The proliferation of mobile devices has radically changed the way companies work. People plan and live their lives by them and expect their work environment to be equally accessible and efficient. Gone are the days when companies insisted that work was undertaken on the corporate Blackberry, it has become accepted practice for employees to use what suits them and BYOD – bring your own device – is the norm.

Frost & Sullivan estimates there will be 80 billion connected devices by 2020 and by 2018 there will be 6.2bn mobile users worldwide (Source: Radicati).

Mobile technology is also changing the jobs of fleet and travel managers, roles which are slowly converging. According to Mobility Solutions: Driving Your Company Ahead of the Competition, a paper produced by Drive Software Solutions and Asset Finance International, in the future, the aim of fleet managers and transport operators will be to offer the user access to a broad mix of mobility options, including short-term rental, train, bus, tube and planes, all available via a single touch on a smartphone.

Meanwhile, what applies to the wider world also applies to fleet. In a recent Fleet News online poll, 44% of respondents said they or their drivers used smartphones or tablets to manage company vehicles, 53% do not while 3% were planning to.

In addition, the latest Corporate Vehicles Observatory (CVO) Barometer research from Arval shows that 44% of UK-based respondents at companies with 100 or more employees find mobile phone apps a useful fleet management tool, as do 27% of smaller organisations.

The range of apps available to fleet managers and drivers is legion. There are dedicated tools that deal with one area such as mileage capture or driver behaviour and, inc- reasingly, wholelife vehicle management – from ordering  vehicles to checking that mileage does not exceed the  contract agreement.

According to respondents to the study, the top six most useful app functions are access to company car policy, services locator, services booking, driver behaviour, remote access to car data and consolidated dashboard.

However, there is a risk that fleet managers will be swamped by all this data. “Too many fleet decision makers become slaves to data capture and then do nothing with it,” says Martin Evans, managing director of Jaama.

“Information captured should act as the basis for implementing change, whether in respect of replacing expensive-to-maintain vehicles, changing operating cycles or maximising vehicle uptime.”

Finally, as the number of platforms on which devices operate proliferates, there is a move back to websites and portals, which ensures they are compatible with all types of mobile device.

If there was any doubt as to the value of mobile technology to fleet managers, some companies have designed technology to fit their purpose, including Kelly Fleet Services, whose defect app has been upgraded to be more user friendly and is a mobile app, instead of requiring users to go through the website.

Accident management

The RAC has launched Advanced Crash Detection via a telematics device, which monitors acceleration and vibration to detect if a crash has taken place.

“The transport laboratory tested our telematics and it has a 92% accident detection rate,” says Nick Walker, managing director of telematics for RAC.

“That is almost double the industry standard.”

Diagnostics

Ctrack is developing, with a vehicle manufacturer, an app that detects dashboard diagnostic warning lights and reports the problem to the manufacturer or dealer, who would then contact the customer to suggest booking the vehicle in for a service.

A work in progress is the RAC’s ability to read vehicle fault codes to diagnostic effect. “At every roadside event we record fault codes, symptoms and the fix we deployed, so we have a huge knowledge database on what they mean and what repair is required,” says Walker.

“We are bringing that capability to telematics, sending  live data feeds to call centres who can make contact with drivers to discuss the problem with them. We are giving motorists and fleet managers information about how to avoid a breakdown – which seems counter-intuitive for a breakdown organisation.”

Driver behaviour

GreenRoad’s telematics box not only tracks location and logs five common driver errors – braking, accelerating, cornering, speeding and lane discipline – it is also able to identify and reconstruct 150 manoeuvres. “For example, going into a roundabout, we can say if the driver is braking on the way in and then sharply accelerating,” says Zeev Braude, chief executive of GreenRoad.

“This highlights to fleet managers which of their drivers is at risk. We categorise drivers as red (highest), amber and green and drivers are alerted by lights on the unit installed in the vehicle. It raises their awareness and acts as a prompt to correct bad habits.”

Managers receive this information in real-time on their mobile device via text alerts and emails and, at the end of the day, drivers see location, type of incident, traffic light score and how they compare with their peers.

“Most of our customers post the scores in common areas in the company and 90% of drivers are scoring green in three months,” says Braude. “And the return on investment is huge because of the impact on fuel consumption, safety and vehicle maintenance.”

