Azuga: Ushering a New Wave in Fleet Telematics

Logistics Tech Outlook | March 7, 2018

Original news item appeared in: www.logisticstechoutlook.com

“At the heart of Azuga’s connected vehicle solutions is their data analytics platform providing insights and automated corrective actions for fleet safety, vehicle health, and fleet efficiency “

Managing fleets can be a complex task. Fleet managers have to constantly ensure if their onfield drivers are complying with the assigned delivery routes, adhering to the working hours, ensuring vehicle safety, and more. However, in pursuit of effectively supervising drivers with GPS-enabled vehicle tracking solutions, fleet managers often end up exercising extensive control over drivers, which can be detrimental. This is where CAbased Azuga creates an impact by transforming the traditional, authoritative fleet management approach into a driver-centric, reward-based telematics solution.
Ananth Rani, co-founder and CEO, Azuga, says, “In most blue-collar industries, the desire to command the workforce has always been executed through the use of a stick and not a carrot. The reality is over 70 percent of the drivers are doing a good job, so using an overarching tool to ‘catch’ a few bad apples is simply not popular.” Azuga’s unique proposition lies in its end-to-end fleet tracking solution that not just manages vehicles and drivers on the road, but also fosters a harmonious relationship between fleet managers and drivers.
Embracing this philosophy of driver recognition, one of Azuga’s clients, Area Wide Protective—a traffic management provider in Ohio—drastically improved their drivers’ on-road accountability, which resulted in lesser fuel consumption and reduced vehicle wear and tear. Coupled with that, Azuga recognizes the significance of route optimization for improving overall fleet efficiency. By integrating routing solutions into fleet management systems, fleet managers can continuously review a driver’s productivity. Rani expounds that routing solutions have generally been a feature-set of large fleet companies due to heavy investment requirements. Azuga is committed to changing this by democratizing routing technology, making it affordable to a large number of fleet owners who would not have implemented it otherwise. “Our route optimization feature is currently in our innovation lab and will soon be integrated with our vehicle tracking solution,” says Rani.
Driven to constantly innovate, Azuga’s telematics solutions also provide numerous benefits for government agencies. With the advent of electric and hybrid cars, there has been a dip in fuel tax, and thus state governments are updating the taxation policies. This has led to the concept of Road Usage Charging (RUC), where car owners would be charged based on the miles driven. While many states in the U.S. are still evaluating the veracity of RUC, the state of Oregon chose Azuga as the partner to implement the nation’s first RUC pilot. Azuga’s secure, cloud-based telematics technology has the ability to collect accurate mileage data in real time. Further, states can also use this data to understand traffic patterns and road conditions, which is useful when executing maintenance work or planning new road infrastructure.
At the heart of Azuga’s connected vehicle solutions is their data analytics and AI platform which provides insights for fleet safety, vehicle health, and fleet efficiency. “At Azuga, we turn vehicles-in-use into a stream of data that can be used to enhance product performance, improve workforce productivity, understand traffic flows and routing, and enable better risk management,” mentions Rani. The platform analyzes vehicle information to generate reports
on vehicle maintenance, such as problems in the vehicle, chances of battery failure, the profile of fuel economy and other related intelligence for the benefit of fleets and OEM suppliers.
Innovation along with simplicity is what makes Azuga’s approach unique in the telematics industry. Recently, the company launched a mobile app that can track vehicle location and driver behavior using the sensors available in smartphones. “We are also looking to innovate our data science, Machine Learning and AI capabilities,” says Rani.

Top 10 Routing and Scheduling Solution Providers 2018

The pace of growth witnessed by the logistics sector has accentuated the need for best-in-class routing and scheduling solutions to ensure timely delivery of goods. The C-suite is gravitating toward adopting GPS systems for their fleets to gain visibility into driver performance, monitor fleets in real time, and better manage fuel consumption. Enhanced visibility, coupled with optimized routing and scheduling, has been instrumental in enhancing the overall logistics and delivery operations by avoiding unnecessary overtime, ensuring driver safety, and reducing transportation costs.

In the rapidly evolving logistics industry, customizable, cloud-based routing and scheduling platforms are becoming crucial. With data pertaining to delivery schedules and payments scattered across numerous systems, technologies like AI and machine learning are being leveraged to reduce manual intervention and minimize the scope for human error, while increasing efficiency. Moreover, developing state-ofthe- art reporting features to support hassle-free auditing for clients is fast becoming a hallmark for companies. Providers of routing and scheduling solutions are also vying for the top spot with regard to accelerating the system integration process to help clients go live faster. In the wake of the pressing need to have an efficient routing and scheduling process, business leaders are looking for solutions that best serve their logistics needs.
In order to simplify the task for C-suite executives, a distinguished panel comprising CIOs, CEOs, CTOs, analysts and Logistics Tech Outlook’s editorial board, has reviewed numerous routing and scheduling solution providers and selected the outstanding ones. The companies have been chosen for their ability to provide innovative and customized solutions that effectively meet client requirements.
In this edition of Logistics Tech Outlook, we present to you “Top 10 Routing and Scheduling Solution Providers—2018.”