The time for Telematics

Jack Semple, director of policy at the RHA, looks at how telematics is revolutionising the industry

Harry Walton provides a service that is indispensable to most areas of a modern economy. He is part of the community of people who, together, bring us our food, our clothing, our houses and the suppliers on which all our jobs depend.
    
Walton has his road haulage business, with one truck. He is both businessman and truck driver. While bosses at larger transport firms spend their time sitting behind a desk studying a computer, wondering what the driver is doing, he knows exactly what is happening.

How the truck is driven can make the difference between profit and loss, scraping a living or affording a holiday. Haulage is a tough, highly competitive, low-margin industry. But no-one can come close to Walton and similar owner-drivers in terms of how the driver influences fuel consumption, brake wear and so on. Or at least, not until recently, they couldn’t.

Seeing clearly
Developments in computer technology on vehicles and means to communicate information back to the depot – telematics – are transforming the ability of transport managers to see what is happening to their truck. The way each vehicle is being driven and the way each driver is driving is now clearly visible (as well as much else besides, such as where exactly it has been and when, and the condition of the load).
    
That means big savings, potentially, in the use of diesel – and therefore carbon emissions. If a truck burning 10,000 gallons a year can do the same work with five per cent less, that is a saving of more than 5 tonnes of CO2.
  
Telematics in this way has been around for quite a few years now but the systems, usability and have all improved considerably – and the choice of suppliers in the market has widened. There was a ripple of enthusiasm for the concept a few years ago and the concept gained some devotees; this is now building rapidly to a large wave that is starting to break over the industry as a whole.

Say bye to independence
This will end the last area of independence of the driver, in a way. His employer will be able to see whether he is unnecessarily leaving his engine running at the loading and delivery points or when he is taking a break, for example. The employer will be able to see if he is changing gear at the right moment for the engine or over‑revving and when he is braking too hard.
    
Fuel consumption for this purpose of driver management will not be the key indicator – that is also determined by the weight of the load, the road and traffic and weather conditions, even the tyres on the truck. Instead, fuel consumption – and therefore carbon emitted – will be a by-product of the way the truck is being driven, which is how the driver is being judged. Fuel consumption remains important, of course – but for other aspects of the business.

Time for technology
The Road Haulage Association started picking up indications of this new surge in interest from its members last year. The RHA represents around 7,000 firms, operating almost 100,000 HGVs at the heart of the professional haulage industry. They run their trucks for profit and are on the look-out for ways of improving their business and we are getting a clear message that telematics’ time has come.
    
In an RHA survey of members in early 2013, we gained strong confirmation that operating costs can be better managed using these on‑board computer systems.

An emphatic 100 per cent of firms that have installed such systems said they have been a good investment, with replies ranging from “yes” to “very good” to “not just good, it has been fundamental.”

We had expected a few voices of dissent, but there were none. It was clear that system users are far more likely to be satisfied with the extent to which they understand the way their drivers drive than other hauliers; and the few who need more control are convinced their systems will deliver fully in due course.

There have been various concerns about ‘Big Brother’ and objections in very large fleets. But confronting drivers is mostly seen as not being an issue and no member sees it as a serious problem.

We suspect is that this is because the drivers understand the need and can see the benefits.
    
Survey responses came from a spectrum of members, including small haulage firms and very large fleets.

Telematics showcase
In early April, the CV Show at the NEC near Birmingham proved to be a showcase not just for new trucks but for controlling the way they are operated. Telematics suppliers were out in force.
    
Telematics is an interesting and complex sector. Many of the big truck makers – Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Scania and others – have their own systems, which can be used with other trucks in fleets that have more than one make (although the costs are slightly higher). Several manufacturers have made the hardware for their systems standard in their latest truck models.
    
There is also a thriving independent sector, with systems designed to take signals from all makes of truck.
    
The functionality of these systems does vary in detail, as does the way the information is displayed both to the driver and to the transport manager. Some displays are more detailed and/or more user friendly than others.
    
The fact that every haulier in the RHA survey considered his investment in telematics to have been worthwhile to the business does not mean that they are not looking for further improvements. Think of a business buying a computer – almost any model on the market will be better than having no computer at all.
    
For example, half of telematics users want to see the fuel consumption for each journey accurately recorded – not to judge the driver but to know their costs in greater detail. However, they do not consider some current systems sufficiently accurate.  
    
The UK has lagged behind other markets in the adoption of such systems. Germany stands out, for example. There hauliers have for several years been able to receive up to 2,500 euros per truck to install a telematics systems.
    
But the UK is catching up. The RHA, which has actively promoted the concept periodically over the past four years, is developing a programme to reflect the fast-growing use, greater variety and wider application of this technology.

And what of Harry Walton – a fictitious name but an important representative of the haulage industry? It is a tough market. Technology will inevitable start to eat into his competitive advantage in terms of cost control in this key area, as larger rivals get a tighter control on their diesel use and carbon emissions.

But small hauliers still have much to offer customers and will be around for a long time to come.

Further information
www.rha.uk.net