To ensure compatibility with all operating platforms and PCs, Masternaut designed its latest platform to allow one-click/tap access and use. The app represents two parts of the modular system. The first part is for submitting expenses and the second, Eco Drive, monitors driver behaviour.

Scores, mileage and mpg are available for periods from a day to a month, and individuals are rated against their peers (anonymously) in a traffic light system. Further detail is supplied in the form of type of event – harsh braking, excessive idling, etc., and trends such as whether a driver is getting worse/better over a given period.

The latest smartphone app to join the fray is the TomTom Curfer, which gives real-time feedback on drivers’ behaviour, covering the key areas. It works in conjunction with the TomTom Link 100 dongle, which is plugged into the car’s OBD port. The app also contains an optional car finder tool that will navigate users to their parked vehicles.

Arval Drive Challenge measures speed, acceleration and braking on any given journey and areas for improvement are highlighted, while good performance wins recognition and rewards. The telematics element of Ctrack’s technology is new and records details in summary or graph format. Being able to pinpoint their position allows drivers to set  and capture routes via the app, showing distance, time and traffic information.

The company is working on apps for insurance telematics for drivers whose policy premiums are predicated on their driving behaviour.

Mileage

There is no latitude in accurate mileage capture now that HMRC has an eagle eye on fuel expense claims, as engineering company Ivor Searle discovered when a spot check early this year found that mileage claims from one employee were estimated and could not be reconciled to fuel card invoices. The company faces a potential fine for an incorrectly compiled business/private mileage log and the driver faces a full fuel benefit charge for just a number of unaccounted-for miles.

To prevent this issue occurring in the future, Ivor Searle has adopted ABAX’s Triplog system, which is a GPS dongle fitted to the vehicle which can be linked to an app. Drivers assign themselves to the vehicle and the hardware logs all trips and drivers mark them business/private. The app  then calculates what they are paid for each journey and they claim accordingly. GPS also allows the app to be used as a tracking device.

There is an optional mileage function on Masternaut’s app, which allows drivers to submit business and private mileage using a module on the website. Details can be amended or updated while on the move.

Drivers logging into the Ctrack app can see their trip history, average speed, distance, locations, allocate business and private mileage against trips and make notes about the journey and then submit expenses. An update allows positional update frequency between 10 seconds and two minutes, according to customer requirements.

And about to go the extra mile is Arval Mobile Plus, with the addition of journey details to facilitate quick and accurate reporting of business and private mileage.

Vehicle checks

The most recent addition to Jaama’s Key2 system is a defect manager module, which provides a checklist for completion of a walkaround appraisal of vehicles, from cracked windscreens to bald tyres, plus vehicle mileage. This provides an auditable trail of inspections and resulting work.

Fuel

UK Fuels covers some 6,000 fuel stations out of the approximately 8,500 in the UK, through a variety of own brand and proprietary cards. The company’s Velocity portal, free to all customers, is accessible via an app and is updated monthly; and the Velos charge card allows drivers to put all vehicle expenses in one place, giving fleet operators robust management information (MI).

“The charge card technology alerts the fleet manager by text or email to every transaction, so there is a lot of control,” says Colin Peters, European head of digital for UK Fuels.

Most recently, UK Fuels has added telematics in the form of Kinesis Fleet to the mix, usable on a month-by-month, no-contract basis, with an option of a one-month free trial. “Fuel card transactions, with vehicle tracking through the telematics, give a true miles per gallon report,” explains Peters. “Managers can see the journey on maps and assess driver performance, allowing them to improve routeing and save money on fuel, one of fleet’s highest costs.”

Overall fleet management

Lex Autolease moved from app to website and the Lex Autolease Interactive (LAi) portal identifies drivers from their log-in by their role, which fleet they belong to, services they are entitled to see, financial penalties, plus documents such as MOT certificates. Around 45 MI reports are available and coming soon is a more intuitive dashboard design.

New capability allows employees to upload mileage as they go and the system tracks the status of each vehicle, so if a driver is about to renew, for example, LAi provides upfront the necessary information for getting a quote.

To make the process of ordering more straightforward, LAi provides the ability to compare similar makes and models of car on a range of attributes, such as BIK contributions to emissions. “The comparison tool is our crown jewel,” says Christian Hook, e-commerce manager at Lex Autolease.

