The top 5 emerging fleet management software trends for 2024

This year, a total of 371 fleet managers, mobility professionals and business owners participated in the Verizon Connect 2024 Fleet Technology Trends survey in Australia and New Zealand. Their responses showed powerful insights into how fleets can improve their operations, including these five emerging fleet tech trends.

Trend #1: Cost savings & fleet management: the perfect match

According to the 2024 Fleet Technology Trends Survey, more fleets have been able to achieve cost savings in strategic business areas with the help of fleet management software. Cost savings can positively impact business profitability and become a strategic KPI for fleet managers.

And when we say strategic, it is because 70% of businesses in Australia and 68% in New Zealand said that increased costs was one of their biggest challenges (extremely or very impactful). This was followed by fuel (64% in Australia and 65% in New Zealand) and then labour costs (61% in Australia and 60% in New Zealand). Being able to improve in these areas and even reduce costs can make a huge difference for businesses.

These mobility professionals share information about cost savings achieved since implementing a GPS tracking solution:  

Download the Fleet Technology Trends Report in Australia and New Zealand 2024  to learn more about how fleet management software can help reduce fleet costs in the top 5 industries.

Trend #2: Fuel efficiency for a healthy fuel economy

One of the most important factors for a healthy fuel economy for your business is driver behaviour. In fact, research confirms that “aggressive driving (speeding, rapid acceleration and braking) wastes fuel. It can lower fuel mileage by roughly 15% to 30% at highway speeds and 10% to 40% in stop-and-go traffic.” (1)

Having a clear overview of driver behaviour is key to reducing fuel consumption. According to our latest fleet technology trends survey, 51% of respondents decreased their fuel consumption by monitoring driver behaviour.

Regarding reducing fuel consumption and fleet costs, GPS fleet tracking software can help fleets:

• Monitor driver behaviour.
• Optimise routing for the whole team.
• Control vehicle activity to identify idling and stops.
• Coach drivers on efficient driving techniques.

Trend #3: Compliance is easy

Truck drivers in Australia work under the National Heavy Vehicle Regulation (NHVR) that establishes that “drivers must take regular breaks to manage fatigue. For instance, a driver cannot drive more than 12 hours in 24 hours and must take a minimum 7-hour continuous rest break”. (2)

According to the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, “truck driving is Australia’s deadliest industry” (3) and driving fatigue is one of the principal causes of road accidents. Trucking is forecasted “to increase by 80% by 2030” (4). This is why promoting safety is a focus for the Australian Government.

In fact, one of the latest reports from  Safe work Australia revealed that “20% of those who work in the transport industry break safety rules to meet deadlines. Truck drivers, in particular, state they are under pressure to break the law, with the biggest problems being skipping rest breaks” despite the risk this poses for drivers and vehicles. (5)

It is necessary to monitor driving times, driver rest periods and accurately manage the electronic working diary. This promotes a safe workplace and mitigates infringement and violations of the law.

Software for fleet management can help truck and bus owners to:

• Control drivers’ time and routes remotely.
• Monitor rest periods of the whole team.
• Download electronic work diary data remotely.
• Create a preventive fleet maintenance program to boost the health of vehicles and to be ready for roadside inspections.

Download the Fleet Technology Trends Report in Australia and New Zealand 2024 to learn more about how fleet management software can help your fleet simplify compliance.  

Trend #4: Proactive managing operations

Road congestion has a huge impact on urban mobility, fuel consumption and the environment. Research “has shown that road congestion costs the Australian economy more than $19 billion and will cost $53 billion by 2031” (6). Also, studies suggest that an improvement in better free-flow traffic conditions can directly make a positive impact on Australian productivity, and the economy as a whole. (7)

Visibility is one of the key benefits delivered by fleet management software. This technology enables you to see on a live-map, in near-real time, all your fleet activity. This allows you to be proactive, for example changing routes if you have seen there is a traffic jam in a specific area.

GPS fleet tracking software can help fleets:

• Control daily operations remotely.
• Choose safe routes and work proactively to avoid road congestion.
• Analyse fleet performance over time to improve key areas.
• Optimise routing as it adds EVs to the lineup.

From our latest survey, 76% of fleet managers explain that GPS fleet management software is “very or extremely beneficial” to manage their fleets.

Download the Fleet Technology Trends Report in Australia and New Zealand 2024 to learn more about how fleet management software can help improve managing daily operations in businesses like yours.

Trend #5: Sustainable fleets and businesses

Smart data can help your business be more sustainable, making it easier to reach emission reduction targets.

By having real data at your fingertips, your business can make decisions more easily, see where improvements can be made to your fleet, remain competitive, and foresee certain behaviours.

GPS fleet tracking software can help fleets:

• Measure vehicles’ fuel efficiency by comparing fuel purchases against speeding, harsh driving, and idling.
• Analyse fuel purchases for each vehicle and possible fuel loss.
• Control carbon footprint and work to reduce carbon emissions.
• Reduce fuel consumption across all vehicles.
• Boost a predictive maintenance program for the entire fleet.

Our latest Fleet Technology Trends Survey revealed that 51% of businesses lowered fuel consumption, 28% improved sustainability and 35% improved efficiency. This is all since implementing a GPS fleet management solution.

Discover more technology trends to advance your fleet

The 2024 Fleet Technology Trends Report in Australia and New Zealand reveals which goals survey respondents achieved with asset tracking and how quickly they saw an ROI as a result. Download the report here to see the asset tracking ROI results.

Discover more technology trends to advance your fleet.

Sources:

• (1) https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/driving-more-efficiently

• (2) https://www.nhvr.gov.au/law-policies/heavy-vehicle-national-law-and-regulations

• (3-4-5)  https://minister.infrastructure.gov.au/brown/media-release/response-national-truck-crash-accident-report-2022 )

• (6-7) https://www.infrastructureaustralia.gov.au/sites/default/files/2019-08/Urban%20Transport%20Crowding%20and%20Congestion.pdf