Photo credit: Brittany Palmer/NATSO
Today’s fleets have information coming at them from all directions. Engine sensors, telematics devices and electronic logging devices are transmitting data in real time, and a growing number of fleets are analyzing that information to obtain value. What they find could change the way truckstop and travel plaza operators do business, according to those within the industry.
“When you talk about fleet analytics, the range of what fleets are using in terms of analytics range from JB Hunt’s announcement that they’ll be spending $500 million over the next five years, much of it in analytics, at the top end to the small fleet that will probably be pushed into it either by government regulation or what their customer, the shipper, demands that they do,” said Roger Cole, a former NATSO chairman and editor of NATSO’s Biz Brief.
Brian Larwig, vice president of business intelligence and optimization, at TMW Systems, said fleets look at analytics to evaluate their operational status as well as their revenue and expenses. “They do that through thousands of different metrics,” he said, adding that carriers can look at revenue by lane and customer. “The other side is using analytics to drive the business forward and use it predictively. They’re looking at trends over time.”
Mike Lombardi, recently retired executive vice president for sales for TA, said some fleets are incorporating data from engine and powertrain sensors into the ELD so all the information is transmitted together, giving fleets a window into the truck and the engine. “They know what is happening in real time and they don’t have to wait to run the data,” he said.