There is nothing like asking customers what they want and Hook says Lex Autolease driver surveys were a rich seam of inspiration. “As consumers, they are familiar with websites such as eBay, Amazon, dating sites and we took best practice from those and others,” he says. Seems appropriate: choosing a car can be as emotive as finding a partner.

The LeasePlan UK app provides a similar range of information to users who log on with pre-registered details to ensure they see only what pertains to them. Details include accident services, breakdown assistance, car reviews and more. It was updated in April 2015 to improve look and feel. More features are to follow.

Checking on weather and traffic conditions before you go helps with route optimisation and is the latest function available from the Arval Mobile Plus app, which also provides an interactive map of nearest fuel sites and service centres, and driver guides. One-touch access to the dedicated account team is included.

Marrying up fleet management with the bigger company picture is Chevin’s FleetWave Mobile app, recently relaunched in an HTML5 version and working as a stand-alone or with the FleetWave core system. Internet access is not necessary and data can be stored offline and uploaded later.

Companies can use smartphones and tablets to track  a raft of everyday processes through GPS, imaging,  QR codes, time stamping and signature recording. The  app can also be integrated into existing enterprise systems such as accounting, payroll, job scheduling, health and safety, and more.

Flexibility and productivity are key. “For example, a technician inspecting a commercial vehicle for compliance could use a form generated within the app and so could a driver recording mileage and journey information,” says Ashley Sowerby, managing director of Chevin.

“But FleetWave Mobile is equally suited to the driver of  a van who needs a signature from a customer for a delivery or a field worker for a utilities company who needs to record complex information.”

E-fleet mobile app from Fleet Alliance is specific to  the vehicle registration and runs the gamut of driver  requirements, from mileage reporting through vehicle inspection reports to service booking. Preferred suppliers can be contacted at the touch of a button. Postcode mileage tracking follows.

Jaama’s Key2 system tracks maintenance costs against budgets so that fleet managers can see the vehicles’ lifecycle expense and extrapolate likely spending patterns.

Also going for responsive web technology is Pendragon Vehicle Management, which recently created a new operating platform to improve the range of products and services available, which includes tools to generate reports, vehicle quotes and orders, driver benefit-in-kind tax, etc.

Case study: Speedy Hire

Tools, equipment and plant hire company Speedy Hire Services has developed a highway infringement app for use by drivers. In the event of an accident, they take photographs of the scene and the tool guides them through a series of questions and requirements, ranging from whether the emergency services were called out to witness details.

“Once they have got the full picture, they submit the form and email a copy to the expense management provider, fleet manager and insurer,” says logistics project manager Mark  Woodworth. “The insurance company organises a replacement vehicle immediately, which lets us maintain customer service levels.

“Before, we reported direct to the insurer. Replacing the vehicle took up to 15 days,” he says. “Our insurance premiums have come down by about 15%.”

Case study: Manheim

The Miles Consultancy’s new app extends all online reporting facilities to a smartphone. Drivers can record trips using the keypad or engage the GPS tracking function for a business journey, add the reason for it and submit them, with other expenses if required.  “If they need to include fuel or meal receipts, they can photograph those using the app and it uploads them to the database,” says Paul Jackson, managing director of TMC.

The app has been adopted by Manhiem. “We have made the TMC app available to all our drivers, which makes it easier for them to do their expenses,” says Wendy Smith, fleet administrator.

“They switch it on at the beginning of the journey, stop it at the end, they can upload their mileage into the system. Functions on the TMC website prevent them from trying to fudge it. It is very exact.”

Case study: L&Q Group

Housing association L&Q Group introduced FleetCheck in March to streamline its vehicle check process.

“Our drivers are not full-time drivers: they may be plumbers, electricians or general builders who drive from one job to the next,” says fleet manager Maurice Elford, who oversees a fleet of 17 cars and 137 vans.

In the past the employees completed a PDF form and either emailed it or posted it to Elford.

However, since the organisation introduced fleet management  software, it began using FleetCheck, which allows drivers to carry out vehicle checks through their  smartphones and send the data directly to the software package.

“FleetCheck gives us a record that  a vehicle has been checked and is roadworthy,” says Elford.

“It has already made a difference.”