Telematics Leadership…Leading a Successful Program Implementation

It’s been said by many experts on the topic of leadership: “If you’re not ready to change, you’re not ready to lead”.

Leadership is not a static endeavor. In fact, many apathetic individuals in a “position” of leadership, are nothing more than “Leaders of the inevitable that are merely allowing the future to determine its self.

In today’s VUCA world, an acronym for a business world of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity, companies today that pursue and embrace change are generally healthy, growing and dynamic organizations while companies that fear change tend to be stagnant entities on their way to a slow painful death.
While they may have been proverbial “cash cows” at one point, they have become today’s “sitting ducks” while both the competition and the economy and the rising cost of business quietly picks away at their market share and profit margins.

While I myself am involved in the world of telematics and helping fleet oriented companies recapture lost revenue by the modification of driver behaviors, I am also in the profession of leadership training and development.

I could be writing this article about many different industries and company profiles. In fact, feel free to substitute the title of “Owner”, “Fleet Manager” or “Operations Manager” with a title that is involved in or considers themselves to be in a leadership position.

So, why is the telematics industry thriving right now and growing at a record pace among fleet based organizations?

With today’s rising cost of conducting business, the need for increased productivity and an emphasis on safety in our increasingly litigious society, companies, large and small have identified the need for change.

The need for change exists in every organization. That’s not a mystery.

The most complex area surrounding change however is focusing your efforts in the right areas, for the right reasons and at the right times. The ambiguity and risk can be removed from the change agenda by simply focusing on three areas:

1) Current Customers-what needs to change to provide them with better service?

2) Potential customers-what needs to change to profitably create new customers?

3) Corporate Culture-what changes need to occur to better serve your team and improve their resources so that they can better influence the first two?
However, as a leader, you cannot effectively lead change without understanding the landscape of change! There are four typical responses to change in any organization.

1) The Victim: These are the individuals who view the change as a personal attack on their persona, their role, their job or their area of responsibility. In the world of telematics, these are the first to scream “Big Brother” and insist that “The man is out to get them”. Despite the fact that the entire company is implementing telematics, they are certain that management is looking for ways to get rid of them. They will cry about their privacy being invaded, even though they work for and drive the assets of the company and are paid for doing so. They are also the same people who think nothing of using a Kroger’s, Speedway or any one of 1000 loyalty program cards that track their monthly purchases and use that info for marketing purposes.

2) The Neutral Bystander: This is the apathetic group that is neither for nor against the change to a Telematic system. They won’t protest or champion that change. In fact they just will go with the flow and attempt to stay under the radar, comfortable that the “Victims” are drawing enough attention to their own behavior by protesting so loudly, as if they have something to hide.

3) The Critic: This individual opposes any and ALL change. They are typically a much older employee that probably would have fought the internet and email if it had caused them to have to learn something new. Keep in mind, that not all critics are overt in their resistance. Many remain in the “stealth” mode and attempt to derail change behind the scenes by using their influence on others. I can’t tell you how many times that an older “critic” fleet manager would fight against telematics and the implementation despite proving how it would recapture up to $2500 in lost revenue per vehicle annually. After all, it’s not his money!

Whether overt or covert, you must identify influential critics early in the process if you hope to succeed in your program and take steps to neutralize their influence.

4) The Advocate or the Champion: Just as important as identifying the influential critic early on, it is also necessary to identify the influential advocate to give momentum and enthusiasm to the change initiative.

Not only will the EMBRACE change…they will evangelize it!

Once you have identified these change constituencies, you must involve all of them, communicate properly to each of them and be relentless. With proper messaging and involvement, even adversaries can be converted into allies.

Managing the change associate with a successful telematics implementation requires that all key players have control over four critical elements:
1) Vision Alignment-Those that understand and agree with your vision must be elevated in the change process. Those who disagree must be converted or have their influence neutralized.

2) Responsibility-Your change agents must have a sufficient level of responsibility to achieve the necessary results.

3) Accountability-Your change agents must be accountable for reaching their objectives.

4) Authority-If the first three items are in place, yet your change agents have not been given the needed authority to get the job done, the first three items won’t mean much.

It is CRITICAL…that you set your leaders up for success and not failure by giving them the proper tools, talent, resources, responsibility and authority necessary for finishing the race.

Vincent Rush is the Vice President of Sales and Business Development for Lynx Telematics in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Through an accomplished speaking and training background along with a thorough understanding of the telematics industry, Vincent Rush has helped build Lynx Telematics into one of the better kept secrets in the emerging world of GPS Behavior Modification tools for today’s fleet managers and small business owners by focusing on service and helping companies to understand that the secret is in the proper implementation and management of a well run program.

For a free consultation on how telematics could benefit your business operations though a reduction in operational costs and increased productivity while enhancing a safer culture of drivers, contact Vince directly at (513) 965-6318 or vrush@lynxtelematics.com

Strategy and Execution in the Telematics World

ABC’s David Muir and Lynx Telematics Vincent Rush

It’s been a wild couple of months for us here at Lynx Telematics.

After being invited to San Bruno, California to pitch for the producers of Shark Tank and subsequently being featured on ABC World News Tonight with Diane Sawyer, our business has increased dramatically.

We are currently running safety and operational efficiency programs with several local Cincinnati companies and are producing strong ROI numbers as well as effectively reducing fleet risk liabilities.

