According to a new report by Grand View Research, the value of the global Internet of Things (IoT) fleet management market is predicted to hit $16.86 billion by 2025 – at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.8 percent.
Fleet management covers a range of systems and tools, with each sharing the aim of improving productivity and keeping both customers and company accountants happy. Many of these tools rely on IoT technologies, connecting vehicle-specific data to a central platform for tracking and analysis.
Read more: Feeling the chill: Bringing IoT to cold chain logistics in retail
The advantages of deploying fleet management solutions are becoming clear to logistics companies, and to any business with a highly mobile workforce. Benefits range from using GPS tracking to pinpoint where employees are at a given moment, to route optimisation, remote diagnostics, automated administration, and improved driver safety.
But arguably the biggest benefits lie in fleet analytics, especially for companies that have highly mobile workforces. With enough source data, usage patterns begin to emerge. This means that driver performance can be correlated with working hours, for example, and vehicle maintenance can become proactive rather than reactive.
The result is a double win: fleet operators can increase operational efficiency at the same time as reducing expenses.
Some of the sector’s biggest players have vast business experience in connectivity and transport, such as Verizon and TomTom, respectively.
Read more: Verizon launches connected vehicle management firm
Key findings from the fleet management market report
The Grand View Research report hinges on connectivity. For fleet management systems to offer benefits in real time, wireless connectivity and a supporting infrastructure are obvious essentials. This is why the technology has been adopted in Europe and North America faster and more widely than anywhere else, says the report.
It predicts that regional markets where connectivity is already established will continue to grow steadily in the coming years.
However, it is expected that countries with booming ecommerce markets, such as India and China, will also see a spike in fleet management adoption, as authorities and businesses develop more efficient transport and delivery systems. As a result, the report pinpoints the Asia Pacific IoT fleet management market as the most promising region over the forecast period.
Aside from geographical variations, the report suggests that, within the sector, device management – covering sensors, smart tags, and mobile devices – will be the fastest-growing hotspot, with a CAGR of 21.7 percent.
Read more: LeasePlan and TomTom partner on connected fleet management
Internet of Business says
The IoT’s smart mix of connected assets, dashboard management, and usage data is proving to have countless applications in business, of which fleet management is just one. But with most existing vehicles fast depreciating in value – a problem that may be solved in the long run by the on-demand use of autonomous vehicles – and with fleets being expensive to run, fuel, and insure, IoT insights could prove invaluable, not just on companies’ bottom lines, but also in terms of minimising the environmental impact.
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