AI will show fleet managers their decarbonisation pathway, says Geotab

Artificial intelligence (AI) will be able to suggest best steps forward for decarbonisation based on a fleet’s own data, according to Geotab.

Neil Cawse, founder and chief executive, Geotab said AI is now able to pick through data recorded by a fleet of vehicles through the use of telematics to offer actionable solutions based on benchmarking against anonymised data comparisons from best in class vehicles and from the best fleets.

Fleets will be able to ask questions directly to Geotab Ace in a conversational way on Geotab’s own system to access benchmarking and actionable solutions.

Cawse spoke as part of a Shell event on LinkedIn, titled ‘How to unlock the power of data to decarbonise your fleet’.

He was joined by Julian Neo, DHL Express Malaysia managing director, who also shared how the business is transitioning its 350 vans to electric with the help of data.

The logistics business has 63 electric vans in Malaysia and will add 24 more in Q3 this year.

The wider DHL global business has 29,000 electric vans in use, 28,000 of which are for pick up and delivery. Its wider goal is to electrify 60% of last mile deliveries globally by 2030. The company is currently on track to deliver this by 2028.

Neo said: “We’re part of a large global operation so we are in an extremely data rich environment.

“We embrace analytic tools to provide us with macro and micro perspectives of the business.”

DHL is tracking route optimisation, vehicle information, GPS data, fuel consumption and driving behaviour.

Vehicle management and fuel usage data is helping rationalise DHL’s investment towards electrification in the run up to the 2030 targets.

Neo identified further key data points to help uncover further insights for his approach to decarbonisation, including information to help inform charging infrastructure investment, green route optimisations and payload optimisations.

DHL Malaysia is currently using the EVs it has already to service six territories but it has 25 in total.

Neo added: “Data and insights are going to help us get there, but there is still a lot of work to be done.”

Benchmarking against the best fleets

Cawse expanded further on how AI benchmarking can be transformative in the coming years for fleet managers.

He said: “Your CO2 emissions can be compared to best in class fleets.

“You can look to see the immediate impact of switching certain vehicles to EV and it will give you the return on investment (ROI) on that.

“It means there’s a direct link between changing an operating procedure and then ROI.

“The same goes for safety, productivity, compliance and efficiency.”