Originally, telematics provided basic functionalities like GPS tracking and simple data collection. Today, it has evolved into a sophisticated ecosystem integrating advanced features that have become industry standards, or "table stakes."
Facial recognition. Lane departure warnings. Real-time video monitoring. These are only a handful of the standard characteristics of what’s expected in this technology. However, this poses a serious challenge to fleet managers.
There is too much data from which to draw actionable insights. Fleet administrators are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of data and thereby struggle to identify patterns and make timely decisions.
Table-stake features can generate a massive amount of fleet safety data but are limited in their ability to draw meaningful conclusions. This requires an industry-leading solution that leverages AI to transform raw data into clear, actionable insights, enabling fleet managers to make informed decisions that enhance fleet safety.
Tourmo has the capability. It applies AI and machine learning models to detect patterns of driver misbehavior and deviations and predict future outcomes.
Now, companies can predict potential safety issues before they become critical to maximize fleet safety and performance. In this blog, we’ll investigate the impact of AI on fleet management, focusing on how it helps predict and prevent potential issues, ensuring safer and more efficient mobile workforce operations.
In 2022, the video telematics industry was valued at $810 million and is predicted to grow at a CAGR of 19% to 2027 (IoT Analytics, 2023). As the industry has expanded, certain features have become baseline requirements in video telematics:
Fleet driver safety is paramount and non-negotiable. Consequently, these features are not expected, they’re demanded and have evolved to become baseline capabilities of modern fleet safety technology.
Fleet managers now have a vast array of data at their disposal, allowing them to make informed decisions that enhance driver safety.
Yes, in theory.
But in reality, fleet managers have so much data to sift through they struggle to identify patterns of misbehavior, and separate critical information from noise.
This introduces a new hurdle: data overload.
Video safety technologies gather information 24/7. A McKinsey study estimates that a connected fleet vehicle will create up to 25 gigabytes of data per hour (Automotive Fleet, 2020), the equivalent of nearly 30 hours of HD video playback.
Some commentators believe that autonomous vehicles of the future will create up to 4,000 gigabytes (GB) of data per day, the equivalent of over 1,400 terabytes of data per year, from a single vehicle (Information Age, 2018)
This fleet data is relentless, and it’s flooding fleet managers with an array of data that leaves them perplexed and overwhelmed. Here’s an example.
In vehicle A, the engine temperature might be rising at an alarming rate. Simultaneously, vehicle B could also be exhibiting erratic driving patterns. This is all happening whilst vehicle C’s fuel efficiency has dropped by 47%.
What action must the fleet safety manager take?
This is fleet data overload and critically unmanageable. Instead of addressing and overcoming each challenge immediately, fleet managers are forced to sift through mountains of data to find actionable insights.
Driver safety is compromised because delays in addressing urgent alerts can lead to severe road incidents. When managers are buried under data, critical warnings may go unnoticed or unaddressed until it’s too late.
What’s more, the time and resources spent managing this fleet data can detract from other essential duties, such as:
This not only impacts operational efficiency but also increases the risk of accidents, breakdowns, and costly repairs.
Overcoming the data overload challenge requires fleet managers to adopt an AI-driven solution that can intelligently filter, prioritize, and provide actionable insights in real-time, ensuring both safety and efficiency are maintained. Identifying trends to predict the future has become a necessity, not a nice-to-have.
Tourmo is an AI-driven solution that gathers fleet insights, analyzes them in real-time, and provides actionable recommendations to optimize fleet performance and safety. Not only does Tourmo’s advanced AI predict potential driver safety issues, but it also intervenes in real-time to prevent vehicle accidents.
Every fleet will have drivers who exhibit certain patterns of behavior that increase the likelihood of an accident occurring. Identifying this pattern and addressing it can dramatically improve overall fleet safety.
This was recognized by one of the largest package delivery companies in the world, UPS. They identified that left-turns were often more time-consuming than right-turns, especially at congested intersections where fleet drivers need to find a gap in the traffic. Left turns also involve crossing lanes of oncoming traffic, increasing the potential for collisions.
In response, they implemented a ‘no left-turn’ policy, restricting drivers from making left turns at intersections, barring a few exceptions. UPS claims that this fleet policy has led to:
Source: The Independent, 2017
It’s a case in point of how clamping down on a single pattern of behavior can transform overall fleet performance and reduce operational risks.
The role of AI-driven pattern recognition is to transform raw data into actionable insights. With this capability, fleet safety managers can detect and diffuse risks before they arise.
