Technology is constantly evolving, changing the day-to-day operations of numerous industries as it does so. Freight trucking is no exception, and fleet owners across the U.S. are implementing a variety of cloud-based technological advances in order to streamline their business and improve safety. 

Cloud computing, also known as software as a service (SaaS), allows trucking companies to overcome barriers such as fleet control and overhead cost. Using the cloud, companies can also improve safety on the road by monitoring speed and collecting various types of data such as maintenance information on their trucks and miles traveled. 

Thus, cloud computing is becoming integral to fleet management in our digital age. Real-time insight into trucking fleets can help trucking owner-operators reduce cost while improving efficiency and safety. But collecting data is only the first step toward a safer roadway. The data must be analyzed and patterns identified, a process known as predictive analytics. 

By merging data collection with predictive analytics, fleet operators can see the bigger picture, identifying key patterns that hinder efficient and safe operation. Here’s how cloud computing and analytics merge to improve safety for everyone on U.S.roadways:

Fleet Management Via SaaS

Cloud technology is revolutionizing the transportation industry by improving organization, fleet management, and logistics. By utilizing SaaS, fleet operators can track shipments and drivers in real time, 24/7. That makes a huge difference where inventory tracking is concerned. 

But SaaS technology can do much more than track inventory. The use of SaaS in the trucking industry has been shown to improve driver safety and overall operations while reducing cost. Operators can now track a vehicle’s exact global location, speed, fuel consumption, and even health, helping to promote safer driving habits. 

In tandem with SaaS, fleet monitoring is the rise of usage-based insurance, or UBI. This type of insurance effectively promotes safe driving habits by rewarding particular forms of positive roadway behavior. UBI helps fleet managers monitor, address, and curb unsafe driving habits, including speeding and excessive braking.

Keeping Drivers Safe on the Road

Truck driving is one of the country’s most dangerous occupations, with a fatality rate that’s six times the national average. But trucking doesn’t only pose a danger to its drivers; everyone on the road is at risk, from daily commuters to families on vacation. 

Across the U.S. in 2012, about 333,000 traffic accidents involving semi trucks occurred, resulting in 3,921 deaths. A further 104,000 people were injured in truck accidents. While some of these fatal accidents were caused by driver error, others may have been due to faulty mechanics in the trucks themselves. Either way, cloud technology could hold the key to reducing the number of large truck accidents across the U.S. 

With cloud monitoring technology, companies can keep timely information relating to the maintenance and safety of the truck in their fleet. By extension, SaaS data can keep trucks that pose the most risk off the road. Data from cloud technology can also help operators identify high-traffic areas and times of day in order to help their drivers to avoid risky driving situations.

Using Predictive Analytics in the Trucking Industry

Real-time data collection allows fleet managers and operators to be proactive in decision-making, rather than retroactive. Trucking industry leaders can apply predictive analytics in order to streamline operations and understand where changes need to be made. 

Collecting data is a simple task, but interpreting and analyzing it can be a challenge, and that’s where cloud computing steps in. According to Ohio University, today’s methods of producing predictive insights can increase the profitability and efficiency of a business, and the first is uploading data into the cloud. 

That’s because, by compiling data and organizing it in an accessible format, business owners can identify patterns. Trucking company owner-operators can collect a variety of information, such as fuel consumption, average speed, average load weight, miles a truck has been on the road, and more. Then, using predictive analytics, fleet operators can quickly and easily spot both positive patterns as well as areas that need improvement in order to implement those changes.

Final Thoughts

The widespread digitization of data is driving the tech industry as well as improving the operation of countless other industries, including freight trucking. With predictive analytics and mindful data collection, trucking company owner-operators can identify factors that negatively impact driver safety.  Whether those factors are excessive speeding, trucks in need of maintenance, or long driver hours, data analytics is the first step in making positive changes and keeping all drivers safe for the long haul. And cloud computing means that all data collected can be quickly interpreted and easily accessible to everyone from owner-operators to the drivers themselves.

##

About the Author

Avery Phillips is a unicorn of a human being who loves all things relating to people and their entrepreneurial spirits. Comment down below or tweet her @a_taylorian.

Photo credit: Pexels