If the views of the Executive Vice President of Asia Motor Works (AMW), the President of ZF India, the Head of Telematics/M2M at Maven Systems and the Chief Operating Officer at GoodsMover Technologies are anything to go by, knowledge is power in the freight transportation industry. Or rather, lack of knowledge is weakness – and a source of risk.
The OEM perspective – AMW
A fleet operator who does not know where his fleet is cannot sleep well at night; nor can one who is unsure why his truck is showing as stationary when it should be moving, or one who is unsure whether his driver is telling the truth about his expenses or his apparently delayed delivery schedule.
AMW’s Shamprasad Ponkshe used his appearance at Automotive Megatrends India 2015 to examine what can be done by the truck OEMs to improve freight efficiency. The Executive Vice President of the Mumbai headquartered truck OEM opened with a compelling argument in favour of increasing truck gross vehicle weight (GVW) to reduce the number of vehicles needed to transport the same volume of goods.
Other ways include the use of automated manual transmissions (AMT), tyre management strategies, and advanced engine electronics to provide drivers with information. Telematics is an important non-mechanical factor which can enhance and improve freight efficiency, said Ponshke, although oOn this last point, he conceded that while OEMs can offer embedded telematics solutions, it is really the fleets, and not the OEMs, who benefit from telematics.
The supplier perspective – ZF
Suresh KV, of ZF India, also cited telematics among the key points raised in his presentation at the Automotive World event in Pune; “Efficiency is more than fuel efficiency,” he said, listing the three megatrends shaping the future of trucking as efficiency, safety and autonomous driving technology. Within the efficiency megatrend lies Openmatics, ZF’s flexible, expandable and open vehicle fleet management telematics platform.
Acknowledging that these three megatrends were global trends, he conceded that India has its own issues to overcome before these global megatrends become urgent Indian issues. India, he said, is perhaps a decade behind the freight transportation industry worldwide. In terms of India-specific truck industry trends, infrastructure is key, from the need to improve roads to the need to improve the efficiency of the ports to and from which the trucks travel. “To me there is a greater need for the environment around the industry to catch up. Once that is done, it is just a matter of time before the OEMs follow.”
Fuel theft – a big thing in India
It’s not surprising where the business focus lies for Maven Systems, but what is surprising, and was highlighted in the presentation by Maven’s Anand Bhandari at Automotive Megatrends India 2015 was the fact that in India, telematics is used more widely for monitoring fuel theft than for engine diagnostics. Small problems cause bigger issues, said Bhandari, and fuel theft can leave a truck stranded, costing time and money. Using telematics to monitor the fleet can reduce delays, increase the number of customer stops and cut down on unauthorised use, as well as ensure fuel security.
Bhandari had one warning for fleet managers, however: “Don’t track every driver. Be selective, don’t frighten drivers.” Trust has to work both ways, and constant monitoring can have a negative effect, said Bhandari.
The future is coming
“When I joined the Indian logistics industry, it was thoroughly disorganised and run in a haphazard way,” said Sudhir G of GoodsMover Technologies. “Very few companies were professionally run.”
He identified technology as the crucial factor to help the sector, and developed the software that became GoodsMover Technologies. In January 2016, the company will change its name to Pariskq Tech.
Touching on a point raised earlier in the conference that OEMs are using embedded telematics devices as a USP for their products, Sudhir acknowledged that such systems have benefits, but countered with the argument that such systems are of little use to a fleet operator with a number of different truck brands in their fleet; customers want solutions on one platform, he said.
Fuel management, driver management, engine and immobiliser technology, in-vehicle cameras linked to GPS and sensors are emerging trends in fleet management, said Sudhir. And in the future, we can expect to see CAN-based devices and services, talking trucks, vehicle-to-infrastructure communication, and trip expenses automation. On this last point, Sudhir said, “One of the biggest issues a fleet owner has is the amount of cash they hand over to drivers for fuel, manual tolls and other necessary expenses.” Automating this through fuel cards and automated toll payment systems would remove this area of distrust and concern.
Finally, Sudhir said, trucks will become part of the Internet of Things (IoT). “A truck is a key part of the supply chain. It makes sense for the supply chain to become a so-called live supply chain.”
As to when this will happen, his answer was clear and confident: “Things like this I foresee coming in the very near future.”
Martin Kahl
