Fleet ‘ Big Data ’ – Why DIY GPS Analytics Fails
An Industry Expert Perspective
WORDS BY BISHOP FLEET
As a Fleet Manager , you may know this scenario all too well . Your inbox is full of new vehicle request forms . You try to manage the internal politics and a constrained budget with the knowledge that many of the vehicles outside your office window rarely move . You hold gigabytes of GPS data to defend your position to not grow your fleet but it is uncollated and therefore of no use . Wasn ’ t ‘ Big Data ’ supposed make this a simple data-driven decision ? How did this happen ?
Bishop Fleet Optimization ( BFO ) has helped advance fleet ‘ Big Data ’ for more than 20 years . Our company developed the GPS-based best practice methodology to optimise fleet size that is now used around the world . Derrick Bishop , BFO Global Managing Director , speaks at AfMA Conferences / Professional Development Forums and US NAFA conferences on this very topic .
Our experience is that many telematics suppliers , GIS / IT teams , accountants and consultants simply do not possess the complex tools required to convert GPS data into actionable , credible business intelligence . “ Why do some GPS suppliers still use mileage to determine vehicle utilisation when their own devices collect gigabytes of lat / long data ?” says Bishop . “ Fleet
Managers must be armed with robust data-driven evidence to support decisions and policy change .”
The truth is that ‘ Big Data ’ must be transformed to become useful . “ Spreadsheet , database or GIS based do-it-yourself ( DIY ) fleet optimisation simply do not work ” says Bishop . “ You need technically sophisticated software with a best practice methodology platform to optimise a fleet . Six or more quite different technical Management Science and IT disciplines are required hence one or two-dimensional DIY attempts fail every time .”
Fortunately help is close at hand . BFO developed a new software category that continues to deliver exactly what Fleet Managers need . Clients are amazed with our QueryBuilder system that unleashes the power of unexploited GPS data .
“ Fleet data is an information gold mine ” says Bishop . “ Who knew that 60 % -80 % of AU / NZ government offices / depots are positioned in suboptimal locations relative to where services are delivered ?” Other BFO analysis demonstrates that a vehicle with say 300 km travel per month is 100 % utilised while a 2,000 km per month vehicle has 0 % business utilisation . Methodology matters . In 2015 , NSW Government halted its 25,000-vehicle move to a Ride Share model when BFO
22 ISSUE 30 AUGUST 2021 / WWW . AFMA . ORG . AU