Five ways to embrace technology in managing business vehicles

1. Telematics devices

“These devices measure key metrics of driving behaviour such as acceleration, braking, cornering, the speed at which the vehicle is driven, as well as cellphone use while driving,” says Discovery Business Insurance Chief Operating Officer, Lana Ross.

“This data provides useful insight into how the vehicle is usually driven.”

Poor driving can cause accidents and increase fuel consumption.

“We have seen that the nature of risk is influenced by five driving behaviours that lead to three causes of accidents, which make up 60% of all motor fatalities¹.

Poor driving habits such as speeding, rapid acceleration and braking can also increase fuel consumption by up to 40%². So, a company can promote driver safety and save money by helping their drivers improve the way they drive,” she adds.

Discovery Business Insurance introduced the Vitality Drive for Business programme to encourage their clients to improve their driving behaviour. The programme uses telematics to measure driving behaviour, and rewards clients for driving well with up to 30% of vehicle premiums back every year.

Telematics devices can also offer vehicle safety features. One of the vehicle safety features offered by Vitality Drive for Business is Impact Alert which notifies Discovery Business Insurance of a potential accident when an impact is detected. They then send emergency services to the location of the accident. There is also a vehicle panic button that the driver can press to call for help if there is a vehicle emergency.

2. Stolen vehicle recovery (SVR) devices

To help reduce vehicle theft, stolen vehicle recovery (SVR) devices were introduced to the market. These devices enable the tracking company to locate and recover the business vehicle after it is stolen.

3. Dashboard cameras

Having a dashboard camera can be useful for both drivers and the company. While drivers can demonstrate that they drive well, they can also get factual data following an accident to prove that another party was at fault.

The company fleet manager can get visuals of driving conditions such as the weather and road conditions. They can also see when the driver is not following the planned work schedule for the day or if there are any unauthorised passengers in the vehicle.

4. Fleet portal

“A company can access real-time views of each vehicle’s location and a history of trips taken through a fleet portal. This information can be used when planning work schedules to determine the most cost-effective routes that drivers can take to save time and fuel,” says Ross.

“All the capabilities mentioned above can be combined to provide a complete vehicle monitoring solution. For example, our Vitality DriveView device measures driving behaviour, offers a dash cam solution, has vehicle safety features and gives access to an online fleet portal. It also assists companies to identify areas of training for their drivers,” says Ross.

5. Fatigue monitoring

Future advanced applications, enabled by dashboard cameras, are a proactive way to warn business owners of driver fatigue. “Artificial intelligence can be used to pick up irregular driver blinking which could potentially indicate fatigue. A message could then be sent to the driver to warn them that they are tired and need to take a break,” explains Ross.

Companies have many options to choose from when it comes to vehicle technology. Adopting such technologies can be highly valuable for a company’s vehicle management process, while helping to keep drivers safe too.

¹ https://www.discovery.co.za/assets/discoverycoza/business/vitality-drive-white-paper.pdf

² https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/driveHabits.jsp