From keeping an insurer’s eye on the driving style of younger road users who have recently passed their commercial tests. To promote security and safety through smart front, rear and internal dash-cams, there’s always a digital eye for every blind spot.
Electric cars and vans sport growing numbers of cameras, creating more data for fleet managers and business operators to track, while creating a risk of information overload.
Add sensors that monitor the health of temperature-controlled, vibration-sensitive or high-value cargo, and commercial and private drivers live in a world of constant digital vigilance to deliver business insights and safety on the road.
Primarily used for security, ANPR, smart CCTV and other systems can link together to identify individuals and help improve weaknesses in access and gate control. But, mixing video and data, gives central control security teams and fleet operators new methods and insights into vehicle and driver performance.
Taking Control of Vehicle Metrics
While most drivers are only aware of the need for footage when there’s a bump on the road, business managers are increasingly taking advantage of the data compiled from all these sensors. Vehicle efficiency, maintenance and other factors all add to fleet costs, while smart data and management applications can reduce the oversight workload.
Fleet managers, yard operators and other roles use automation and security systems to view the efficiency of each vehicle, time lost and the potential for savings in operations, as well as rewarding safe driving and providing refresher training for those who need it – as demonstrated by video evidence.
Through a video management system accessing a variety of sources, a powerful overview of drivers, workers and vehicles is available. From Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR), vehicle tracking, driver and traffic cameras, plus object tracking and personal identification systems, visual data can be linked to vehicle health and other metrics.
This provides management with an overall view of vehicle performance, workers demonstrating best practices or not (such as those not wearing safety and protective gear) and a strategic overview of yard management, traffic routes and changes in costs.
While increases in petrol, diesel or electric charging might affect operational costs, changes to speed up security access through ANPR, access control and stronger perimeter protection can improve business performance, deter theft by external and opportunist internal criminals.
At the management end of operations, data can inform live dashboards, strategic reports and support planning with fast and flexible data sources. And, as AI becomes a standard feature in business software like supply chain, fleet management and enterprise resource planning (ERP), it can provide deeper insights into all types of data.
Keeping the Positive Press High Through Vehicle Video
Most vehicle-focused organisations have one keen eye on the press when it comes to PR and marketing. From taxi firms to couriers, utility organisations and heavy cargo brands, one story can easily go viral with roadside, dash-cam and other views showing any minor incident or offence.
Being able to show the typical 99% positive driver behaviour, strong company safety and maintenance records around a fleet is one part of defusing these stories. With modern data applications and your own video, the company can often reverse the narrative during an incident.
Having a playbook to respond to any incident, identifying who is responsible for accessing the video, preserving it as evidence, and ensuring any privacy issues are managed, are all key to handling the response.
With automated driving systems a few years away in the UK, this information will also ensure the company is quick to respond to incidents. And, with many fleets moving from fossil fuel to electric, access to video and data across the switch over will help demonstrate the benefits to the business as part of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) efforts to reduce emissions, demonstrate good driver behaviour and show that company is control of its fleet and staff to oversight and compliance departments.
Whatever other changes are on the way for fleet operators, getting on top of video and data management is a key method to maximise operational performance and safety.
