Under the “telematics” umbrella is the integration of Global Positioning System (GPS) technology, computers and mobile devices. The successful coupling of telematics and GPS technology has opened the door to a wide range of beneficial new features that has further expanded the frontier of possibilities in fleet management. At the click of the cursor, you can get information about the location, movement, and state of your vehicle. It also enables your vehicle to communicate wirelessly, which further opens up other range of services. You can discover useful information about your vehicle from remote locations such as:

•       When your vehicle was last started
•       When it was shut down
•       Where it is at any point in time
•       When your vehicle is sitting idling
•       What speed its being driven at

In Nigeria, a huge gap still exist in the provision of professional and flexible fleet management solution, stolen vehicle recovery and appropriate response to stickup operations by armed felons. A logistic company with its eyes set on achieving the objective of increased revenues and productivity will no doubt see the wisdom in embracing the implementation of fleet management technology that drastically reduces fleet expenditure, enhances fuel management, improve transit time, vehicle monitoring capabilities and proactive maintenance while also making it possible to checkmate unscrupulous practices in transit.

Nigeria business environment is pretty tough. Many companies or individual will most likely approach you brandishing products for which they possess little practical knowledge about except perhaps what they read in the manual that accompanied those products from environment that are distinctly different from our harsh tropical and infrastructurally deficient clime. It therefore behooves on you as the buying client to properly scrutinize what you are being offered with a view to ascertaining that the proposed technology solution or product offering have the functional capabilities required to deliver on the benefits proposed.

Are you considering the option of integrating fleet management solutions in your haulage operations or you are planning a review of the functionality and performance of the package you are presently using? We discuss in greater details below some of the challenges of fleet management solution deployment within the Nigerian business environment and the specific qualities in a good solution you should be on the lookout for if you fall in the categories aforestated.

Extent of Reach and Coverage of Nigeria: The system should boast of either (or both) Vector or Digital Maps that offers the most comprehensive coverage for the country. Nigeria is NOT like UK or USA that have all its streets, highways and virtually every nook and cranny properly digitized into digital maps that are not only available for the asking but also accessible remotely from anywhere in the world.  Hence any system you are considering must have a mapping base that covers all major road networks across the country with detailed street level information on selected cities within the country.

Fuel Management: A good fleet telematics should be able to monitor engine activities with a view to offering a comprehensive data/report showing the mileage covered, total distance, exact driver behaviour, the speed and also the idling time which can be used as a tool of measuring fuel consumption of any vehicle. There has to be a demonstrable proof that the proposal on your table has the capacity to deliver on this factor.       

Transit Time: It should also be capable of reporting the status of the vehicle with details showing the departure time, arrival time, driving time and location. Much more, it must demonstrate comprehensive zoning capabilities and report time spent at unauthorized location, customer stops and total distance covered. Data of this nature should be provided at real time value to the customer thus resulting in client’s ability to make informed decision and ultimately ensuring that fleet efficiency is achieved.      

Safe Driving: The solution being offered should have the capacity to not only monitor speed rate but also alert drivers when approaching pre-defined speed limits and continue until driver reduces speed to the allowable/safe range.  In the same vein, a notification capability should also be available such that prompt email notifications and screen alerts are generated once a rule is broken or an exception is generated whenever a truck changes direction from the defined journey plan or remains idle for a period longer than necessary.

Flawless Vehicle Monitoring Capabilities: The package should offer automatic data processing and constant real-time monitoring with minimal user intervention required and also designed to let fleet managers navigate, manage and control with ease. Bottomline, the proposed system must be very user friendly!         

Proactive Maintenance: The system should also support the ability to report movement history of any vehicle including but not limited to turn-around monitoring and have a maintenance module for repair reminders such as vehicle servicing, alignment checkup and other maintenance functions. The reminder features should be such that information such as truck service, oil change, tyre rotation, license renewal and warranty are properly detailed and the users are notified periodically of its expiration.    

Multiple and Simultaneous Access: Whatever solution is being canvassed to a haulage firm cannot but be an enterprise-wide solution. A stand-alone solution may not be of much help. Hence, the system must have a provision for multiple accesses with varied access levels defined based on job specifications, regions, groups or branch network.

….To be Continued in Part Two.

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