How AI improves fleet management for SMEs

Discover how AI technology is improving fleet management safety for small businesses.

If you manage business vehicles, keeping your costs down and ensuring driving teams are safe on the roads are probably the main things likely to keep you awake at night.

Thinking about how your business can avoid motor accidents, which could result in injuries or more serious harm, is serious food for thought. Not to mention increased repair bills, motor insurance premiums, medical expenses and traffic offences… the list of potential worries can quickly escalate. When you realise that such accidents cost the EU economy alone around €130 billion yearly, it’s not just the heavy impact on employee morale and company reputation that could be a further issue, but such accidents can also result in the loss of customer trust.

But it’s not all doom and gloom. In fact, new technologies are putting more minds at rest with lots of helpful ways to keep your vehicles, staff and profits safe.

AI is here to help

For smaller businesses, Artificial Intelligence (AI) might sometimes seem like ‘something from the future’, meaning many find it hard to understand how it will really help them and their business in their everyday reality.

However, more and more businesses are already managing their vehicles on the roads safely, while making sure they deliver on-time, with AI smart algorithms (problem solving technology).

Examples of artificial intelligence helping fleet management

Proactive vehicle maintenance - AI tech can process a significant amount of Telematics data on vehicle performance, which fleet managers can then use to spot issues (e.g., advanced identification of vehicle failures) and fix them before they become a bigger problem and risk (e.g., accidents, unexpected breakdown, increased repair bills and motor insurance premiums) - a telematics systems study found they can help to reduce fleet accidents by as much as 30%

Machine Learning can also help here. Large amounts of fleet vehicle data is fed into, and processed through, machines that then learn from it. They then build ways of working models, based on known events, which assist with events that haven’t even happened yet (all without any programming) e.g., vehicle brake failure notifications alerting fleet managers, that their vehicles need fixing before an accident happens.

Driving behaviour analysis – Computer Vision tech uses cameras, sensors, LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) and image processing algorithms, to monitor and analyse visual information such as road conditions, objects around the vehicle and driver alertness. This means that fleet managers can be alerted to risky driving behaviours which might cause a problem (e.g., fatigue, speeding or distraction). They can then talk to their teams about it and work together to reduce the risk (e.g., change delivery driving shift patterns to reduce fatigue and likelihood of road accidents).

Safer route planning through traffic congestion, adverse weather and road conditions. Cloud Computing has the power and storage capacity to process millions of data points in real-time. It allows fleet managers to use its predictive analytics, based on historical data sets, to make informed decisions, identify risks in real-time and prevent accidents. For example, if a fleet manager knows journeys are more likely to be congested (with the risk of accidents more likely and possibly delaying on-time delivery) ahead of time, then they can create different driver delivery routes to avoid issues.

Natural Language Processing (enabling AI systems to understand, interpret and respond to human language) is also helpful here for analysing voice-based communication between drivers and fleet managers, e.g., making phone calls, assessing traffic information or suggesting alternative routes.

How AI technology can help with your business vehicles

AI technology can help you to check both your vehicles’ road worthiness and drivers’ behaviour (e.g., distraction, harsh cornering and braking, speeding) and in doing so reduce risky driving behaviours on the road. You can then use the intelligent data to turn opinion into fact and create conversations with your team to make their driving safer - all helping to protect other road users along with your team, vehicles and motor insurance premiums. Plus, it will allow you to get your vehicle issues looked at earlier, which will, in turn, prevent bigger costs at your trusted garage.

Discover more about fleet management

To learn more about how you can save money and keep your drivers safe with fleet management telematics, plus other interesting topics like becoming a more sustainable business, take a look at our bitesize videos (around 15 mins each) on LinkedIn.

These can be found on Vodafone Automotive LinkedIn, every last Thursday of the month, 10-10.15am:

• Introducing Vodafone Business Fleet Analytics – click here (on-demand)

• Driving a sustainable fleet – click here (on-demand)

• Managing sustainability data with Green Fleet Dashboard – click here (Thursday, 26 September, 10-10.15am)
  
  

For more information on how AI could help with your business and its vehicle management, you can chat with our helpful V-Hub Digital Advisers for 1-2-1 support.