Use AI to Help Manage Telematics Data Insights

Best-in-class businesses rely on vast volumes of data and intelligent analytics to improve their decisions. Unfortunately, while real-time asset monitoring generates large volumes of data, it is useless without the right software to deliver actionable insights. The good news is that artificial intelligence is making it easier than ever to analyze data. 

Let’s look at how artificial intelligence can convert telematics data into actionable insights. 

Asset Monitoring Delivers Quick Wins 

Telematics solutions have become increasingly popular among fleets. By tracking trailer locations, environmental conditions, load status, and other factors, fleets can significantly enhance visibility and manage assets more efficiently. The result is a series of quick wins that generate an attractive return on investment. 

For instance, Powerfleet partnered with ReedTMS to implement trailer-tracking solutions. In addition to finding misplaced trailers, the technology enabled the company to improve fleet utilization, right-size trailer pools, identify empty trailers in real time, and locate specific assets near customer locations without having to drive to search for them. 

These quick wins make asset monitoring solutions a no-brainer for fleets, but these use cases only scratch the surface of what’s possible. Over time, telematics data can be a goldmine for businesses with the technical capability to analyze it. The insights from these analyses can further increase the ROI for telematics solutions. 

The Rise of Artificial Intelligence 

Artificial intelligence, or AI, dates back to the 1950s. While research stalled in the 1970s and 1980s, advances in hardware and deep learning algorithms have driven today’s renaissance. Currently, the technology is in the early stages of commercialization, where early adopters can realize the greatest gains. 

There are many potential applications for AI: 

• Pattern Recognition finds patterns in images and other datasets to classify objects or achieve different outcomes. For example, autonomous vehicles can detect speed limits and stop signs. 
• Predictive Analytics uses historical data to predict future outcomes and inform better decisions. For instance, you can analyze engine data to predict the optimal maintenance schedule. 
• Goal Optimization identifies the optimal path given a set of goals, improving efficiency. For example, you can identify which customers' sites return empty containers and trailers faster and which ones have longer dwell times. Another example is finding optimal routes based on a set of delivery goals, along with environmental, vehicle, and driver attributes. 

These technologies have the potential to revolutionize fleet management. While autonomous semis have captured headlines, AI could also play an invaluable role in predictive maintenance, route optimization, asset utilization, and other vital business areas. The key is to collect and organize data and harness the power of AI. 

Translating Raw Data into Insights 

Many fleets use or plan to use asset monitoring equipment to collect valuable data, but they don’t employ data scientists to comb through it and derive actionable insights. As a result, fleets can see locations in real-time and access other telematics features, but they underutilize the data that could help them unlock even greater return on investment. 

For example, a fleet manager might use GPS to track the real-time locations of trucks and trailers and provide customers with more accurate delivery times. However, analyzing location patterns over time may identify underutilized assets or other inefficiencies that fleet managers would not notice on their own in the vast datasets. 

Therein lies the power of AI. With AI-powered asset monitoring, fleet managers will have access to the right data at the right time and can quickly spot trends and irregularities that would be harder to identify otherwise. As a result, you can unlock the full potential of the data generated by telematics solutions and constantly optimize your fleet and operations over time. 

The good news is that you don’t necessarily need a full-time data science team or a PhD in applied statistics to use AI. Cloud-based architecture and modern software solutions make it easy to access pre-trained AI models and feed your data to generate instant decisions. This increasing accessibility of AI makes it essential to plan for the future before competitors do. 

How to Implement AI in Your Fleet 

Artificial intelligence relies on high-quality data, so telematics platforms are an essential starting point for AI adoption. By installing asset monitoring platforms across your fleet, you can begin collecting and analyzing data that AI will eventually use to generate actionable insights. It’s critical to begin collecting data as early as possible to make the best decisions. 

Powerfleet provides a full range of on-road asset management solutions , including AI cameras, for in-cab, dry van, refrigerated, chassis, container, and cargo applications. 

After implementing our data-collection solutions, fleets require the right software to analyze the data. Unless you’re hiring a full-time data scientist, these solutions should provide easy-to-use dashboards that translate telematics data into actionable insights while learning from the data over time to improve. 

Powerfleet’s Unity platform provides an easy-to-use dashboard with a comprehensive set of operational key performance indicators (KPIs) to inform your decisions. You can even leverage industry comparisons to show how you’re performing on a relative basis and identify areas where you may be lagging. 

The Bottom Line 

Artificial intelligence has come a long way since the 1950s. From autonomous vehicles to predictive analytics, these technologies could also have a significant impact on fleets nationwide. Fortunately, the rise of telematics has provided fleet owners with data that they can feed into AI algorithms to make better data-driven decisions. 

If you’re interested in harnessing the power of AI, contact us today to schedule a free consultation and learn how we can help.