Working with the State of North Carolina and beginning work this week with the city of Charlotte, we have been able to take our “NEXT Practices Guide” and “LynxSafe *360 Connect” approach to implementing and helping organizations fulfill their purpose behind installing a telematics system and realizing the vision of an operationally efficient fleet, from a cost perspective as well as productivity and at the same time reducing risk liability.

As a speaker and sales trainer, I have always maintained that vision is not as much about what can be imagined…as it is about what can be delivered.

There is also a distinct difference between purpose (why you installed telematics) and the vision (what you hope to accomplish with telematics) for your programs. The bridge that connects those two mountains is called strategy (the how and when).

A strategy must be closely tied to purpose in order to be meaningful and enduring.

Never confuse the simplicity of telematics with the complexity of a well planned out and implemented strategy that produces short-term desired results along with a more enduring residual long-term returns on investment for you and your organization.

The telematics landscape it littered with thousand of programs gone wrong, sold by feature and benefit pitchman that couldn’t be found with a search warrant, once the contracts were signed.

However, an effective strategy moves away from the simple formulaic business approaches of yesterday and focuses on the human elements that take into consideration, cohesion and communication at every juncture to foster alignment.

A longer-term vision and emphasis on an enduring strategy have the potential to do far more than allow an organization to hit quarterly targets. A good strategy transforms a compelling vision into concrete outcomes. It’s all about planning and execution.

The Lynx Telematics “NEXT Practices Guide to Implementation” when coupled with the “Lynx Telematics 360 Connect” program not only offers a plan that makes sense but gives a clear-cut plan for execution and management.

Never underestimate the potential for uncertainty, fear, mistrust and ambiguity to derail even the best strategies!

At Lynx Telematics, we can not only provide you with the technology, but we continue to work with you over the life of your partnership to continue to achieve and grow returns on investments into telematics.

Vincent Rush, VP of Business Development at Lynx Telematics
vrush@lynxtelematics.com
(513) 965-6318

The Intangible Value of Fleet Management

In an information-based economy, the decision to make a technology investment purchase can be complex and dictated by price. Financially, a firm would likely label the purchase as a business expense, as denoted on the income statement, rather than as an asset on the balance sheet.

Expenses are shown on the income statement for management to review the “bottom line” of the company.

The business expenses are subtracted from incoming revenues to show how much the organization earned (or lost) over the period. However, lasting benefits (such as future cost reductions) of a new technology is typically not taken into account when processing the original expense.

While the upfront costs may be accounted for, one must examine the intangible, future benefits of the technology. Utilizing fleet management solutions provides numerous paybacks to an organization. Acting as an intangible asset – one that adds value and economic benefit over time, the fleet management technology has a direct impact on the bottom line of a business.
Cost savings can be extracted from multiple areas. At Lynx Telematics, along with GeoTab technology, the savings have been identified as coming from 4 core pillars:

1. Fleet Optimization: This includes making the best use of all available assets, and optimizing driver management. In turn, cost savings can be realized from reduced fuel usage and greater MPG consumption.

2. Driver Safety Maximization: Through interactive driver training methods, drivers are constantly reminded of safe driving practices. For instance, buzzers will inform the driver to reduce their speed and/or put their seat belt on. Not only does this cut down on costs, but also it helps organizations reduce vehicle damage along with employee injury claims.

3. Enhancing Driver Productivity: Getting more done during the day leads to customer satisfaction and long-term loyalty. As such, organizations can reduce their churn rates and improve their gross profit margins.

4. Ensuring Compliance: For those organizations that operate inter-state, the value of being HOS compliant comes at no surprise as costly and damaging penalties can be avoided.

Re-Posted by Vincent Rush

Vincent Rush is VP of Business Development for Lynx Telematics, a full service telematics provider that not only supplies fleet managers with the tools and education to reduce their operating expenses by nearly $2500 per vehicle on an annual basis, but helps assist managers in increasing the overall CSA scores as well as managing their telematics projects to achieve maximum return on investment.

Vincent Rush is also a professional consultant and has run multiple businesses ventures and provided career coaching and mentoring to thousands of business professionals throughout the United States.

For more information on how Lynx Telematics can assist with operational challenges and escalating operational costs, contact Vincent Rush directly at Lynx Telematics (513) 702-0495 or vrush@lynxtelematics.com

The REAL Secret to Developing Proper and Profitable Relationships

An article by Vincent Rush

Every salesperson I speak with today talks about relationships and what a good one they have with their customers.

Granted, since the beginning of time, relationships have been the backbone of any great sales professional.

But a lot of younger sales people in today’s climate have a misconception of what a proper client relationship consists of. Ask most struggling Account Executives what they think relationships consist of and you’ll likely get answers that speak of buying lunch, delivering doughnuts or a round of golf.

The fact is, that if you want to build a PROPER and PROFITABLE client relationship, you must first understand this…your clients do not want friends…they want RESULTS!

1) You must minimize their risk! Lets face it, clients have been burned too many times by sales people who are long on promises and short on delivery. In today’s economic climate, everyone is very “Risk Adverse” when it comes to making decisions.

2) Enhance their competitive standing, both as a company and against their colleagues. Make them a hero in the eyes of their boss and you’ve done more for them that 1000 lunches and dozens of Krispy Kreme doughnuts could ever do. (OK, that last part may be a stretch)

3) Help them achieve their goals. Lets face it, all companies have the same foundational goals at heart; Increasing Profit and decreasing costs…But what about the individual goal of partnering with your client to help take his company to the next level?

Most sales people never ask the client to VIVIDLY describe the problems that they are facing and even fewer ask the client, how they themselves are affected by those very problems.

