The Fleet of the Future: Rethinking Your Fleet Now
Our time period is one that is characterized by the booming growth of new technologies. Business in the 21st century is constantly adapting and growing to keep up with a constant revolution in technology. This revolution is causing industries to rethink how they operate and fleet management is no exception. Over the next several years, new products and systems will begin to redefine how fleet management is performed. Here are several changes that the industry can expect to see over the coming years.
1. Increased Cost
The costs of doing business have steadily increased in every industry over time. For the fleet management industry, increasing gas prices, increasing government regulation and an increase in acquisition costs will drive this rise in the cost of doing business. Even though there have been great breakthroughs in alternative energy, the cost of gas will not soon decrease for shipping companies. Most of the efforts have been focused around personal transportation so it will be many years until that technology will trickle down and actually decrease gas costs for fleets at a noticeable level.
2. Increased Connection
The new generation coming into the workforce is one that was raised on the Internet. These new workers are very comfortable with the concept of always being connected. Modern technologies such as smart phones and social media have bombarded these new workers with adaptive means of staying constantly in contact with one another. Through the use of implementing new programs to stay in contact, fleet management will be able to better control and monitor its drivers.
3. More New Technology
It’s clear that the technical environment of the fleet management industry is evolving. Over the next several years, the use of new systems to track and monitor drivers will be advancing and will become more commonly used. Systems will be in place to track routes for optimal shipping times and more advanced remote diagnostic systems will be used to better monitor vehicle performance and decrease on-site maintenance. Also, new managerial systems will be implemented to optimize spending on gas*link* and decrease company spending on fuel*link* overall.
4. Greater Centralized Control
Through these new technologies, fleet management will begin to have greater control of their companies’ operations. By being able to better communicate and monitor their trucks and drivers, companies will better handle these rising costs of doing business.
