The FINANCIAL — Daimler FleetBoard has been developing and marketing profitability-boosting telematics solutions for commercial-vehicle fleets for the past 10 years.
The company with a 140-strong workforce has to date equipped more than 60,000 vehicles with telematics services. After 10 years on the market, it is strengthening its position as one of the pioneering European telematics providers: in 2009, the company sold over 8000 hardware units, including deals with companies from the foodstuffs, construction and distribution industries such as Edeka Rhein-Ruhr, Tesco UK and Hasenöhrl in Austria. And this is not the only impressive figure to report: in 2009, FleetBoard customers were able to reduce CO2 emissions by a total of 174,000 tonnes. European commercial-vehicle fleets are more profitable with FleetBoard and, by purchasing a telematics system, are investing sustainably. FleetBoard customer profitability calculations reveal that it is possible to save up to € 6500 and reduce CO2 emissions by 6000 kg per vehicle per year. After purchasing a FleetBoard system, the amortisation period is less than 10 months. New customers have reported average fuel savings of 7% within the first 3 months after introduction and training based on FleetBoard, while long-standing customers notice significant reductions in maintenance and repair costs. Then there are intelligent transport management and time management solutions, which have lead to the automation of logistics processes and documentation of drivers' working hours at many companies.
The FleetBoard formula for success is based on stable growth of around 30% per year, consistently striving to meet customer requirements with new product developments, quality assurance, data protection, and a tried-and-trusted range of services for all industries and commercial vehicles. External inspection organisations such as DEKRA confirm the first-class quality of FleetBoard by certifying products and processes. Some 1300 European customers have placed their trust in FleetBoard, not least because of the proximity to vehicle manufacturers it has offered over a number of years and the high-grade IT know-how it provides.
The introduction of a telematics solution from Daimler can be traced back to a research project in the 1980s, which had the goal of extending commercial-vehicle maintenance intervals. In 2000, Mercedes-Benz unveiled a telematics-based fleet management system that was capable of transferring detailed vehicle and driving data from the vehicle. The Remote Flash function enabled software updates to be loaded onto the on-board computer via the internet. By opting to use FleetBoard, renowned pilot customers from the transport and logistics industries helped to establish the telematics system. "We have been using FleetBoard since 2001," recalls Steffen Bork from haulier Bork GmbH & Co. KG. "Last year we also decided to introduce the DispoPilot system. With the help of the FleetBoard services, we have improved our processes in all areas of the company over the last decade. The wide range of options available for evaluating the automatically recorded truck data enables us to influence the driving style of our drivers specifically. Close linking with our Mercedes-Benz Actros semitrailer tractors allows us to display an outstanding and detailed array of data, the scope of which cannot be matched by any competing product." Today, too, FleetBoard benefits from close cooperation with the truck development department. And it wrote a new chapter in telematics history last year, for example with the first available mass-memory download, which enables remote reading of the digital tachograph without company data card in the vehicle, and with the establishment of a service network comprising 75 certified partners in Germany and Europe.
"The telematics market continues to offer excellent growth opportunities, which we will grasp," states Markus Lipinsky, Managing Director of Daimler FleetBoard GmbH. "We will do everything we can to win new customers, to help existing customers become even more profitable and to set standards in the industry. In 2010, this will also include customers in the bus and van sectors."
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