Any salesperson can gather facts and pitch feature/benefit selling, but the GREAT sales people ignite the emotions of the client and uncover what motivates them to act.

Even those sales people I meet, that are very good at uncovering the pain in a situation, use that as a trigger to launch into FAB selling.

When is the last time you heard a professional problem solver ask you, as a client;

“If you and I could find a solution to this problem, what effect do you think that would have on your company, over the next five years?” or “What would it mean to you to be able to solve this problem, once and for all?”

Even more importantly;

“If you came to your boss, with a solution that could save the company $$$$$$ a year, what would that do for your personally?

Once you help your customer accomplish these goals, you are no longer a salesperson but rather a trusted and valued PARTNER.

Vincent Rush is VP of Business Development for Lynx Telematics, a full service telematics provider that not only supplies fleet managers with the tools and education to reduce their operating expenses by nearly $2500 per vehicle on an annual basis, but helps assist managers in increasing the overall CSA scores as well as managing their telematics projects to achieve maximum return on investment.

Vincent Rush is also a professional consultant and has run multiple businesses ventures and provided career coaching and mentoring to thousands of business professionals throughout the United States.

For more information on how Lynx Telematics can assist with operational challenges and escalating operational costs, contact Vincent Rush directly at Lynx Telematics (513) 702-0495 or vrush@lynxtelematics.com

Preventing Avoidable Accidents with Reverse Detection Telematics Functionality

Fleet operators understand it is important to ensure driver safety, which also includes taking into account the surrounding external environment. To help mitigate vehicle damage through unexpected accidents, one must not overlook driving in reverse events. Backing out of a parking spot, especially when in a hurry, can be a dangerous activity since other vehicles and pedestrians tend to be nearby and in motion. Surprisingly, it has been estimated that approximately 30 percent of all accidents occur when vehicles are moving in reverse.

Based on the high frequency and likelihood of these collisions, many vehicle manufacturers have added in vehicle in reverse beeping as an extra safety measure. The new Toyota Pruis, for instance, offers this audible functionality, which helps keeps the drivers alert, and consequently reduces insurance property damage claims.

It is recommended that drivers do not back up unless it is absolutely necessary. There are a many hazards to consider when reversing out of a parking spot, including the clearance space surrounding the vehicle, moving objects, and blind spots.

With telematics technology, employers can:

Set the GPS tracking device to beep whenever the driver is backing up.

Set notification rules in the software in order to be informed of these events:

Text message alerts
Emailed alerts
Screen pop-up alerts

Look at historic data to see whenever and wherever drivers went in reverse.

Built-in fleet management technology detects reversing of a vehicle regardless of diagnostic computer data. This is done with the use of the accelerometer and algorithms to detect what direction the vehicle is going in.

For more information or to discuss how telematics can benefit your companies fleet and increase safety compliance, contact Vincent Rush of Lynx Telematics in Cincinnati, Ohio (513) 965-6318

Is Telematics the new Credit Score for the Motor Insurance Industry?

For many years, telematics was the preserve of Formula One and other top flight racing teams. In recent years the technology has become more accessible and is now starting to appear in fleets of commercial vehicles. In the US and UK it has hit the headlines as insurance companies are starting to offer drivers cheaper insurance if they agree to have a ‘black box’ fitted that tracks the vehicle and reports back to the insurance company on miles driven etc.

In both cases the ‘black box’ has been viewed with suspicion by many drivers as ‘big brother’ and ‘spying’.

However, as Vincent Rush of Cincinnati, Ohio based Lynx Telematics pointed out at a recent national symposium on telematics in the insurance industry, “We do not face a privacy issue but rather a privacy perception. The same individuals that may express concern over a “big brother” or “black box” technology, are generally the same individuals that think nothing of participating in customer loyalty programs or posting their every move and location on Facebook.”

On the other hand, telematics does hold the key to several different issues facing the motor insurance industry at the moment.

On the consumer side, with EU legislation banning premiums based on gender, and moves underway to change the way that young and learner drivers become qualified – for instance a ban on fast-track courses, and the requirement for learner drivers to be under training for at least a year – the insurers need to find new ways to calculate premiums.

By encouraging customers to install telematics systems, not only can the insurer charge on a pay-as-you-drive basis, they can also score drivers on how safely they drive. Telematics systems can report on much more than simply tracking where and when the vehicle is driven. They can, for example, log when the driver speeds, detect harsh braking and fast cornering, whether a seat belt is worn, and generally identify aggressive driving style. This type of reporting could help insurers to introduce more cost-effective policies for young or less experienced drivers.

According to Rush, “As the CEO of a billion dollar insurance company remarked to me, “Telematics is becoming to the insurance industry, what credit score was five years ago.”

On the commercial side, as organizations have increased duty of care for employees and several test cases for corporate manslaughter have been won, so telematics again could help.

Driving is one of the most high risk activities for employees, and in any organization that has vehicles within its business, whether they are delivery trucks or staff cars, insurance claims, compensation claims and maintenance are a significant cost. Simply by installing a telematics solution, the company can start to analyze when and where its vehicles are used, and how they are driven. This in itself will encourage employees to ensure that they adhere to company policy when using company vehicles. The organization can start to look at ways to improve asset utilization, fuel consumption, delivery schedules with the aim of providing better customer service, and tackle environment issues. All these activities have been well proven to help organizations save costs and improve efficient operations.

