In the transport business, keeping track of your vehicles while on the road requires a significant amount of time and accuracy when collecting data. You must be on top of the game as you balance your operational running costs and ensure drivers’ safety and vehicle maintenance.
It can be challenging if you don’t have a working system to support you or rely on human input to monitor your tracking activities. For that reason, automated vehicle tracking systems are increasingly becoming a must-have component for running a transport business.
Technological advancements such as radio frequency identification (RFID) tags on vehicles reduce several human errors when collecting data by giving real-time happenings on the road. You get firsthand information through an RFID scanner that transmits valuable data for managing your business and avoiding mishaps while your fleet is in transit. It enables you to plan for delivery and pick-ups.
RFID – Radio-frequency identification – the tags contain electronically-stored information. Vector illustration concept
RFID tags have significantly impacted fleet management and increased service delivery, that’s good for business. Below are ten roles they play in the vehicle tracking spectrum:
- Data Collection And Management
The transport business is a big operation that needs a thorough evaluation of data to inform decision-making processes. You must deal with vehicle maintenance, drivers’ welfare, and other running costs that contribute to your company’s success.
Using RFID tags to track your fleet will help consolidate data collection while the vehicle is on the road. The underlying technology relies on a network of scanners, transceivers, and transponders to communicate real-time activities on the road.
Aside from collecting data, RFID tags can potentially store data safely for future reference. You can align the driver’s details and vehicle registration coupled with insurance using RFID tags.
- Cost Cutting Tool
When you compare the traditional vehicle tracking systems, the cost of operation is high due to the human input and the infrastructure needed to work successfully. The automated vehicle tracking systems have a lower price than the running costs.
You can expect a one-time cost of installing the infrastructure and running your transport business interrupted. Also, you can use RFID tags to control or regulate your spending on several transport-related costs, such as fuel, that’s a challenge to fleet management.
- Road Mapping
In transport, you must see the roads your vehicles use when in transit. It helps you map out routes and gives drivers ample time to move around traffic on the road.
RFID tags are innovative technology and can combine GPS location to communicate different roads and direct your drivers to their destinations. Plus, you can send live traffic updates to your fleet to enable them to avoid traffic and save time.
- Communication Control
The connection of RFID tags allows seamless communication of information through network-connected devices. The relationship relies on signals and waves to efficiently transmit information to users, whether in your fleet or vehicle tracking center.
Underlying RFID tag technology can receive and transmit live information in large numbers. Such features allow tracking multiple vehicles, and you can control communication dispatched to your drivers.
- Road Safety Monitoring
Roads have speed limits and safety rules for vehicles that aim to protect the lives of road users. Without RFID tags, it becomes hard to monitor how fast your drivers drive.
You can install RFID tags and configure them to communicate speed limits to the drivers or alert you when they’re overspeeding. It’s one way to ensure road safety for your vehicles and protect other road users.
- Cargo Tracing
RFID tag application in vehicle tracking connects with cargo logistics and can provide live updates of your cargo in transit. It uses zone identifiers to send signals and waves of the journey, and you check in with the drivers to confirm.
In addition, the RFID tags can hold the place for your global positioning system GPS tracking gadgets when they fail along the way to their destination. You’ll get real-time road action to compare the routes and mappings issued to the drivers as a surveillance check.
- Vehicle Position Monitoring
The crucial part of automated vehicle tracking is knowing where your fleet is at any given time. It provides time to plan your transport business and satisfy customers’ demands.
If you have designated routes for your fleet, an RFID tag can alert you when a vehicle is out of position. You can identify the details of the car plus the driver and take instant action by asking the driver to get back on track.
- Fleet Flow Management
Stakeholders in the transport arena have to juggle several functions to ensure that the fleet runs uninterrupted. You must contend with vehicle maintenance, drivers’ allowances, toll fees, and other crucial transport process participants.
Your drivers can comfortably use their smart devices to access essential services such as fueling while on the road. RFID tags use cellular and satellite networks to coordinate the real-time fleet flow management functions. You can digitally upload the necessary operations on intelligent devices connecting to the RFID tags to streamline your fleet management.
- Eliminating Human Errors
RFID tags have replaced manual input that has several instances of error in data collection and communication. A simple miscalculation of the fuel allocation or vehicle maintenance can be disastrous to your transport business.
If you implement RFID tags in your tracking systems, you’re sure of getting accurate data that are useful for your business. They collect real-time experiences on your fleet as well and you can act promptly to alerts transmitted by the underlying technology.
- Security
The use of RFID tags in vehicle tracking causes a shift in the security feature of the fleet. It’s possible to lock your vehicles and deny access to users or turn off the engines if you suspect a security issue.
Such automated vehicle tracking advancements combine cellular and satellite networks and global positioning systems (GPS). It’s a perfect tracking feature supported by RFID tags for vehicles.
Final Thoughts
Running a transport business is quite challenging if you look at the manual input when collecting data. Simple errors and omissions can be counterproductive and may derail you from your business goals. So, you must have accurate information to ensure that your fleet management is spotless and your outstanding services. RFID tags offer a perfect solution connecting your fleet management systems and technology to achieve a successful transport business.
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