Q&A: Hitachi's Rajesh Devnani on Green Fleet Management

Successfully managing and maintaining a large fleet of vehicles is no small feat — it’s a continuous balancing act.

Fleet managers are always on the hunt for ways to maximise efficiency, keeping downtime to a minimum while ensuring their vehicles remain in peak condition.

The accelerating shift to electrification adds a fresh layer of complexity, creating what some might call the "perfect storm" of modern fleet challenges.

In this interview with Sustainability Magazine, Rajesh Devnani, Vice President of Energy & Utilities at Hitachi Digital Services, delves into these pressing issues, offering some insights into how to navigate the evolving landscape of fleet management.

What primary challenges are associated with operating and maintaining a large fleet?

Large fleet owners and operators constantly grapple with ensuring a high uptime and utilisation for their fleet. Unplanned downtime can lead to productivity losses, client experience issues and higher operations and maintenance costs.

In addition to fleet health, other primary challenges relate to safety and compliance in fleet operations, fuel optimisation, driver management and retention, managing the environmental emissions impact and successful technology adoption.

To what extent is electrification adding complexity to fleet management?

Fleet providers need to embrace electrification since it is the future of large commercial fleets. Electrification, however, introduces significant complexity in a fleet’s operation and management and hence it is imperative to be fully prepared before adopting fleet electrification at scale.

First and foremost, electrification requires access to a reliable charging infrastructure which implies a choice between establishing a dedicated in-house charging infrastructure or relying on public infrastructure. Adding to that is the issue of range limitations which have a bearing on the route planning and optimisation.

Electrification also requires significant upfront investment and the cost benefit of electrification is contingent on multiple factors not directly under the control of the owner-operator, including government incentives and support, electricity rates and more. Management and upkeep of EV batteries and managing battery replacement cycles adds another layer of complexity.

The electrification of fleets is also synonymous with digital technology adoption and needs the fleet operators to invest in acquiring the necessary capabilities and skills to run electric fleets. Transitioning a fleet to electric is not a simple endeavour and needs to be planned comprehensively and rolled out in a staggered fashion.

What consequences might companies experience as a result of poor fleet management?

Poor fleet management can have a range of diverse adverse impacts on a companies performance. The financial impacts attributable to a poorly-managed fleet include additional operational costs leading to reduced profitability. These operational costs manifest themselves in the form of frequent breakdowns, unplanned repairs, increased downtime and inefficient fuel usage.

In addition to direct cost impacts, a poorly-managed fleet is susceptible to higher accident risks and safety concerns and also reduces the average age of the vehicles in the fleet. Failure to meet regulatory requirements can also subject a company to significant penalties attributable to non-compliance with safety and emissions standards. A poorly-maintained fleet is also subject to higher insurance premiums which again increase the cost of operating the fleet.

Last but not the least, the biggest impact is to customer experience and brand reputation which may significantly dent the top-line through customer churn.

What solutions exist to solve these aforementioned issues? 

Running a successful fleet needs a combination of the right strategy, effective execution practices and an array of enabling technology solutions. Key among these are a comprehensive fleet management solution which provides a complete view on the fleet including utilisation, fleet health, maintenance needs, fuel efficiency, driver behaviour and beyond. Complementary components include a telematics and GPD tracking system which provides real-time tracking of vehicle location, speed and route adherence.

AI-driven maintenance solutions which deliver predictive maintenance to minimise operational and maintenance costs to avoid breakdowns and deliver higher utilisation, productivity and client satisfaction are another key ingredient.

Additional solutions include:

• Fuel management systems for optimising fuel usage
• Driver management systems for monitoring driver behaviour to optimise driver performance
• Route optimisation software to compute most optimal routes in real time
• Compliance systems for automated compliance with safety, licensing and emissions standards
• Vehicle lifecycle management systems which can help compute vehicle usage and maintenance costs and ROI to determine the optimal replacement cycle for individual vehicles in the fleet.

How do AI and machine learning play into these solutions? 

AI and machine learning are becoming deeply embedded and an integral part of the solutions described above. AI-powered predictive maintenance solutions which predict impending failure/miles to failure are par for the course. So are AI-driven route optimisation solutions which can dynamically re-route drivers in real time for the most optimal and fastest routes.

Other AI and machine learning impact areas include:

• Fleet performance management which can help analyse overall fleet health and trends
• Demand forecasting algorithms to predict demand and align supply in accordance with that
• Autonomous vehicles and platooning
• Driver behaviour monitoring which sends real-time notifications to improve driver safety and performance
• Fuel efficiency optimisation solutions which reduce idling and optimise speed to improve fuel efficiency
• Automated planning, scheduling and dispatch solutions.

How crucial are predictive analytics in this space?  

Predictive analytics provide a key competitive advantage and differentiation in the fleet management space. It has impacts across cost efficiencies and optimisation, automation, revenue augmentation opportunities and complete business model reinvention. Its impact span across all business functions including fleet operations, maintenance, safety and compliance, S&OP, demand management and, most importantly, client experience.

Predictive analytics are an integral part of forward-thinking customer-oriented fleet organisations, which leverage analytics across a myriad of use cases to optimise performance across each and every facet of the organisation.

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