On top of all these benefits, insurance premiums could also be reduced. In the US the commercial insurance model is perhaps more developed than in the UK, in that they focus more on how a vehicle is driven, as well as by mileage. Indeed, insurers like Liberty Mutual are offering a 15% reduction on premiums for fleets where a telematics solution is installed, because they are seen as a better risk. Furthermore, they estimate that organizations can expect to save up to 40% on reduced claims and better maintenance of the fleet, due to the telematics solution.

The potential benefits of fleet telematics have been fairly well documented. Where organizations can really make substantial gains with telematics is by ensuring that the solution is fully integrated and sits on a platform that has the power to analyze vast amounts of location intelligence data to provide operational meaning. Such a platform would be hardware agnostic, meaning it could take data from any type of device installed in a vehicle. Hosted in the cloud on a Software-as-a-Service basis, the individual organization does not need to find the computing power in-house with all the associated overheads and can also access industry-wide data enabling them to compare their own performance with the industry benchmarks.

Most devices are currently installed after market, but looking forward, devices will be installed during manufacture on an OEM basis, and then there is the trend to Bring Your Own Device that also must be addressed. By taking the location intelligence platform approach organizations are able to squeeze every last drop of usable information from their telematics solutions and apply it to making the business more efficient, and investment in hardware is protected.

“We offer companies a complete plug and play solution that snaps into the fleet vehicle OBD 2 port in about 3 seconds” said Rush of Lynx Telematics. Within a few minutes or a couple of hours, depending on the size of a fleet, we equip the entire organization with a full-scale and functioning telematic solution. The next thing we do is to help the company implement policies and guidelines that focus on safety and operational efficiency and then begin watching and reporting our findings to the responsible parties within the organization.” Rush concluded by saying, “We, without exception have immediately changed the culture, for the positive, within every company we work with, from 12 units to 1500.”

For the insurance industry the case is also compelling. As well as being able to handle data from any telematics device that customers may wish to use, such a platform approach enables insurers to provide different schemes targeted at different market segments. For example, a young drivers’ scheme would measure different criteria to an older persons’ scheme, and it would have a different user interface, but the underlying mechanism for administering the scheme would be the same. This would give Insurers the ability to provide many different policies to meet different customer requirements.

As with any enterprise system, connecting different silos of information is the key to getting a birds-eye view of the organization on which to base strategic and operational decisions. By combining telematics and vehicle insurance, using a location intelligence platform to bring together all the various data points, and analyzing the resulting information, both the end-user/customer and the insurance industry can benefit from huge cost savings and a better product that more closely meets customers’ needs.

For more information or an analysis on how Lynx Telematics can help your company fleet reduce operating expenses, improve safety compliance and productivity while reducing risk liability, contact Vincent Rush at (513) 965-6318 or vrush@lynxtelematics.com

Whats so great about telematics?

Telematics offer plants managers so much more than just theft detection.

Telematics is the use of wireless technology to transmit information.

Some construction equipment manufacturers have been using telematics on their machines for 10 years or more. Others are only just starting to use it. As it becomes increasingly mainstream and standard fitment, more fleet owners appear to be gradually realizing the advantages that it offers.

At the most basic level, telematics systems offer a tracking system for stolen machines.

A desire to reduce plant theft – and insurance premiums – is a significant driver in the take-up of telematics, but it is really only the starting point. Telematics also offers the ability to monitor machine use and operational data remotely, even from across the other side of the world, if necessary. All kinds of detail can be accessed by computer or smartphone, pumping out daily, weekly or monthly reports, or in some cases real-time live data. Fuel efficiency, engine output, fluid levels, brake pad wear, utilization, productivity, error code tracking and much more can all be included in reports in widely varying formats.

How that information is used also varies widely. Some equipment owners do absolutely nothing with it. Others use it for preventative maintenance planning or even to determine their investment plans. For contractors, telematics can be useful; for plant hire firms, for whom the machinery is the core asset, the revenue generator and the center of the business, the information that is increasingly on offer really should not be ignored any longer.

Professor David Edwards of the Off-highway Plant and Equipment Research Center thinks that the construction industry is proving too slow on the uptake. “I don’t think telematics is being used as widely as it should be,” he says.

Some OEM systems, like Lynx Telematics in Cincinnati, Ohio, use satellite communications and some use cellular communication. JCB, for example, uses cellular, which it says allows for better coverage in built-up areas and indoors. Satellite, on the other hand, provides a signal when out of cellular coverage in even the most remote places. As cellular co improved, the tendency has been for manufacturers to move from satellite-based systems to GSM.

The only problem is that every OEM has its own different system – a point that has been picked up by the European Rental Association (ERA). At the Construction Equipment World Economic Forum last month ERA secretary general Michel Petitjean called for more standardization, saying: “Many OEMs have implemented telematics to their lines of equipment, and it is very cumbersome to make rental equipment compatible with all of these. The rental market is calling for standardization in some data feeds such as geo-fencing, immobilization, safety devices and alerts.”

User experience

For A-Plant, its investment in telematics has been driven by security concerns. It has GPRS (general packet radio service) devices attached to some 10,000 items of plant and equipment. The system proved itself in January last year when a tele-handler was stolen from site after hours. As soon as the customer reported the theft from its site, the telematics providers local service center manager logged onto the system from home through the internet system on the company’s website to locate the position of the stolen machine. He generated an aerial photograph of a transport yard where the equipment was being hidden and got on to the police.

