Skip to main content

Fleet managers ‘likely to opt for brands that offer predictive technologies’

Fleet management systems (FMS) have an established presence in France, Germany, UK, Italy and Benelux, with 70 per cent of fleet managers claiming familiarity with FMS – 37 per cent are already using it and 33 per cent are testing it. In general, fleet owners display a positive attitude toward FMS, and 35 percent of respondents in a recent Frost & Sullivan survey consider it an absolute necessity. Large fleets are keener to adopt these solutions than small and medium fleets, clearly indicating a lack of awa
December 18, 2013 Read time: 3 mins
Fleet management systems (FMS) have an established presence in France, Germany, UK, Italy and Benelux, with 70 per cent of fleet managers claiming familiarity with FMS – 37 per cent are already using it and 33 per cent are testing it. In general, fleet owners display a positive attitude toward FMS, and 35 percent of respondents in a recent 2097 Frost & Sullivan survey consider it an absolute necessity. Large fleets are keener to adopt these solutions than small and medium fleets, clearly indicating a lack of awareness on the benefits offered by FMS among the latter.

Frost & Sullivan’s new customer research study, 2012 European Fleet Managers' Willingness to Pay for FMS, summarises the findings of the survey of 155 decision-makers and key influencers for FMS in Europe. The research revealed that fleet managers are satisfied with the FMS currently offered. In fact, productivity and fleet security – two of the top three criteria used during purchase – exceed expectations. On the other hand, fleet managers are dissatisfied with the savings made on insurance premiums and the lack of new services.

“Presently, vehicle management as well as fleet security and control are the most widely-used services in Europe,” said Frost & Sullivan customer research consultant Agnieszka Wolf. “However, offering driver and order management services will help FMS vendors retain existing customers as 35 percent of respondents are looking to buy these solutions in the next 36 months.”

Key points of interest (POI) in navigation systems include gas stations, repair stations, and speed restrictions. Respondents working in medium commercial vehicle (MCV) fleets were keen on all POI with particular interest in truck parking slots, road gradients, and restaurants.

Interestingly, respondents indicated that they would prefer dealing with one supplier per solution. Two out of three also said that they would choose brands offering prognostic technologies, which help predict the impending failure of a commercial vehicle.

No clear overall preference for a particular FMS vendor type was seen, although significant vendor preferences exist according to solution and country. While respondents in Germany, Italy and UK are more aware of systems from truck original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), only Germany and UK favour truck OEMs for all solutions. Fleet managers in Italy, France and Benelux favour specialised third-party or logistics and supply chain providers. Among specialised FMS providers, 1692 TomTom and 5635 Transics received the highest ratings.

“The survey reveals that the key decision maker for FMS purchase in fleets is top management,” said Wolf. “However, driver and trade unions appear to influence decisions in Italy and Benelux, especially in the case of large fleets with more than 100 vehicles.”

In terms of payment, general willingness to spend on fleet Telematics services is low. Fleet owners in France are most willing to pay for these services whereas those from Benelux are least inclined. Readiness to pay is also higher in MCV and heavy commercial vehicle fleets than light vehicle fleets. Profit-sharing business models too are gaining acceptance, particularly in France. In Benelux, the market is quite polarised and there is no clear penchant for profit sharing.

Related Content

  • November 14, 2017
    America explores road user charging options
    Jack Opiola casts an eye over the numerous road user charging pilots underway in the US. In the USA, congestion mitigation and improving mobility have often focused on network improvements, increased road capacity, improved public transport, high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes or ‘express lanes’ and ITS measures – all of which require political capital and major funding. Nowadays, political capital is as hard to obtain as funding because more political leaders are recognising the decline of fuel excise tax
  • November 27, 2017
    America explores road user charging options
    Jack Opiola casts an eye over the numerous road user charging pilots underway in the US. In the USA, congestion mitigation and improving mobility have often focused on network improvements, increased road capacity, improved public transport, high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes or ‘express lanes’ and ITS measures – all of which require political capital and major funding. Nowadays, political capital is as hard to obtain as funding because more political leaders are recognising the decline of fuel excise tax in
  • November 9, 2017
    Mobinet counters weighty cross border concerns
    A Mobinet pilot is combining onboard weighing with V2X comms to streamline vehicle weight enforcement. David Crawford reports. Pan-European, cross-border weigh-in-motion (WIM) for trucks is now a practical possibility, following successful Scandinavian trials within the EU-co-funded Mobinet (Internet of Mobility) programme. New technology is using strain sensors, located on load-bearing components and routinely installed in truck fleet management systems.
  • May 30, 2013
    Communication: the future of machine vision
    Jason Barnes asks leading machine vision industry figures what they consider to be the educational barriers to the technology’s increased uptake by the ITS sector. The recent rush by some organisations within the ITS sector to associate themselves with the term ‘machine vision’ underlines just how important the technology has become in a relatively short space of time. However, despite the technology having been applied in certain traffic management applications for some years, there remains a significant s