Q. With EV prices coming way down, we want to replace most, and eventually all of our fleet with electric vehicles. What are some of the ways we can do this right?

A. Electric vehicles (EVs) can provide fleets with a number of benefits, from lower maintenance costs to helping fulfill corporate sustainability goals.

To help determine if it makes sense financially and operationally to add EVs to your fleet, Geotab has developed the Electric Vehicle Suitability Assessment (EVSA). The EVSA analyzes your own fleet’s driving patterns and profiles to help identify which vehicles could be best suited for an electric alternative. The solution even goes one step further by providing personalized make and model recommendations based on your fleet data, vehicles available in your market, weather conditions and financials. The EVSA is critical to help fleet managers gain a true understanding from the lens of their own fleet, and the confidence in knowing you have data to support EV decision making.

Once you have made the decision to transition some or all of your vehicles to electric, telematics solutions, like Geotab, can help to monitor the performance of your fleet through fuel and EV energy reports, charge assurance and more.

Answered by : Sherry Calkins

Associate Vice President, Strategic Partners

Sherry Calkins has been involved in the Fleet and Automotive industry for the last 21 years, working both nationally and globally. The first 10 years of her career began as a Fleet Administrator working in both government and corporate fleets, overseeing the entire fleet operations, ranging from acquisition, leasing, remarketing, maintenance facility's, fueling, alternative fuels, safety, and partnering with various vendors. Over the last 11 years, her career has been in SaaS based solutions offering software and data for fleets, OEM's and Tier 1 suppliers. Sherry has been involved in various Fleet committees and advisory boards, offering a range of knowledge and insight, training and speaking at national conferences. Her passion for the fleet industry is endless, along with her desire is to bring her energy, knowledge and experience to the industry and continue advancing corporate fleets worldwide. Sherry is currently an AFLA Board member and is the Vice-Chair for Fuels & Technology Committee with NAFA, and serves on the Board of Directors for GAVDA.

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Q. When it comes to vehicle location tracking, is it possible to overlay other map data, such as our customer database?

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Q. With the various alerts, how much flexibility do I have on who gets what alerts, how often and when? Can you change alerts by vehicle?

A. You can set up alerts to allow anyone in the organization who wants or needs to see them. The frequency and the types of alerts are...

Q. For safety, how does the system know what the posted speed limit is in a given area?

A. A GPS system correlates the location of the vehicle with the posted speed listed on map data, triggering an alert if the vehicle is exceeding the posted speed limit while ...

Q. When it comes to maintenance management, what features are typically available? Or will I need to integrate with a maintenance management program?

A. Maintenance management is often a part of a telematics solution...

Q. Can you discuss the pros and cons between passive and real-time GPS?

A. Passive GPS doesn't track a vehicle in real time. Instead, it stores information, which is then downloaded once the vehicle has been returned to the office...

Q. How long can I expect my vehicles to be down to complete the installation, and in general, what can I expect when it comes to installation as far as who has to install it?

A. On average, a vehicle will experience down time to have a telematics device installed by a professional installation technician, which can be scheduled around routine ...

Q. What is the typical per-vehicle startup cost when it comes to adding telematics to my fleet?

While the exact amounts will vary due to fleet size, complexity, and other factors, generally fleets will see relatively short ROI on telematics system...

Q. Most of my managers are mobile. How can they keep an eye on what’s going on with drivers and vehicles when they’re not at their desk?

A. Using a fully functional mobile app for both managers and drivers will be your best tool for mobile managers. The app should offer the same features a...

Q. What other benefits should I think about when looking to purchase a telematics solution?

A. Adoption rate – invest in a solution that you can truly see your end users – such as fleet managers and dispatchers – using on a consistent basis, no matter their location. The ultimate goal is...

Q. What questions should I ask to get an idea of the level of customer service I will receive from my telematics vendor?

A. Customer service is an important aspect of selecting the right telematics vendor. You should feel that you have a partner on the other end of the phone who is working diligently to help solve any issues you may come across...

Q. We’ve been working tirelessly to cut our fuel costs—are there ways we can use our telematics solution to dig down deeper than monitoring mileage and transaction reports?

A. Certainly mileage and transaction reports are a good place to start — but, you’re right, these only scratch the surface of the ways you could be monitoring your fuel...

Q. I was telling an IT friend of mine about how we’re looking into adding telematics to my fleet, and he replied that we should consider using an “open-platform solution". What is that? Are there advantages to using an open platform?

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Q. Since adding telematics, it’s really helped improve our driving efficiency and safety. Is there a way you can integrate telematics with mobile workforce management solutions to improve productivity outside the vehicle?

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Q. I think we can all agree this winter has been tough. Is there any way I can use telematics to beat the winter weather?

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Fleet FAQ? Data-Driven Fleet Management