Before the police got there, the machine was being moved. The movement was tracked and, eventually, the thieves were caught red-handed on their way out of the country with the stolen machine. More than 98% of stolen A-Plant equipment protected with telematics is recovered, compared to an industry average of just 5-10%. Aside from being used to track the location of a machine, many OEM telematics systems can be used to aid security by programming in ‘virtual walls’, setting perimeters outside of which the machine cannot and will not operate.

These can either be physical boundaries, typically restricting the machine to the site or quarry in which it is meant to be working, or time restrictions, perhaps to prevent unauthorized night use, for example. Like many larger hire firms, A-Plant is moving beyond the security aspects and, along with its customers, starting to exploit the operational opportunities.

With any telematic equipped machine, the customer can access the system via the internet to check not only that the machine is at its intended location but also that it is operating – and being operated – as desired. With a Geo-Fence / virtual wall, if the machine strays out of bounds the customer receives an e-mail or text. They can send text messages to remotely immobilize and/or release equipment.

The ability to monitor running hours is one of a number of sensor options that can be provided by using the information ports available on the device at the center of the telematics system. Functions that can be monitored also include towing speeds, fuel level, battery level, coolant, engine on/off, ignition on/off, engine covers open/closed and so on.

Even the simple tracking system function of telematics has benefits beyond the recovery of stolen machines, however. Sussex-based access hire firm Facelift, has no telematics system at the moment but it is in discussions with a couple of providers for installing trackers on its delivery vehicles. Operations director Paul Standing explains why he is keen to start using it. “The latest software can monitor driver behavior. We hope that this will not only assist us in controlling our diesel spend but will also assist us with reducing unnecessary maintenance work caused by driver abuse and may well also reduce our accidents.” He adds: “We will be able to see how far away from site our trucks are when customers are asking what time their machine will turn up and we will also be able to prove what time our machine arrived on site.” He is also looking to fit trackers to mobile engineers’ vans “so we can easily see who is closest to either a breakdown or average has customer’s machine that requires a repair, thus hopefully minimizing unnecessary downtime and also giving our customers a quicker service”.

On the same basis, Hewden has the Masternaut system fitted to its HGV delivery vehicles. This is a web-based system that can be accessed via a PC or smartphone so that it can track delivery progress. If a customer wants to know where his delivery has got to, Hewden knows.

HE Services, which reports a 99% success rate on recovering stolen plant thanks to GPS, also finds that tracking technology on its diggers aids collection of the machine at the end of a job on remote or hard-to-find sites. “Although security is the main benefit of the systems we find that it also benefits our customers in other ways,” says HE Services’ Chris Holloway. “It allows quicker reporting of machine faults. This allows us to respond to breakdowns more efficiently with the correct service parts. Human error on fuel measurement is eliminated in many cases meaning customers are not over charged for fuel/oil when returning a machine. And it reduces customers’ insurance in many cases, where a professionally fitted GPS unit is available.” He adds: “We use our systems to remotely monitor our plant and advise our customers where general maintenance can be made. We also keep track of hours worked and engine levels.”

Some companies that are embracing telematics don’t even regard security as their primary motive. UK Forks runs the country’s largest fleet of tele-handlers, with more than 1,110 machines – prominently JCB and Manitou brands. Managing director Shayne Wright says that in the region of a third of his fleet has a telematics system. He doesn’t regard it as an anti-theft device at all, but as an aid for planning preventative maintenance schedules. “It’s a useful tool,” he says. His machines are routinely out on long-term hire. By keeping tabs on their use, UK Forks knows the optimum time to service the machines. “I think theft is only a small part of it,” Wright says.

Ambrose Plant Hire managing director Richard Sykes is another enthusiast. “Increasingly, the customers we work with look for outfitters to provide more than just basic machines,” he says. “With demanding service level agreements it is essentially a fleet management and total support solution that is required – ensuring the best equipment is continually available at peak performance – exactly where and when the customer demands it. As such, telematics systems help us to deliver to those exacting standards. We can track our assets and monitor their performance to minimize downtime and maximize performance for our customers – presenting an extremely professional approach.” On many machines, the latest Stage IIIB/Tier 4 Interim engines have more electronic technology, which has made additional telematic functions possible. Telematics does not just help equipment owners and end-users. It can also help manufacturers and their distributors offer an improved level of service.

Komatsu, for example, offers its Komtrax system as standard on all machines and for larger machines has Komtrax Plus that collects data from the engine, transmission controllers and other major components. Ed Prosser, marketing manager of distributor Marubeni-Komatsu, says: “We regularly run ‘energy saving reports’ for a customer’s machines. We can use these to identify areas for concern and suggest a change in working practice. For example, a machine could be idling excessively, working too hard in an application. We can use this data to suggest better working practice that will save fuel and offer increased productivity.”

Liebherr, too, emphasizes the enhanced service that it can offer with remote diagnostics through its LICCON system on its mobile cranes. If an operator has a problem with the crane, be they in Birmingham or Bermuda, a techno-boffin down the line in Germany can see what has gone wrong and perhaps either fix it remotely or figure out what part to send.

Prosser says that the extent to which telematics has been embraced varies from customer to customer. “Some have taken to the technology more than others. However, with fuel becoming an increasing burden, customers are using the system more to keep track of their costs.”

For the major construction contractors, there is another benefit that is starting to become significant. Whether they own the machine or simply make use of it on a site, there is an impact on the corporate carbon footprint. For those companies that wish to or need to record their CO2 emissions, telematics is the answer.

Re-posted by Lynx Telematics in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Lynx Telematics is a full service Telematics solution with an OBD2 plug and play connection.

