Truckers, PSV operators reap benefits of tracking technology
Matatus parked at a terminal: Most public service vehicles are yet to be fitted with fleet management systems. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
Trucking and passenger service companies are upgrading beyond the traditional track and trace package to include other features that directly impact on the operating costs and client experience.
Transport firms are turning to online fleet management systems to cut operating costs in a trend that has attracted a host of service providers to set up base in Kenya.
Trucking and passenger service companies are upgrading beyond the traditional track and trace package to include other features that directly impact on the operating costs and client experience.
Modern online fleet management systems now provide services like fuel use monitoring, instances of harsh braking and the number of stops made by a driver.
This is in addition to general tracking which allows for advanced planning. On Tuesday, Safetrac announced the introduction of a new fleet management system as it looks to grab a share of the logistics market.
The product will now compete with other systems offered by other providers including Intelwise Technologies, Track n Trace, Flex Communications Ltd, G4S, Africa Fleet Management Solutions and Stoic Company.
Logistics firm Siginon Group, which operates a fleet of trucks, runs an online system which among other features has geo-fencing capabilities. This feature allows the company to virtually map a truck’s expected route and avoid deviations.
“This has led to reduced costs in fuel use as trucks stick to the assigned routes,” Job Kemboi, the Divisional Manager at Siginon, said.
The system also allows Siginon to monitor how long a truck has been on the road without stopping. This way, the company can monitor driver fatigue as well as ensure that trucks are not moving at night.
Clients are also linked to the system and can see the location of their cargo and anticipate when it will arrive. “We can better plan loading using the system. We can know well in advance which trucks to expect at particular loading points,” said Mr Kemboi.
In addition to truckers, passenger transport firms like taxis are using fleet tracking technology to monitor issues that could affect clients.
Government-owned Kenya National Taxi Corporation (Kenatco) has a system which, among other things, monitors how many times doors are opened between passenger pick-up and drop-off.
This is to ensure that the drivers don’t use vehicles for off-the-book rides like matatus.
“Drivers can therefore not misuse the vehicle. They can only carry an authorised person. Any doors that open and close, the driver has to explain what they are doing,” said Mr John Ndung’u, the receiver manager of Kenataco He said that speed monitoring ensures that clients and the vehicles are not put at risk.
Kenataco is shopping for more modern systems with features like harsh braking monitoring.Despite these developments, the technology is yet to be embraced by the entire transport sector.
Some companies, especially in public transport, are yet to fit their vehicles with the most sophisticated of these systems.
Kenya Bus Service (KBS) managing director Edwin Mukabana said that most public service vehicles operated by saccos only have legally mandated systems which can only do tracking.
Management tool
The systems, he said, have mostly been fitted for compliance purposes and the data generated is rarely utilised to enhance operations or user experience.
“A lot of people are fitting them because it is a requirement and not because it is a management tool,” he said.
Mr Mukabana said that while the company has its own fleet management system, financiers of buses sometimes insist that they be fitted with different systems. “So you are required to have four or five different fleet management systems running at the same time in the organisation. That is difficult to manage,” he said.
KBS operates buses on behalf of various owners in a franchise model.
Stiff competition in the transport sector means that firms will continually look to technology to reduce their costs and improve efficiency to stay competitive.
“Technology is a powerful enabler of a more efficient transport and logistics sector. By global estimates, fleet owners can get 50 per cent greater efficiency,” Safetrac said in a statement. The use of fleet management tools is reflective of increasing adoption of technology in the logistics sector.
In July, the Postal Corporation of Kenya automated a system that tracks delivery of letters and parcels.
Revenue and customs authorities are working to automate clearing and forwarding processes at ports in efforts meant to save on time and cut down on graft.
