TMCnews Featured Article

One of the most promising machine to machine (M2M) technology markets is fleet management, where the industry’s history with equipment sensors and data-driven analytics provides a solid foundation for increasing the adoption of emerging M2M solutions.

M2M fleet management systems enable fleet managers to monitor driver behavior, including speed, braking and cornering, which in turn can help reduce maintenance and fuel costs. The value of the global commercial vehicle telematics market will reach $11.2 billion in 2014, according to market research from Visiongain (News - Alert).

“We saw huge potential in M2M for our own business and as an outsourced solution to help our customers improve their own fleet management,” explained Kerry Michael, commercial director at RAC, an automotive service company based in the United Kingdom. “In particular, we saw it as a great way of reducing vehicle failure rates, improving driving standards and pinpointing breakdown locations to speed response times.”

The company adopted M2M technology to improve the performance of its fleet of vehicles that offer roadside assistance to RAC customers. The organization’s goals were to reduce costs by remotely monitoring driver behavior as well as improve response times to customers who need roadside assistance.

According to the company, the RAC integrated a telematics system that plugs into the vehicle’s diagnostics port, through which the organization can track vehicle location as well as proactively monitor vehicle health.

Each black box is fitted with an EE SIM card and an antenna, so it can transmit data wirelessly to and from RAC central systems. Fleet drivers can view their own performance data using a smartphone or tablet app. RAC also uses employee incentives to promote safe driving techniques.

RAC installed 5,000 EE M2M SIM-based systems across its U.K. roadside assistance fleet. According to the company, the integration of the new system has reduced fuel costs by 17 percent, which calculates to £500,000 (about $847,200) a year.

RAC offers services for both individuals and businesses, including roadside assistance, insurance, car buying, vehicle inspections and checks, legal services, and traffic and travel information. The organization has started trials of the technology with its corporate customers as a new service.