For more information on the advantages of Lynx Telematics and the OBD2 Connectivity option, contact Vincent Rush of Lynx Telematics at (513) 965-6318 or vrush@lynxtelematics.com

Insurance Telematics and the Fleet Sector

Greg Nichols explores how insurance companies are expanding the services they offer to fleet operators

Insurance companies have a financial interest in promoting safe driving to reduce crashes. It’s no wonder, then, that so many commercial and consumer insurance companies offer driver safety programs and reward exemplary driving records.

Now a new generation of insurance providers is capitalizing on the spread of telematics devices to expand the services they can offer to fleets.

And risk reduction through driver training is just the beginning. Insurers have begun to recognize that they are positioned to move beyond liability coverage. One insurer, Zurich, has become a one-stop shop. The Zurich Fleet Intelligence™ product includes a comprehensive safety program as well as operations management solutions and customized strategies to help fleets reduce their environmental impact. This may be a taste of things to come industry-wide. (For more on safety programs, see Managing driver behavior with fleet telematics.)

“We’re in the midst of a course change for commercial fleet insurance,” says Jim Noble, business director at Zurich. “Telematics will allow the insurer to be much more embedded, helping them to improve fleet operations.”

Leveraging new data

Some estimates suggest that for every one dollar of direct cost associated with an accident—costs such as vehicle repairs, which insurers have an interest in reducing—there may be as much as five dollars of indirect cost incurred by the fleet operator.

“Everything we can do to help customers improve their risk is a benefit to those customers and to us as an insurance provider,” says Noble. “The more active we can be in offering constructive programs that truly help customers identify risk and drive it out of the business, the better off things are going to be for our customers and for us.”

At Zurich, Noble and his colleagues are finding that telematics devices allow for a much fuller understanding of how driving behaviors correlate to risk.

“What we’re trying to do is take very good information from the telematics providers, and combine that with the traditional information to create a fleet risk portrait of the company and of the driver,” he says. “And that allows us to help our customers develop actionable items based on that information to improve their risk profile.”

Zurich can customize driver-training programs based on the behavior of specific drivers. If rapid acceleration or driving over speed are chronic problems for some drivers, Zurich can help fleet operators set benchmarks to reduce those risky behaviors. The program drives down premiums associated with unsafe driving, reduces the hidden costs of accidents and repairs, and helps make the roads safer for everyone.

Operational management

Telematics providers “are moving at breakneck pace to really improve the data coming out of the vehicle,” says Noble. “But I think the other thing that has made telematics more palatable is that the cost-per-vehicle to get that data is not as high as it has been, and it’s still dropping.”

Driver safety programs get fleets some of the way toward creating a crash-free culture. But can operations management that’s driven by the data from telematics devices go even further?

According to insurers like Zurich, yes. By leveraging driver behavior and operations data, insurers can aim to put safe drivers in the safest possible driving situations. Scheduling, route optimization, and inventory control can help drivers minimize the dangers they encounter day-to-day.

This relationship between driver safety and operational management is key in understanding the ongoing evolution of the fleet insurance industry.

Environmental impact

In addition to robust driver safety programs and operations management solutions, Zurich uses data from its telematics partners to help fleets reduce their environmental impact and comply with federal emissions standards.

“There are a lot of wasted dollars in the operations of vehicles today,” says Noble. “Telematics allows us to help our customers identify where that waste is happening and to improve. Whether it’s idle time or speed or acceleration or any of those fuel wasting things, we can improve that.” (For more on environmental impact, see Fleet telematics: Balancing commercial and environmental concerns [5] and Why green means ‘go’ for fleet telematics [6].)

The Zurich product is likely the first of many to be offered by fleet insurers that will bring together the various data universes made available by telematics devices. It seems likely, then, that a battle is brewing in the near future between dedicated fleet operations companies and insurance providers looking to get into the fleet operations game.

While it’s not clear where the industry will settle, this should be good news for fleet operators. With competition growing across the operations management sector, the cost of strategic assistance may fall. Coupled with the declining prices of telematics services, even the smallest operators may soon have access to management tools that were once considered the exclusive domain of the largest fleets.

Greg Nichols is a regular contributor to TU.

Telematics: Weaving the future

From Fleet Owner Magazine: Wendy Leavitt

Following the development of telematics today is like watching a robotic machine weave an enormous carpet of many colors and complicated, interlocking designs. Skeins and skeins of yarn (or data streams) wound onto countless shuttles (telematics devices) fly back and forth across the software loom forming intricate, interwoven patterns of blended shades and tones—nuanced information, surprising insights, subtle distinctions, and endless possibilities.

Telematics, like that carpet, is an amazing transformation of many small, individual elements into a dazzling, almost magical whole that, in the case of transportation, can take companies to places they have never been before—as long as they don’t get tangled up in the process.

“Both the telematics providers and users have evolved so much,” says Dyan Finkhousen, mobile resource intelligence strategy leader for GE Capital Fleet Services. “There have been big changes in just the past five years. People are thinking in terms of ‘telematics-based business intelligence.’

“We are seeing lots of investment in telematics solutions, more than ever. Companies also have more choice and more leverage with providers,” she adds. “Some buyers are already very focused on using advanced analytics to help support decision processes. Others focus on various telematics feature sets.”

“Today, you really can’t compete anymore without telematics,” observes Norm Ellis, vice president of sales, service and marketing for Enterprise Services. “Telematics makes the impacts of various things (like delays) visible. Telematics information has already had a profound effect on trucking—on areas such as safety, driver retention and efficiency.”

