Earlier this week, Volvo Trucks and Telogis Inc. announced they are partnering together to help fleet managers across the country be smarter in how they spend money and lead their fleets. Under the deal, Volvo vehicles will come with fleet-management applications from Telogis factory-installed.

Volvo already has been offering remote diagnostics capabilities via its telematics platform, according to Conal Deedy, Volvo Trucks director of commercial vehicle sales. The service has allowed customers to see critical fault alerts in real time and automatically arrange for vehicle repairs. Telogis’ fleet-management platforms complement that service.

“Trucks run on fuel, trucking companies run on data,” Deedy explained to Trucking Info. Fuel might make the vehicles run, but without a complete and concise set of data, it’s more difficult for fleet managers to properly manage that aspect of the company, he said.

With the partnership, Volvo customers can subscribe to Telogis fleet-management applications, including hours-of-service reporting, commercial navigation, automated driver vehicle inspection reports, IFTA reporting, route compliance and real-time navigation updates. Previously, Volvo was unable to offer these options to customers directly from the factory, Deedy said.

Through Telogis’ products, fleet managers can improve fuel efficiency with driver scorecards and alerts, remote fuel reporting and vehicle health reporting, Kevin Moore, the company’s vice president of global OEM automotive sales, told the news source. Moreover, fleet managers can gain a better idea of what their money is actually being spent on.

For example, the Telogis technology offers optimized routing, automated hours-of-service,  and driver vehicle inspection applications, all of which can help improve driver productivity that in turn will improve company productivity.

The customer, however, still has a lot of say in how the technology is used, Deedy added. A variety of service providers can offer the service, and customers can finance the Telogis applications along with the truck purchase, he said.

Drivers Gain Power, Managers Maintain Control

When drivers are given access to online portals designed to improve an entire fleet’s efficiency, both they and their managers have much to gain. Indeed, partnerships such as the one Telogis and Volvo made are helping fleet managers and other organizations ensure that fleet drivers still have power over their work, but not in a way that forces the company to lose money.

For example, Chevin Fleet Solutions recently reported that offering numerous online solutions that let drivers undertake key aspects of fleet management is becoming an important factor in winning fleet software deals.

There are many tasks involved in the day-to-day running of fleets that employers increasingly want to delegate to drivers, Ashley Sowerby, Chevin managing director, told Fleet News. This move then empowers drivers to manage their own fleet needs, she said.

“This is a general strategy that makes sense for everyone,” Sowerby said. “It removes workaday tasks from the fleet manager and enables drivers to update and record information at a time and place convenient for themselves.”

Additionally, offering online services where drivers can choose everything from the vehicle they drive to collection and delivery details are essential for fleet managers. Drivers typically enjoy taking the time to arrive at exactly the new vehicle configuration they want, yet that can be a time consuming task for fleet managers, Sowerby said.

“Being able to provide an online portal where they can ‘play’ with the vehicles and options available within their choice list is a definite advantage,” Sowerby told the news source.