Telematics Acronyms and Terminology Decoded

Updated: August 20, 2019

In the fleet industry, time saved is money earned, so it’s no wonder that acronyms are widely used as shorthand on a day-to-day basis to speed up processes and reduce wasted hours in the day. As fleet management technology’s impact on every aspect of business increases, so too have the amount of acronyms that fleet owners, dispatchers, field technicians have to understand.

We’re taking a closer look at some of the most common telematics terms from compliance, fleet performance, telematics technology, hardware, map, purchasing and mobile workforce you’ll likely come across when first learning about telematics or starting shopping for a fleet management system.

Common Compliance Acronyms

AOBRD
Automatic OnBoard Recording Device

BASIC
Behavior Analysis Safety Improvement Categories

CMV
Commercial Motor Vehicle

CSA
Compliance, Safety, and Accountability

DOT
Department of Transportation

DVIR
Driver Vehicle Inspection Report

ELD
Electronic Logging Device

EOBR
Electronic OnBoard Recorder - Another name for AOBRD

FMCSA
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

FMSA
Food Modernization Safety Act

HOS

Hours of Service

IFTA
International Fuel Tax Agreement

Fleet Performance Acronyms

DTC
Diagnostic Trouble Code

KPI
Key Performance Indicator

PVA
Plan Vs. Actual

SLA
Service Level Agreement

TOD
Time of Delivery

Telematics Technology Acronyms

CDMA
Code Division Multiple Access

GPS
Global Positioning System

GSM
Global System for Mobiles

LOS
Line-of-sight

QoS
Quality of Service

RSSI
Received Signal Strength Indication

SaaS
Software-as-a-Service

Hardware Acronyms

ECM
Electronic (Engine) Control Module

LMU
Location Messaging Unit

OBD
On-Board Diagnostics (e.g. OBDII port)

OEM
Original Equipment Manufacturer
see Verizon Connect’s OEM partners

PLB
Personal Locator Beacon

PND
Personal Navigation Device

PTO
Power Take-Off

LCV
Light Commercial Vehicle

Map Acronyms

GIS
Geographic Information System

POI
Points of Interest

Telematics Purchasing Acronyms

MOA
Memorandum of Agreement

EOM
End of Month

PII
Personally Identifiable Information

QBR
Quarterly Business Review

RFI
Request for Information

RFP
Request for Proposal

ROI
Return on Investment

SOW
Statement of Work (or Scope of Work)

TCO
Total Cost of Ownership

YoY
Year over Year

Mobile Workforce Acronyms

MRM
Mobile Resource Management

WOM
Work Order Management

Verizon Connect is always available with live chat agents available during working hours to guide you through issues and explain in friendly terms any questions you might have about getting your fleet switched on to telematics .