Adapt by adopting fleet management apps.
Mobile tools are no longer optional.
Since Apple launched its AppStore in 2008, the number of available mobile apps has soared. By Q1 of 2021, the Google Play store featured nearly 3.5 million individual mobile apps. And the Apple App store had nearly 2.3 million apps. Mobile apps are part of how we do life and how fleets operate, especially over the past few years.
When life took a turn in early 2020, remote fleet management became more challenging and less optional. Best practices had to be reimagined almost overnight.
- Operations became hyper-focused on efficiency, reliability, uptime and real-time visibility.
- Remote workers needed a mobile-friendly platform to monitor and manage the fleet.
- Drivers, operators and maintenance professionals needed to physically distance.
Fleet apps are here to stay.
Fleets that integrated more mobile apps have seen how much faster and more efficiently their operation runs. And they’ve learned how critical this type of agility is to their survival.
If yours isn’t one of those fleets, consider this.
- Mobile apps open doors for expanding your fleet’s technology capabilities.
- Operations of all sizes and industries began digitizing core functions before 2020.
- New competitors, which spring up almost overnight, are already built on the latest technology.
- Today’s professionals, who are hard to come by, expect modern tools to do their jobs.
Extend your technology’s capabilities.
As your operation grows more complex, your fleet management ecosystem requires deeper integration between technologies and closer partnerships between providers.
Collaboration between leading technology partners enables multi-solution integrations.
- Complementary services and functions are available on one mobile platform.
- Collaboration ensures compatibility between mobile apps and tools.
- Vetting, testing and cross knowledge of each other’s solution widens the accessibility for customers.
- OEM technology are line-installed onto new fleet vehicles for deeper data visibility and lower TCO.
For example, Zonar’s mobile platform and Ditat’s Mobile Dispatch application work together so that dispatchers can send trip information directly to a driver’s tablet and receive updates on trip status. This partnership helps automate logistics while improving accountability and performance.
Digitize core tasks for more visibility, accuracy and control.
Vehicles, drivers, operators, maintenance professionals and back-office staff are all tightly interconnected. They use more technology to perform more tasks, especially when they work remotely or travel across locations. Each person in your fleet needs mobile fleet tools that streamline their load.
Whatever your fleet’s size or industry, fleet mobile apps are key to modernizing processes—and implementing newer, more efficient ones.
| Vehicle inspection and sanitization reporting | Time and attendance |
| Digital driver tools, load management and dispatching | TMS interface and workflows |
| Proactive, in-cab safety coaching | Two-way communications |
| HoS reporting and ELD compliance | Digital documentation and record keeping |
| Dispatching and route planning | Student ridership visibility and verification |
| Trip management | School bus tracking for parents |
For example, many fleets have replaced paper-based inspections with electronic verified inspection apps for faster inspections and accurate, verifiable results. And, commercial trucking fleets have unified their drivers’ tools onto a single app to make interfacing with the TMS more efficient.
New competitors start out a step ahead.
New operations (your competition) are inherently tech-minded. These start-ups launch themselves using modern, connected technologies, from operations to offerings. With few internal legacy obstacles, operations naturally adopt and develop new technologies to stay ahead of their competition (you).
From the get-go, your competitors embrace fleet management apps as a natural part of life. If you don’t, customers are more likely to opt for your competitors out of simple practicality and ROI.
Modern professionals expect fleet mobile apps.
Most fleets feature a predominately mature workforce, especially behind the wheel. As these professionals retire, the people you bring on board will inherently be tech savvy and data oriented. They’ll expect fleet mobile apps from the outset.
From the get-go, your competitors embrace fleet management apps as a natural part of life. If you don’t, customers are more likely to opt for your competitors out of simple practicality and ROI.
Modern professionals expect fleet mobile apps.
Most fleets feature a predominately mature workforce, especially behind the wheel. As these professionals retire, the people you bring on board will inherently be tech savvy and data oriented. They’ll expect fleet mobile apps from the outset.
Today’s talent pool is professionally mobile. Incorporating mobile apps into your operations demonstrates that you’re an efficiency-forward organization—and helps attract and retain quality talent. (Read our article, Change truck driver turnover into retention.)
If you can’t provide these tools, you’ll lose talent to competitors who do.
| Role | Average age |
|---|---|
| Commercial truck driver | 55 years old (source) |
| Commercial truck driver trainee | 35 years old (source) |
| Public transit operators and school bus drivers | Similar to commercial truck driver |
| Fleet manager | 51 to 60 years old (source) |
Most up-and-coming professionals stay with a company for 3 to 5 years before finding a new challenge. If you stay on the leading edge of fleet technology, and put fleet management mobile apps in people’s hands, your next generation of professionals—including drivers—are more likely to stay longer.
Proprietary apps are fundamental for any fleet mobile ecosystem.
If you want to adopt fleet apps without developing your own, work with a smart fleet management provider that designs, builds and supports its own apps in-house.
By investing in its own mobile app development, that provider demonstrates a clear understanding of the need to innovate relevant, helpful tools around what fleets actually need. Plus, that provider will take your needs seriously and work with you to develop or offer mobile solutions that support your fleet.
Easy access doesn’t mean uncontrolled access.
What if every driver used a different messaging app because it’s their favorite? Mobile management chaos.
Using the wrong fleet apps breeds lack of control and incompatibility. Instead, you want people to easily access the same tested, trusted, authorized apps with proven integration and compatibility.
| What you do want | What you don’t want |
|---|---|
| People downloading specific, approved fleet mobile apps proven compatible with your current ecosystem of fleet technologies. | People downloading incompatible, untested and distracting apps that compromise data security and fleet operations. |
When you choose a smart fleet provider, you also choose their mobile device management platform. Look beyond the list of available apps for a fully managed platform that:
- secures sensitive business data
- protects against data overages
- includes secure device lockdown
- prevents unauthorized downloads
- features remote support
Also look for a platform that features proven, ruggedized mobile devices and flexibility in the apps you choose. You want a provider that works with you instead of steering you in the wrong direction for your fleet.
A fleet management mobile app marketplace bridges the gap.
Over the past few years, customer-centric smart fleet management providers and their partners delivered when fleets needed more mobile tools ASAP. And, they’ve added new features and functions to their existing solutions.
As a result, their customers now have access to a more expansive library of vetted, proven and intentionally-developed fleet apps. They’ve also put them together in a single destination so you can quickly identify that provider’s proprietary apps and learn more about trusted, third-party partner apps proven to integrate with that provider’s solutions.
Partner with a provider that delivers best-in-breed fleet mobile tools.
Choose a smart fleet management provider who, in addition to developing its own mobile apps, also partners with other industry leaders so you can take advantage of those proven, compatible apps as well. Working with such a provider opens the door to deeper integration between multiple fleet management systems for greater efficiency and data insights.
What to look for in a provider
- Proven integration with leading third-party fleet apps
- A commitment to thoroughly vet and test third-party apps for compatibility with its mobile platform
- Consistent growth of its app marketplace to meet your needs
- Open APIs for supporting platform data integration and analysis
By integrating fleet management mobile apps, you create your own fleet mobile ecosystem. A connected platform that streamlines daily, core functions—ultimately helping you retain employees, be more competitive and increase your organization’s rates of customer satisfaction. If you’re not sure where to start or you feel like something’s missing from your fleet’s mobile ecosystem, speak with a specialist who can answer your questions.