TREND: Data Integration

Talk with almost anyone in the telematics business and it won’t be long before the subject of data integration comes up. The theory is that by combining different data streams from a variety of sources, companies can discover valuable information that would have been much less useful or even invisible without the interweaving of other, relevant data.

Everybody wants information now, not data,The goal is to bring all the data together from vehicles, handhelds, fuel cards, sensors, diagnostic systems, GPS devices and everything at our disposal.

RAIR, a division of DriveCam, helps DOT-regulated companies comply with safety regulations. The ability to combine disparate data from multiple sources is making that a whole new ballgame. Think about holistic evaluations/scoring of drivers, offers RAIR spokesperson Stephanie Wagner. “We can combine equipment usage data (mpg, idling, rpms), productivity data (on-time deliveries), responses to emergency dispatches, safety data (like hard braking and speeding) and compliance data (HOS, accidents and citations) into a single picture.”

Fleet Managers and company owners want more kinds of information. Medium and large customers don’t want to have to go to a providers user interface page either to get the information the company provide. They want to have that product interface with the fleet management systems they already use—with McLeod Software or with TMW Systems or others. The very large companies just want the data pushed to them. And everyone is asking, “What else can you tell me from the devices I already have?”

Information is the product in some senses; and while that definitely rings true, the decisions that are driven out of that information will be what really matters. Customers are looking for information in order to make a decision. That means our job is to generate decisions. A good telematics company strategy is to produce the answer based upon real data and deliver that.

One thing enabling this automated decision making is the expanding ability to “flow” data automatically from all sorts of disparate systems and devices to the people who need to see it. Business process automation frees users from monitoring by automatically routing documents to appropriate queues based on defined rules. To put it another way, established thresholds [for various functions and outputs] automatically initiate standard sets of responses. The system is managing the data for you.

TREND: Constantly Connected

Delivering decisions, at least timely decisions, requires that companies be virtually connected all the time. You can’t run a business like a black box where you put decisions in the top and just hope everything comes out all right. Today, you have to know what is going on all the time and constantly be optimizing to deal with changes.

What if a truck breaks down or a driver gets sick or a customer changes his mind? All those things used to be handled manually by a dispatcher [and a driver over the telephone]. Now telematics can identify problems and re-optimize automatically.

I still like the ‘war room’ analogy…Even if you are not in the military, you still have to run your business that way. You have to be looking at the most relevant information all the time. I’ve often heard that having a war room or control room changes the psychology of a business. Something positive happens when you post actual, mission-critical information where everyone can see it.

Lots of utilities, for instance, have a central control room and they like to show it off to visitors. It says, ‘We know what is going on. We know what we are doing.

Making sure that everybody in the company has a window on that “control room” is also an emerging function of telematics. It is absolutely correct that information is becoming the product of telematics. The challenge everyone has is how do we disseminate that information throughout the organization to the people who need it when they need it?

The big push now, of course, is getting information to the driver in the cab. You have to make sure, for instance, that what the driver sees and is held accountable for is the same thing that the back office is measuring and evaluating—whether it is customer service, driving habits or out-of-route miles. Everybody has to be on the same page at the same time regarding how the driver is performing.

Trend: Specialized and Customized

But what actually needs to be on that “same page” is not the same for every fleet, and that is the genesis of another trend in telematics—creating systems that provide fleets with job-specific information.

Different markets have very different needs. On the private fleet and vocational side there is even more variety [than among for-hire carriers]. There is a ‘learned standards’ capability for private fleets with pretty regular routes, for instance, that helps to constantly improve performance along lanes. Fuel management, on the other hand, is a concern common across all markets.

Telematics providers are taking at least two different approaches to the challenge of specialized needs. The first is to offer job-specific tools. The other choice is to offer standardized telematics platforms designed to take care of the common basics, but also make it relatively easy for fleets to customize some data fields in order to capture and analyze data specific to their own operations.

Say you are a lumber company with 100 various class trucks operating on five lanes. You need to know things about board feet and weight and have a vehicle deployment hierarchy that a packaged dry goods carrier probably doesn’t worry about.The key really is how easy you make it for people to slice and dice their own data.

TREND: Advanced Analytics

If there really is magic in telematics, then advanced or predictive analytics is where it quietly resides.Information that might be useful elsewhere may not be visible. Broad data integration and the use of predictive tools are really the way forward. It is a major telematics trend.

Trucking companies are sitting on a mountain of answers. The job of vendors is to unlock the secrets of the mountain. There will be as many or more opportunities down the road [as we have discovered so far]. There is a lot of modeling going on in fleets now, for instance, around letting drivers use their time more efficiently. Inefficiencies create dissonance for drivers [and contribute to job dissatisfaction not to mention adding cost].

Over the past several months, companies have also used advanced analytics to help fleets better manage fuel purchasing. To do that, they pull more data from the J1939 data bus on a truck, including fuel tank levels. Then bump that figure up against the fuel purchase history, actual fill events, and other factors. This allows a company to tell the fleet how much fuel the truck could take and how much should actually be pre-authorized for a particular purchase.”

For example, it is now possible can tell a fleet why the fuel economy of a particular truck equals X. That requires analyzing data from the engine control module, velocity data, data about the driver’s habits, maintenance data and vehicle specs, along with data from other outside sources. Using parallel processing—multiple threaded processing—like Google or Facebook does. That allows a company to get answers much faster.”

It is now also possible through Risk Advisory programs to deploy advanced predictive analytics to give fleets new insights such as concerning which drivers are most likely to have an accident in the near future.

