The Rise of Data Overload in Fleet Operations & How to Avoid It

As we experience technological advances, the automobile industry is transforming to adopt more and more technologies and applications. What does this mean for the amount of data being used and becoming available to an average fleet?

95% of new vehicles sold globally are expected to be ‘connected’ by the end of 2030, says McKinsey and Company, and the volume of data generated is likely to run into gigabytes of data every hour. Additionally, statistics indicate that the churning out of newer datasets from electric vehicles is likely to substantially boost the volume of data over the next decade. Fleet managers claim that data volume might witness a staggering 500-fold increase if you are operating a 500-unit fleet.

The digital transition has reshaped the landscape of fleet management and maintenance operations. Spreadsheet-based management processes have paved the way for digital and cloud-based technologies, which weave efficiency at the core of fleet operations whilst improving the bottom line. 

Although technology has allowed fleets to work smarter and accelerate growth, there is an equal amount of operational drawbacks when considering the rise in vehicle data emitted. With market influences and technology requirements in place (such as the United States’ ELD mandate in effect December 2017 and now the Canadian mandate in effect June 2021), fleets have borne the cost of unintended consequences. Regulations are forcing fleets to get connected but there is a lack of education on next steps, such as how to properly read data or take actions from it. In other words, Data Overload.

What’s the problem with too much data?

The problem with data overload starts with management’s lack of direction and knowledge on how data can be leveraged. Fleets can potentially miss out on data that may be valuable to them simply from not knowing what to look for and where. For example, fleets have access to valuable fault code data, but the excessive amount proves to be overwhelming. Consequently, too much data contributes to operational inefficiency; increased disorganization in a workflow from manual data aggregation and incurring higher operational costs.

A survey by Automotive Fleet revealed that fleet maintenance costs in 2021 were on an upswing, with the total fleet miles increasing in response to a resurgent post-pandemic demand in a recovering economy. The trend is likely to repeat in 2022, but with the use of data, what can we do to take back control this year?

Avoiding Data Overload with Predictive Maintenance

Predictive maintenance, the go-to strategy for fleet managers who seek a competitive advantage, adopts the strategy of ‘predict before it happens’. By consolidating vehicle data points across billions of vehicle miles and using Telematics and AI/ML to predict component failures, predictive maintenance is leveraging the most important data so you don’t have to. Valuable data for predictive analytics is delivering actionable insights on maintenance issues, as well as discovering trends and behaviour patterns for minimizing downtime. This seamless integration in a fleet’s workflow is proving to have operational advantages; from automating preventive maintenance schedules directly with fleets’ shops, to analyzing historical and real-time DTC alerts. 

As fleet managers scramble to cope with the impact of data overload, the importance of tapping into it for more productive and cost-effective fleet maintenance should not slide from their view. Pitstop is one example of an affordable cloud-based predictive analytics platform that uses data-driven strategy to synthesize the aggregated data for valuable insights, making use of data while making a fleet manager’s job easier.

As the amount of accessible data continues to grow, fleets should learn to work with their data and not underestimate the power of having the right data in their hands. The time is now to make the shift and ensure you are not left behind in an industry that will always be influenced by technological innovation.

Pitstop has been accurately delivering over 1 million predictive alerts to customers; allowing vehicles to save an average of $2000 per vehicle a year. With an easy integration through a fleet’s telematics/ELD provider, such as Geotab or Samsara, Pitstop offers end-to-end support for the entire fleet management lifecycle. This proactive approach saves fleet managers’ time, while allowing them to make smarter and more accurate business decisions.

For an in-depth view of how you can improve your fleet operations with Pitstop, book a free demo with us today.