Telematics already play a major role in the heavy truck and equipment industries and will likely become a dominant technology in the years to come.
That’s the conclusion of a global survey published today (Tuesday, August 22) of more than 260 companies primarily in construction but also the oil and gas, and mining and aggregates industries. The 2017 Telematics Benchmark Report from Teletrac Navman noted that 81 of the respondents are using telematics in their companies or plan to do so next year and 62 percent are looking a variety of emerging technologies.
One of the top challenges facing these contractors is the worker shortage. The survey said that technology could help attract a younger workforce and noted that all but 36 percent of the companies use mobile devices to connect with workers for fleet management purposes.
Some 57 percent of the companies give mobile devices to their workers and the other 7 percent have employees linking their personal devices to company systems. Nine percent of the respondents said they would incorporate mobile technology into their fleet management next year.
Safety and productivity are the big drivers for the 62 percent who plan to invest in more technology this year. The most desired systems include technology for:
As for technologies expected to have the greatest impact on business operations in the future, the results were almost the same:
