The state of fleet management systems in the Americas is forecast for tremendous growth. TelecomEngine.com is a leader in the telecommunication news business, especially in the M2M markets. On October 1st they published an article online that talked about the growth of the industry and it gave a very good perspective on the importance of these systems in the daily operations of companies all over North and South America.
According to the article at the end of 2012 the number of fleet management systems in commercial vehicles in the Americas was only 4.9 million vehicles. The forecast is for this number to climb exponentially to 10.1 million vehicles by 2017; this is according to research done by Berg Insight. Specifically in North America the research shows growth from 3.3 million in 2012 to more than double at 6.8 million in a period of 5 years. Latin America will show a growth from 1.6 million to 3.3 million over the same period.
There are numerous reasons why these numbers will grow the way they will, but specifically we can attribute a lot of the growth to a recovering economic environment. Of course, and generally speaking, it is nowhere near what we would like the economy to be, but it is showing positive signs of growth in a lot of sectors. Secondarily, the Federal Government has mandates for the road transport area of the country that are having a big impact on the implementation of fleet management systems. The US hours of service rules have changed and there is a mandate to use e-logging devices for accumulating hours for drivers. In South America, Brazil is expected to pass a law requiring GPS tracking systems be installed and in use by 2014 in commercial vehicles. This may even lead to more OME solutions from the vehicle manufacturers.
Competition between the manufactures of GPS Fleet Solutions may be shrinking a bit too. It is currently a bit fragmented, but larger companies are beginning to acquire some of the smaller ones and are beginning to market their technology to help increase their market share.
The direct benefits of a fleet management system are vast; it really depends on the industry your company is participating. But rest assured these systems will help and they will develop a more conscience driver who behaves in a very different fashion. Users will benefit from reduced maintenance costs from less use and thus less wear and tear on their vehicles.
If your company has ever given the thought to driver and vehicle tracking with a good fleet management system please give us a call. There is no obligation to buy anything, nor will there be a high pressure salesman on the other line of the phone. We would just love to educate you on the benefits of these systems for your company and how we can help you today. Feel free to download our free savings guide here as well, just contact us here.
