5G can overcome some of the obstacles and limitations in 4G cellular technologies and help fleet management operators achieve even further efficiency and driver safety.
Increasingly, fleet managers rely on IoT and big data to properly manage their vehicles.
5G can overcome some of the obstacles and limitations in 4G cellular technologies and help fleet operators achieve even further efficiency and driver safety.
Needless to say, manufacturers and other service providers need fleets to deliver goods and products on-time to the end user entity. Fleets may include vehicles from trucks, buses to even ships and aircraft. Among the vertical markets that rely more on fleets to transport goods are oil and gas, chemicals, mining, construction, retail, utilities and waste management.
For companies that operate fleets, they are faced with certain pain points and challenges. Goods and assets are subject to losses and theft, which can cost the company significantly. Fuel presents another challenge for the fleet owner, who may need to pay extra fuel prices if the fleets are not routed properly or take the wrong route often. Finally, it’s hard to monitor the driver, who may be driving recklessly or simply slacking off.
To counter these challenges, fleet managers turn to advanced
fleet management solutions to properly monitor and control fleets. More and more, under the Internet of Things framework, fleet management solutions are connected, transmitting video and data back and forth between the vehicle and the control center to provide more situational awareness. In fact, demands for fleet management solutions will contribute to their growth in the near-term. According to Market Research Future, the fleet management solutions market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 22 percent between now and 2023.
How 5G enhances fleet management
Intrinsically, 5G has certain differences compared to the current 3G/4G cellular technologies, for example working in smaller cells, using millimeter waves, handling more cellular traffic via multiple-input multiple-out base stations and achieving full duplex as opposed current base stations that only receive or transmit signals at one time. The results are faster speeds, minimum latency and support for massive amounts of devices.
What this means for fleet management, then, is improved communications, energy and money savings as well as productivity. “5G will help power an Internet of Things ecosystem to allow us to better track goods over their entire journey through their supply chain. IoT sensors let us know real-time information about an item’s condition—critical for temperature-sensitive items like food or complex electronics. And once items are en route, immediate tracking information provided by IoT devices can drastically reduce the days of lost cargo and misplaced items,” said a post by CTIA, a U.S.-based trade association representing the country’s wireless industry.
“Essentially, being connected to the driver, truck, and freight at all times gives better visibility and allows for better planning and coordination of shipments. This makes everyone’s job easier, and helps mitigate long detention times for drivers,” said Terrence Wang, Head of Marketing at FreightPath.
“Fleet management operators will definitely benefit in form of broadband speeds, connectivity with existing communication networks and high level of productivity. The vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication will be improved and there will be biggest savings in energy and money hence boost in the profitability,” said Noor Ul Mushtaq, Head of product Management at Nundlab.
“5G network usage will considerably impact fleet management by increasing their operational efficiency and improving fleet life-cycle. 5G will benefit fleet managers by providing real-time data which can be transmitted into organization-wide performance indicators such as driver behaviors, fleet conditions and route efficiency,” said Shaurya Singh, Industry Analyst for Security at Frost & Sullivan.