Skip to content
News

Connected fleets should go beyond owned vehicles

We have the ability to bring together suppliers, customers, operators and more to work more openly around data connectivity.

Opinion
5 min read
Share
Stuart Miles

Connected vehicles, operations and data are all at the forefront of everyone’s minds within the fleet industry, but there’s one area that many people consider a blind spot, and that is rental.

In recent years, fleet owners and managers have invested heavily in understanding every possible aspect of their owned fleets. They can monitor vehicle locations in real time, look at driver behaviours and even predict maintenance issues before they turn into a breakdown.

Every element of vehicle utilisation is tracked down to the smallest possible detail, and entire strategies are built around the principles of a connected fleet because the value is completely understood. 

However, when rental enters the picture, that visibility is generally thought to disappear. It brings to light a big question for the industry, if connected fleets really are the future, then why is rental still viewed as a disconnected element?

Many people assume that when they need fleet rental, they will lose visibility over vehicle oversight and data. They expect information to become fragmented and inconsistent, making it difficult for managers to maintain clarity around usage, utilisation and profitability. Simply put, they believe it undermines the value of a connected fleet strategy, but that is no longer the case.

The reality we face is that rental is often considered a last-ditch problem solver, something people turn to in a time of need. But at Nexus, we know that’s not the case and rental is actually an integral part of many businesses’ strategies, especially in an economic situation as volatile as what we are currently living in.

If fleet operators genuinely want to ensure they have a connected future, then rental has to be at the table for that plan.

There’s a perception that rental is too complex to properly connect, there are too many suppliers, too much inconsistency with systems and reporting and previously that argument may have carried some truth to it. But technology has very much moved forward, and so should the mindset within the industry.

Rental can provide the same, if not a more detailed, level of operational intelligence that businesses have come to expect from internal systems. This means utilisation insights, lifecycle reporting, compliance documentation, basically everything needed to make a more informed data-led decision is available.

The issue isn’t around whether connected rental fleets are possible, but rather whether the industry is willing to push hard enough to make it the standard. 

The benefits of a connected rental ecosystem go beyond the vehicles, it can support the entire business. Fleet managers get a better understanding of trends and demand, suppliers can plan capacity and location allocation more efficiently and customers can make better long-term decisions around vehicle strategies, using one peak season to plan the next. Claims and compliance become simpler and more transparent, and costs become easier to control and predict.

Traditional management information can answer ‘what’s happened’, but with connected vehicle data, fleet managers can ask ‘what could happen next’. It moves a business from reactive management to proactive planning, using data as a strategic tool.

The impact of a more connected rental industry can already be seen and felt in various areas, damage claims and management being a key one.

As a general observation, damage claims continue to rise year-on-year, which creates increasing pressure on both the suppliers and the customers. But at the same time, having access to connected data in fleets is helping to increase the average savings on those damage claims.

Data simply creates clarity. Condition reports, usage timelines, driver behaviours and operational reports can provide the evidence needed to challenge the claims where appropriate. It’s about commercial value, not just visibility.

Compliance is another area where data is invaluable. Fleet operations are subject to increasingly complex safety and regulatory obligations but having access to clear and reliable information can help businesses ensure they are meeting the requirements. It also means issues can be identified earlier, leading to less further down the line.

The above is exactly why the industry needs to move away from viewing rental as a separate element when it comes to connected fleets, instead viewing it as an integral part of growth and flexibility.

Rental data can be governed and utilised effectively. It can bring order to what has historically felt like chaos in the industry, consolidating information that was once fragmented across suppliers and systems.

At Nexus, we’ve invested significant amounts in solving this connectivity challenge through our Iris® platform, which helps consolidate information throughout the entire rental supply network, providing both customers and suppliers with greater visibility. It also presents the information in a more accessible and integrated way. The platform is proof that connected rental fleets are achievable.

We’re driving the technology capability to harmonise the industry, which embraces technology in fragmented sections, and we encourage the rest of the industry to work towards this too.

We have the ability to bring together suppliers, customers, operators and more to work more openly around data connectivity.

Surely it is better for the entire industry if we work together to push this connected landscape forward, so what is stopping others from getting on board?

The question is no longer whether rental can be connected, but rather why the industry is not doing more to make this standard practice. We are already starting to pave the way forward.

The foundations already exist and the data is available, we just need to come together to fully connect the entire fleet ecosystem, rather than continue operating with blind spots.

Stuart Miles is chief revenue officer at Nexus Rental

Related