Tourmo® AutoPilot accomplishes this entire process for you. Instead of losing yourself in a sea of fleet data, Tourmo will aggregate, contextualize, analyze, and make sense of it in real time.
Hidden patterns will be identified. Risky driving behavior will be pinpointed. And advice on what decisions to make will be provided. Here’s how Tourmo’s AI predictive capabilities enhance strategic decision-making:
Using Tourmo, fleet managers will be proactive in anticipating and resolving fleet issues before they escalate. Yes, data is important because it can predict future outcomes. But the answers remain hidden within this sea of information. Tourmo’s AI-driven capabilities deliver these fleet safety insights faster and more accurately than a human can, making it an integral part of effective fleet safety programs.
Tourmo’s modern capabilities have helped a myriad of companies enhance fleet safety. It’s a powerful, fast AI solution that enables fleet managers to make sense of their fleet data and make fast decisions. Let’s examine this in more detail below.
A leading international public transport operator faced significant challenges managing fleet safety and operational efficiency due to fragmented telematics and IoT systems. These disjointed solutions led to inefficiencies, compliance issues, and inaccurate data.
The company adopted Tourmo’s AutoPilot Sync, Drive & Work modules to unify data streams, provide real-time actionable insights, and improve decision-making. Tourmo implemented three key AI solutions to overcome these challenges:
With the fleet data gathered, the company quickly extracted key insights and made crucial data-driven decisions that enhanced its fleet's overall safety and efficiency.
| Category | Results |
| Driving Behavior | 15% improvement in driving behavior scores within six months. |
| 30% reduction in "Red Zone" drivers. | |
| Safety | 10% decrease in accidents. |
| Efficiency | 30% reduction in time spent on task assignments and behavior reviews due to automation. |
| Compliance | 50% increase in compliance. |
| Cost Savings | 4% reduction in fuel costs. |
Find out how Tourmo’s innovative AI solutions addressed safety and operational challenges for a major public transport company. Read the complete case study here.
One of North America's top three oil and gas companies was facing challenges in managing its fleet's safety and operational efficiency due to fragmented telematics and IoT systems.
The fleet data it gathered was inaccurate and disjointed due to not having a unified platform. This led to:
To overcome these challenges, the company adopted Tourmo’s AutoPilot Drive ∓ Work. This involved leveraging three Tourmo AI Platform solutions:
Through Tourmo’s holistic AI fleet management capabilities, this oil and gas behemoth was able to take control of its fleet data management. Gathering, analyzing, and drawing conclusions from data at speed gave them the agility to implement strategic decisions that enhanced fleet safety and efficiency. Here are the results:
| Benefit | Improvement |
| Improved Driver Behavior | Achieved a 15% increase in driving behavior scores and a 40% reduction in “Red Zone” drivers, resulting in a 10% reduction in accidents. |
| Time Efficiency | Reduced the time fleet and operations managers spent on task assignments, reviewing driving behavior, and providing feedback by 30% due to automated and standardized processes. |
| Enhanced Compliance | Increased compliance by 50% through standardized tasks across all managers and a system for assigning rewards and consequences based on pre-determined rules. |
| Increased Accountability | Boosted accountability by 20%, as jobs must be completed before new tasks are assigned. |
| Visibility and Transparency | Enhanced visibility and transparency with unique dashboards for upper management and managers, providing comprehensive KPI views and internal/external benchmarking. |
| Operational Efficiency | Improved operational efficiency by 15% through the use of Tourmo AutoPilot's location awareness and process management solutions, including paperless task management and automated workflows. |
To learn more about how Tourmo transformed fleet management for a top oil and gas company, access the full case study here.
Fleet safety and efficiency hinge on speedy data-driven decisions. Data is problematic because we have so much of it. Fleet managers are often overwhelmed by its sheer volume, requiring them to invest huge amounts of time to uncover hidden patterns.
The time spent on this task can have collateral damage. Other patterns will be ignored, or the delayed analysis could result in missed opportunities to mitigate risks before they become serious problems. It’s a cumbersome process that leaves fleet managers heavy-footed in their decision-making.
Industry-standard software will have all the prerequisites of modern video telematics to gather data. However, it will not be enough to help managers make sense of the data.
This requires an AI fleet management solution that goes one step further - a sophisticated and powerful software to process, analyze, and interpret data at maximum efficiency. Tourmo provides all of these features and more. Its AI-driven capabilities identify critical patterns and deliver actionable insights in real-time.
All risky driver behaviors are laid on a canvas for fleet managers to assess, allowing them to intervene before these threats escalate into major incidents.
If you want to try Tourmo and gain more control of your fleet, then click here to book your demo now.