How predictive analytics can help your fleet

Fleet Managers have a lot of responsibility, from taking care of driver safety and managing fleet maintenance to keeping on top of costs and budgets. However, there are tools and technology available to help make Fleet management easier, including telematics and fleet tracking software, which monitor driver behaviour and the health and expenditure of your vehicles.

With so much data recorded, it becomes harder to keep track and measure data trends. This is where predictive analytics comes in. Many fleet tech companies are now offering predictive analytics to help fleet managers use recorded data to understand the trends in their fleet and how to better plan for the future.

What is predictive analytics?

The term “predictive analytics” refers to technology that uses data, algorithms, statistics, and machine learning to estimate the likely outcomes based on recorded data. This technology is already popular and regularly used within the finance, insurance, and retail industry to help predict risks and trends.

How can predictive analytics help fleet management?

There are many benefits to predictive analysis for fleet managers, from tracking and predicting specific driver behaviour to better management of the health of your vehicles. The data recorded and reviewed for future estimations help you to make better fleet decisions and operate a safer workforce.

Tracking data trends manually can be time-consuming and will leave you to get little else done. It will make your role easier to utilise a tool such as predictive analytics.  

Driver behaviour and tailored training

Safe drivers will avoid collision and insurance claims. But it can be hard to identify consistent trends in drivers’ behaviour to pinpoint specific people who are less cautious on the roads.

Most fleet managers will have driver tracking in place, such as telematics systems or fleet management software, which records driver behaviour and vehicle health. But without predictive analytics, it can become difficult to measure trends in driver behaviour and identify who may need driver training updates.

Utilising this data can help create a safer fleet and tailor driver training to cover specific areas that need improvement based on the data recorded.

Vehicle maintenance

Fleet software records data on the health of your fleet. Using predictive analytics software to track vehicle needs based on how much drivers travel can estimate the wear and tear and predict when and if the vehicle needs maintenance.

Tracking this data and then using predictive analytics can be used to notify fleet managers when a vehicle needs maintenance. By doing this you can keep vehicles healthy and your drivers safe as it limits potential accidents and breakdowns.

Tracking and predicting vehicle maintenance can also help save your fleet money. Keeping on top of tyre pressure, for example, can help save fleets on fuel and money, and regular vehicle maintenance can reduce your overall expenditure on fuel by roughly 4%. Estimating when vehicles need maintenance will help to plan for vehicle downtime too.

Optimising drivers' routes

Predictive analytics technology helps to determine which routes will help to reduce fuel costs and miles whilst increase efficiency on the road. Using a combination of predictive analytics, GPS, and traffic data ensures you can achieve the most efficient journeys for your drivers. Predictive analytics software will be able to calculate the fastest route, factoring in road closures and peak busy hours, to save money and ensure your drivers have a smooth journey.

How to implement predictive analytics in your fleet

Based on historic data, predictive analytics software can help identify consistent issues with your fleet so you can seek to provide a solution. It’s a tool that can help with statistics, modelling, machine learning and data mining. It gathers actual data to analyse and output statistics for each area and common trends. You can also use predictive analytics in all business departments from IT, to fleet operations, HR and health and safety.

You can even use the data and statistics provided from predictive analytics to share with your business fleet insurance provider to get an accurate calculation and insurance cover for your fleet.

As described there are many benefits to implementing predictive analytics within your fleet. It will help with future planning, budgeting, and the expected life cycle of your fleet. The data will be valuable in improving fleet safety and efficiency and if you’re already tracking the data, it will help to utilise this and help to predict future trends.