of building an offering that gives their customers a much improved total cost of ownership (TCO), including better vehicle uptime and user experiences and will be a standard fit on 2015MY Hino 195h and 195h-DC hybrid models, and as an option on the 195 and 195-DC models and the full conventional truck product line-up.

Indeed Telogis seemed to be on a mission to establish themselves as a part of the furniture in the road haulage industry, with the US based organisation now also bringing built-in compliance, telematics and navigation services to Volvo Trucks customers in North America.

Volvo customers are able to access Telogis’ services via smartphones and tablets, leveraging Volvo’s integrated connected vehicle hardware, standard on new Volvo-powered Volvo trucks.

In commercial trucking’s evolving legislative and regulatory landscape, Telogis’ offerings for Volvo Trucks help drivers and back office teams manage FMCSA compliance and keep drivers safer by delivering electronic log tools and routing information that is specifically designed commercial drivers.

“We’re pleased to collaborate with Telogis to deliver tremendous value to motor carriers seeking flexibility and the robust information needed to fine-tune their operations,” said Göran Nyberg, president, Volvo Trucks North American Sales & Marketing.

“Leveraging the connectivity of our vehicles to facilitate fleet management services represents a breakthrough for fleet managers, who are no longer captive to hardware. As part of our long-term strategic focus, we’ll look toward further integration of our vehicles with best-in-class fleet management solutions.”

 

And it is not just in the HGV arena that Telogis have been working, their agreement with Ford is related to their transit vans – the vehicle of choice for many a mobile worker.

Telogis are the exclusive technology provider behind Ford Crew Chief, the light-duty commercial telematics solution that comes factory-fit in Ford’s lineup of 2015 Transit vans as well as its complete line of commercial light-duty trucks.

As the agreement was announced Bill Frykman, manager, business and product development at Ford Motor Company commented

“Ford Crew Chief, another example of Transit’s smart features, complements the Transit line by helping customers save money through fuel management, and more effective route and work planning; keep their drivers safer by understanding and coaching driver behavior; and improving overall operations by getting a big-picture view of maintenance, location and productivity.” 

With many other manufacturers also implementing similar agreements to incorporate the latest technology into their vehicles in 2015 (Audi are including Android Auto whilst Mercedes and Volvo are committed to working with both Android Auto and CarPlay) it seems that the connected car is definitely on its way.

What may take a little longer but is continuing to develop along a steady path, is the driverless vehicle.

 

With Google having already demonstrated their prototype of a self-driving car which the technology giants described as ‘a vehicle without a steering wheel, gas or brake pedal - because they don’t need them’ the futuristic concept of robot cars is on it’s way.

While the current prototype can only go as fast as 25 mph, the promise for the future of fleet management could include better route and fuel efficiency, safer driving, and giving field service engineers the ability to answer email and work while on the road.

For urban fleets, the vehicle could even drop the field tech off at the service location, go find parking for itself and then be summoned to pick the tech up once the call is finished.

And to further speed up the development the University of Michigan is teaming up with top carmakers and tech companies to create the first closed test track in the United States for connected vehicle technology.

Dubbed "M City," the 32-acre testing facility is being built in Ann Arbor, Mich. to "test vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communications in safe, realistic scenarios”

That's the first step in an ambitious plan by the university to "blanket all of Ann Arbor with a V2v and V2I network, including autonomous control,"

Whilst connecting the college town with enough infrastructure to allow self-driving cars to dominate the streets and roadways will take several years. The university and its partners are aiming to complete the transformation by 2021.

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The fleet management industry has seen some radical changes in recent years but the future promises to deliver innovations far beyond anything we have seen so far. Our friends at SmartVan.com have been taking a closer look at the technologies that will shape fleet management in the not so distant future…

Field service technicians are road warriors who often spend a lot of time behind the wheel. But those hours spent driving to the next service call (or sitting in traffic) can mean overtime for techs who need to finish the day’s work. A new wave of Internet-connected vehicles, however, could turn the field service engineer’s vehicle into a mobile office.

“This year is a tipping point,” Gartner analyst Thilo Koslowski told The Wall Street Journal. “There has been a lot of talk about apps in cars, but from 2014 forward, the revolution really happens.”

Here are a few features that drivers can expect to find in their next work truck or van:

4G high-speed Internet: Next year, GM and Audi are set to release automobiles with high-speed Internet and touch-screen dashboards, so drivers won’t even need to look at their smartphones.

In-car app store: BMW is developing an app store, similar to the iTunes App Store, to enable users to purchase mobile apps for their vehicles.

Vehicle data tracking: Automobile manufacturers are working with software developers to pull data from the cars themselves, such as MPG data, idling information as well as driver behaviour.

With these high-tech updates, field service engineers should no longer be stranded without a connection. Of course as with other advances in telematics this will also lead to bigger improvements in driver safety.

However, despite all of these improvements to vehicles the fact remains that distracted driving is inevitable — whether it’s checking an urgent text message from the boss or mopping up spilled coffee — any field service manager would be hard-pressed to find a member of their team that hasn’t experienced a time when their eyes weren’t exactly glued to the road.

 

While not a comforting thought, it’s a reality for field service technicians who are juggling full schedules, heavy traffic and route navigation, to name a few.

Yet, this very human issue of distracted driving may soon be a thing of the past. Recently Google showed off a prototype of its self-driving car, a vehicle without a steering wheel, gas or brake pedal, “because they don’t need them,” Google announced.

While the current prototype can only go as fast as 25 mph, the promise for the future of fleet management could include better route and fuel efficiency, safer driving, and giving field service engineers the ability to answer email and work while on the road.

For urban fleets, the vehicle could even drop the field tech off at the service location, go find parking for itself and then be summoned to pick the tech up once the call is finished. This scenario, however, is contingent on the California Department of Motor Vehicles (and then beyond) adjusting their regulations for autonomous vehicles to allow them to travel without a licensed human driver behind the wheel.

“Ever since we started the Google self-driving car project, we’ve been working toward the goal of vehicles that can shoulder the entire burden of driving,”  Chris Urmson, director of Google’s Self-Driving Car Project. “Just imagine: You can take a trip downtown at lunchtime without a 20-minute buffer to find parking. Seniors can keep their freedom even if they can’t keep their car keys. And drunk and distracted driving? History.”

One challenge to overcome whilst we await for the robot car revolution is that while night driving is inevitable, it comes with an increase in safety risks for drivers.

Well-lit roads are vital for preventing accidents and keeping drivers safe, but governments have struggled with the costs of maintaining street lamps. In the Netherlands, for example it has been reported in the government is shutting down streetlights at night to save money.

To solve this, designer Daan Roosegaarde has partnered with Heijmans, a Dutch civil engineering firm, to create interactive highways that are lit at night with luminescent paint that allows them to glow in the dark. Says Roosegaard, “This road is about safety and envisaging a more self-sustainable and more interactive world.”

A 500-meter stretch of a Dutch highway is the first real-world test case for these technologies.

The green glow in the dark paint charges in the daylight and can glow for up to 8 hours at night. However, the project still has some questions to be asked b efore being accepted as a viable alternative to elective lighting. For example, does the product perform on short winter days and long nights or under overcast and cloudy conditions?

Regardless it seems certain that the future of fleet management is set to see changes in the near future.