Today’s telematics companies can build models that look at historical data versus what really happened and know what a baseline safe driving behavior looks like and then spot even subtle changes—higher speeds, poor shift timing, hard-braking—the things that lead to accidents.

By looking for patterns it helps to see who is apt to have an accident and why and we want to see that in time to intervene.

TREND: OEM-Installed Telematics Platforms

Some fleet executives will tell you that they can’t wait for the day when truck OEMs provide standard, open architecture telematics systems that can interface with just about anything the aftermarket develops while still protecting the integrity of the electronic and computer systems the truck itself depends upon. Many telematics providers view that as the ultimate goal as well.

Less than five years ago, that seemed like a very distant possibility. That has changed, according to the latest report on telematics from C.J. Driscoll & Associates. Truck makers are becoming much more involved in the telematics revolution, generally in partnership with trusted telematics suppliers.

“In late 2011, [Daimler Trucks North America] began providing its Virtual Technician solution [developed with partner Zonar] as standard equipment on new Freightliner trucks with Detroit Diesel engines,” notes Driscoll. “Today, Paccar, Volvo, Ford, Navistar, Isuzu and Hino are also offering optional factory- or dealer-installed telematics solutions.

“The primary focus of truck OEM telematics solutions is currently on vehicle diagnostics and maintenance,” Driscoll adds. “However, some OEMs indicate that they plan to offer a broader range of fleet management features in the future.”
Making it all happen

Like the warp threads on that imagined carpet, there are a number of other, very significant changes taking place in the telematics space that provide the framework for other developments, including the rise in the number of handheld devices, improved and simplified user interfaces and a movement (some of it regulation-driven) toward greater standardization in order to achieve greater integration.

Perhaps most importantly, there is an explosion of cooperation and collaboration among suppliers, truck makers, fleets and others. That includes a growing number of mergers and acquisitions, but also a growing number of partnerships.

The user group conferences sponsored by many telematics providers are an acknowledgement—no, a celebration— of the power of team effort to achieve things through telematics beyond what an individual supplier or fleet could do alone. The energy crackling around telematics today is palpable—and it is highly infectious.

For more information and a consultative analysis on your fleet, company needs and concerns, contact Vincent Rush, VP of Business Development for Lynx Telematics. (513) 965-6318 or vrush@lynxtelematics.com

Telematics and Dealership Customer Relationship Management

From Telematics Update

Jessica Royer Ocken reports on how telematics is reinventing the customer experience

Telematicsenabled customer relationship management(CRM) has the potential to reshape OEM-dealer-driver relationships, and perhaps OEMs’ relationships with insurance companies as well. Dominique Bonte, vice president and practice director at ABI Research, describes CRM as an “umbrella platform” that allows OEMs or dealers to reach customers “more efficiently” to offer services based on their profiles.

Telecom service providers are also discovering the potential for value-added services and are taking steps to provide systems that can be put quickly into place.

Data about the status of the car, through live “real-time” diagnostics, can be of great use to a dealership looking to strengthen the Dealer-Customer relationship and provide a competitive advantage over independent auto repair shops and instant oil change stores.

Make it easy and fun

Reaping the benefits of telematics for CRM is all about technique and approach. It’s a matter of “providing advice to the driver in order to improve the way he’s managing his asset, the car itself,”

Not only can dealerships alert drivers when they need to bring their car in for maintenance, they can let them know when their tire pressure could use adjustment and why that benefits them through improved safety, more reactive brakes, and lower fuel consumption.

But the most effective CRM communications will be more than just directives and data. OEMs need to make it “easy and fun” for drivers to access data about their behavior behind the wheel.

Add an element of gaming or social networking so people can compare data and behavior or their fuel consumption. This makes it more digestible.

These ideas fall under ‘vehicle relationship management’;

Diagnostics, maintenance, and perhaps vehicle-centric firmware updates. But the larger umbrella of CRM is about a more complete experience,including offering or up selling content and apps to drivers, navigation, and better entertainment and better information.

Off-the-shelf solutions

Perhaps the biggest boon for dealerships is the fact that CRM systems don’t have to be built from scratch.

Often OEM’s, such as Lynx Telematics in Cincinnati, can adapt their existing telematics systems and “fine tune them to add a customer dimension,” A CRM system just needs access to vehicle data, which is already in place.

We use what is already existing, already tested, already successful on the market, but we have decided to reshape and reconfigure that in a different way to provide value.

Dealing with dealerships

As OEMs move into the CRM game, their relationships with dealers as well as drivers is likely to change.

Maintenance updates and scheduling are likely appreciated not only by drivers but by dealers as well, because advance notice about which vehicles are coming in for service helps them better manage their resources, including space and staff.

Right now the dealer is an important touch point for OEMs to contact customers regarding sales and maintenance as well as up selling services and apps. .

In addition, as CRM grows in popularity, other parties will be involved in communicating with customers, telematicsenabled insurance companies, for example, or TSP call centers.There’s a big risk if everyone is reaching out to the driver but not in a coordinated way. There’s a big objective to get the players working together.

For information on the value of telematics data and how positive customer relationships improve dealership ROI contact Vincent Rush at Lynx Telematics and for a tutorial on using marketing partnerships to build brands and Telematics revenue opportunities.

Re-posted by Lynx Telematics, Cincinnati, Ohio (513)-965-6318

Vincent Rush VP of Business Development and Dealer Opportunities, Cincinnati, Ohio. (513) 965-6318 or vrush@lynxtelematics.com