AI is a sneaky little bug that quietly snuck into our YouTube and Instagram algorithms and began entertaining us non-stop with great playlists and cute cat videos.

But don’t for a second think that it cannot morph from a puny ‘bug’ into the giant Transformers’ Bumblebee to tame behemoth logistical operations.

Contemporary large-scale projects heavily depend on a diverse fleet of heavy-duty vehicles and assets such as trucks, pavers, excavators, tractors, bulldozers, backhoes, and cranes. Each vehicle within the fleet has a distinct purpose and plays a crucial role in supporting operations throughout a construction project.

And that’s why proper fleet management is necessary to keep each of these vehicles up and running as per schedule.

What is Fleet Management?

Fleet management is taking care of a group of vehicles, such as delivery trucks or cranes. It involves making sure they work well, stay on schedule, and don't cost too much.

Fleet managers keep an eye on what the vehicles are doing and make decisions about how to take care of them; which routes they should take; when to get new vehicles and when to sell or get rid of old ones.

Their goal is to make sure the fleet runs smoothly and efficiently while keeping costs under control.

However, this line of duty, too, comes with its own set of challenges.

Challenges of a Fleet Manager

Let’s look at a scenario to understand this.

A construction company, Black Rock, has a fleet of 50 vehicles that deliver raw material to construction sites across the city.

The fleet manager receives a report indicating that the fleet's fuel consumption has increased significantly over the past few months, leading to rising operational costs.

The manager decides to investigate the issue and implement necessary measures to improve fuel efficiency and reduce expenses.

Now what all factors would the fleet manager have to look into before deciding on the solution?

- Vehicle Inspections: Thorough inspections of each vehicle to identify any mechanical issues.

- Urgent Maintenance: ‘IF’ the team were to find out any mechanical issues, an urgent maintenance schedule will have to be undertaken, which will most definitely affect the delivery schedule.

- Driver Training: The manager will have to organize training sessions for the drivers to educate them on fuel-efficient driving techniques.

- Fuel Monitoring: The team will then check every vehicle to detect any abnormality in fuel consumption by any vehicle.

This entire process is tricky and needs the team’s precious time to be spent on the investigation, leading to reprioritizing of their existing work, and in some cases putting other urgent duties on the backburner.

Thousands of companies were dealing with such issues when COVID-19 struck. Fuel prices sky-rocketed, the markets became more volatile and the need for an overhaul was resoundingly felt.

And this is where an AI-powered fleet management systems came into a major play!

AI-powered Fleet Management System: The Answer

An AI-driven fleet management software can help managers automate the entire track and monitor process and automate everything from regular maintenance check ups to diagnosis of issues.

Let’s look at how AI can help resolve the 4 aforementioned issues that the Black Rock’s Fleet Manager just faced.

1. Vehicle Maintenance: Instead of sticking to a fixed maintenance schedule or waiting for signs of a breakdown, the team can use AI to examine how vehicles are being used and gather data from sensors installed in them.

This helps identify early signs of wear and tear before they turn into larger and costlier issues like the aforementioned significant fuel consumption.

2. Predictive Maintenance: AI replaces ‘Urgent Maintenance’ with ‘Predictive Maintenance’. Its algorithms can analyze real-time and historical data from vehicles, such as engine diagnostics, sensor readings, and maintenance records, to predict and prevent breakdowns and malfunctions.

This enables proactive maintenance scheduling, reducing downtime and increasing fleet availability.

3. Driver Behavior Analysis: Before the fleet manager decides to go through the entire time-taking exercise of arranging for the drivers’ training program, AI can monitor driver behavior through telematics and sensor data.

By analyzing factors such as speeding, harsh braking, and rapid acceleration, fleet managers can identify high-risk driving patterns, provide targeted training, and improve overall driver safety. This greatly reduces manager’s time and effort and helps the manager in organizing precise and focused training.

4. Fuel Efficiency Optimization: AI algorithms can analyze driving patterns, terrain data, and vehicle performance to optimize fuel efficiency. By providing insights on optimal speeds, gear shifting, and idling reduction, AI helps fleets reduce fuel costs and environmental impact.

Pro tip: The use and function of AI extends much beyond just resolving the fuel-efficiency issue.

Beyond bringing down the fuel costs, AI helps in the overall optimization of the entire fleet by monitoring data analytics and providing the team with diagnostics.

But how does AI play this role effectively in a challenging and cost-conscious environment of India?

Let’s find out!

AI’s Expansive Role in Optimising the Fleet Management Process for Indian Conditions

In the Indian context, construction fleet owners have often expressed concerns about vehicle and consignment theft along with unpredictable traffic conditions leading to delayed deliveries and delayed construction operations.

This is how AI can help managers overcome these issues:

- Route Optimization: It can optimize routes based on traffic conditions, weather forecasts, and historical data. Using this, the fleet managers can reduce fuel consumption, lower emissions, and enhance on-time performance.

- Real-time Monitoring: AI-powered monitoring systems can track vehicles and even driving conditions in real-time. This enables fleet managers to promptly track delivery progress and ensure compliance with regulations.

- Enhanced Asset Utilization: It can analyze historical usage patterns and demand forecasts to optimize fleet size, deployment, and utilization. This helps reduce idle time and ensures that resources are allocated efficiently, leading to improved operational efficiency and cost savings.

Growing Market Size and the Current Trends

Telematics (a combo of GPS tech and on-board diagnostics in vehicles) is being increasingly adopted by fleets in 2023, further enhancing optimization of operations through real-time data on vehicle location, fuel consumption, and driver behavior.

The global fleet management systems market is projected to grow to an estimated $52.4 billion by 2027, This represents a substantial increase from the $25.5 billion valuation recorded in 2022.

As India’s urban development speeds up and more and more smart city projects come into being, this market size will only increase, thus leading to more innovations and jobs in this sector.

With NICMAR’s 2-year MBA program with specialization in Supply Chain Management, you can gain the operational and logistical expertise to successfully lead the entire supply operation in tandem with the project needs and deadlines.