The US Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts the industry will see a shortage of nearly 650 thousand technicians by 2024. This news is not shocking to fleet managers, as the industry has been attempting to keep up with the number of Baby Boomers retiring even before the pandemic. Unfortunately, there is no magic fix to hiring half a million technicians into the industry- but there is a way to combat the shortage and allow your fleet to continue efficiently operating.
What is telematics?
The chances are you have heard about telematics before- if not, you will hear more about other fleets implementing the tool to keep up with the labor shortage. Telematics is a sophisticated solution that allows fleets to track all aspects of a vehicle: location, driver behavior alerts, vehicle health, and odometer readings. These advanced features enable managers to view vehicle details on a real-time map and stop maintenance issues before they happen.
Less time on the shop floor
Telematics monitors vehicle maintenance, but managers can also stay informed by overseeing their vehicles on a live map. This feature prevents issues before they occur and allows managers to be proactive with vehicle maintenance.
Whenever the solution detects a vehicle issue, managers receive an automatic notification, offering plenty of time for managers to schedule a staffed time for the vehicle to receive maintenance. If a workshop did not have telematics, the problem likely wouldn’t be detected until the vehicle was out of service- causing scheduling issues in a short-staffed workshop.
Less wear and tear
Since telematics does more than just track the condition of current vehicles, the tool can also analyze costly metrics:Â driver behavior, idling time, and miles driven.
Driver Behavior:Â Unwanted driver behavior can cause severe incidents, causing more work for technicians. Telematics sends real-time alerts when drivers are demonstrating behaviors outside company policy, helping reduce unnecessary shop repairs.
Idling Time: Too much idling causes a vehicle’s head gasket, spark plugs, or cylinder rings to deteriorate and stop working- leading to a backup of vehicles in the shop. With telematics, view when and how long vehicles are idling to address the behavior and eliminate the risk of vehicle wear and tear.
Miles Driven:Â Preventative maintenance is scheduled based on the number of miles driven. Telematics captures odometer readings for fleets, ensuring effective maintenance scheduling. Effortlessly keeping up with vehicle maintenance ensures better vehicle health and a longer vehicle life cycle, all guaranteeing less time in the workshop.
Less paperwork
Technicians manually are responsible for completing a lot of time-consuming paperwork:Â vehicle inspections, safety reports, proof of service forms, and more. Even though some of these tasks may appear small, they can quickly add up to a significant amount of time, leading to less time spent servicing vehicles.
When shop floors need all hands on deck, there is no time to waste on paperwork. Telematics automatically gathers many necessary reports for technicians, but a field service solution can reduce even more paperwork. Field service solutions, such as AssetWorks FSS, electronically submit vehicle inspection reports- eliminating the chances of errors, paper usage, and duplicate entries. With FSS, technicians can complete different inspection lists depending on vehicle types and internal processes, getting them right back to repairing the vehicles.
