Does your toothbrush buzz or ding when it’s time to change positions? Do you know how many steps you’ve taken today? How about how many books you’ve read this year? Are you just one coffee away from a free cup? Chances are, your life is being gamified in countless ways with a variety of technologies. From apps to wristbands, trackers to toys, the gamification of life is unavoidable. Thanks to telematics fleet management even delivery driver activities can be gamified to improve performance!
Beyond personal use, telematics in vehicles have become commonplace. As far back as 2011, the New York Times predicted that within a year, nearly every new car manufactured would have some form of telematics. Today, telematics in commercial trucks are becoming standard, and telematic fleet management is considered one of the most efficient and safe ways to run any vehicle business.
How are gamification and telematics linked? And how can they both be utilized to promote better driving and fleet management?
What is Gamification?
The New York Times defines gamification as, “a design approach that applies game mechanics to otherwise non-game scenarios.” It’s a simple concept that’s almost everywhere in our lives. Unsurprisingly, people enjoy reaping rewards for something they would do anyway (i.e. getting your tenth sandwich free with a loyalty card) or being able to track and better understand their daily habits (steps, hours of screen time, etc). The more data we have about ourselves and our lives, the more we can understand how to improve both.
What is the Link Between Gamification and Telematics Fleet Management?
While there are varieties of gamification that are extremely low-tech (again, think punch cards) most instances of this phenomenon today use advanced technologies. (You’ve probably moved that punch card information out of your wallet and onto an app.) The ability to monitor almost every aspect of our daily lives, and thus gamify them, is thanks to telematics.
So, what are telematics? Simply put, this term is used to broadly cover any technology that combines communications and information technology to store, analyze, receive, and/or transmit data. Vehicles are an especially good example of how telematics are used within gamification; most insurance providers these days offer rewards and incentives for safe drivers. How do they know who is a safe driver? Through telematic tracking within the vehicle itself that can monitor, among other things, speed, brake rates, and location.
The global telematics industry is projected to grow by more than 62 billion dollars before 2025, so needless to say, its impact on commercial vehicles and fleet management will only expand.
How Can Incorporating Gamification Through Telematics Benefit You?
People enjoy gamification. Scientific studies have proved this out many times, and state that using gamification is an effective way to implement a desirable behavior. Combine that with the fact that utilizing telematics vastly improves the efficiency, safety, and overall success of most businesses, and you’ve got a recipe for success. Gamify telematics for both drivers and vehicles, and you can reap a variety of rewards. One study found that 83% of employees who were trained via gamification methods were more motivated on the job. More specific ways gamifying data gathered through vehicle telematics can benefit businesses are:
- Safety: The NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) reports that over 94% of collisions are due to driver error – while knowing data about drivers’ speed, routes, brake patterns, and other variables can be helpful after an accident, telematics are advancing to the point of excellent predictive analysis. This means that utilizing telematics can help prevent accidents before they happen, and through gamifying these telematics, drivers are more likely to incorporate them into their everyday routines, creating overall safer habits. According to Forbes, some telematics systems can reduce 80% of collisions through predictive driver alerts.
- Tracking Asset: Being able to know how much of any asset your business has, where those assets are, and what condition they are in is essential. Telematics make handling these vast amounts of data much easier.
- Improving Vehicle Lifespans: Telematics can let you know when you truck needs repairs before a problem actually happens. Preventative care is almost always cheaper, easier, and safer than fixing a vehicle after a problem becomes apparent. Telematics also helps with fuel efficiency. One report demonstrated it could cut costs and fuel consumption of commercial vehicles by 21%.
- Overall Business and Fleet Efficiency: Another excellent percentage marker? Forbes reports that through increased connectivity and gamification of telematics, unplanned downtime could be cut by 80%. This also has excellent implications for the overall health and work habits of drivers. Fleet telematics allow businesses a valuable and comprehensive view of their systems, assets, employees, etc. With this complete visualization and knowledge, setting up the most efficient deployments, maintenance routines, and driver routines and incentives becomes easier, safer, and more accurate.
- Customer Satisfaction: It’s not just your business that enjoys the benefits of gamification and telematics. According to Forbes, the impact utilizing this strategy on customers has is hugely beneficial to almost any business model.
Are you interested in how technologies like telematics fleet management and logistics software can benefit you? Have questions about last mile delivery and how to utilize these concepts for better fleet management? Contact us!
Sources
https://archive.nytimes.com/
https://www.forbes.com/
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/
https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/
