The last 60 or so years have seen mobility rapidly transform, revolutionising the way the world moves—and the way fleet businesses get the job done. This is what the history of telematics is about.
With advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other technologies on the way, this decade will surely mark another big turning point in fleet management and telematics systems. But this new era of transformation wouldn’t be possible without the prior decades of innovation.
So, let’s look back at key moments that have shaped today’s fleet management. How well do you know the history of telematics? Dive into this post and find out.
1960s: From paper logs to satellite navigation
A fleet business in the swinging sixties would look rather strange to the fleet manager of today…
Vehicle usage, maintenance schedules, driver details—all this information was logged in heavy paper files and kept in metal cabinets. Routes were planned out with road atlases. As for drivers, they navigated using nothing but their well-worn maps and hard-earned experience.
Then in 1964, the US Navy launched TRANSIT, the first operational satellite navigation system, which was primarily used to track submarines. The fleet manager and driver communicating via crackly two-way radio might not have known it, but the introduction of satellite navigation would change their industry forever. This was truly a turning point in the history of telematics.
1970s: The first email goes out and GPS is born
Mainframe computers started appearing in the offices of large companies. The data, however, was entered in batches at the end of every week, with fleets buried in mountains of paperwork.
An essential development came in 1971, when the first ever email was sent between two computers on ARPANET, the first operational packet switching network. And, in 1973, the US Department of Defence initiated the NAVSTAR Global Positioning System (GPS) programme.
1980s: Personal computers change the game
With the advent of personal computers (PCs), things really started warming up. And it wasn’t just big businesses that were digitising parts of their administrative work.
The range of two-way radios improved, and some fleets equipped drivers with brick-sized mobile phones. Digital maps, electronic driver logs and the early Geographic Information System (GIS) all came into play. At the same time, US President Ronald Reagan authorised civilian access to GPS. Then the ETAK Navigator, the world’s first car navigation system, was launched in 1985. Telematics, with its advanced communication capabilities and GPS navigation, rendered the era of cumbersome map and file piles obsolete.
1990s: The World Wide Web comes into being
A truly pivotal moment occurred when the arrival of the World Wide Web became available to the public. An information system that enables content sharing over the internet in a user-friendly way, it opened a universe of thrilling new possibilities for people, businesses and fleets.
Another major milestone was reached in 1995: The GPS system reached full operational capability, with 24 satellites providing real-time vehicle positioning on a global scale.
As the decade goes on, vehicle maintenance scheduling, fuel management, driver logs and more were increasingly handled on PCs. The file cabinets kept getting smaller and smaller…
2000s: A decade of rapid innovation
This decade in the history of telematics ushered in one innovation after another. Enhanced GPS tracking improved decision making, while turn-by-turn navigation reduced travel time and fuel consumption. Mobile devices also improved communication. Real-time traffic data and advanced route optimisation drove efficiency.
Automated fuel monitoring, real-time data on vehicle health, Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs)— these and other breakthroughs saw fleet management evolve into something like the real-time, data-driven process we know today.
2010s: Smartphones go global
Smartphones are widely adopted across the world, spurred on by lower prices, improved hardware, a growing eco-system of innovative apps and an expanding mobile internet infrastructure. The impact on mobility was huge. Real-time navigation was enhanced and communication between drivers and fleet managers had never been smoother.
Real-time data on vehicle and driver performance changed the approach to road safety and fuel efficiency. Predictive maintenance, automated maintenance scheduling and remote diagnostics all extended vehicle lifespans.
2020s: New levels of efficiency and sustainability
This decade has continued to make fleet management operations safer and smarter.
With battery technology breakthroughs, the ranges of electric vehicles get bigger while the price tags get smaller. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionising the mobility sector, with the potential to transform the role of a fleet manager as completely as GPS and the internet have over the last few decades. Big data, autonomous vehicles, 5G, connected tyres—all these technologies are combining to propel us to new levels of efficiency and sustainability.
The mobility world has certainly come a long way from the paper and pen processes of six decades ago to the sleek interfaces and instant communication of today. But the transformation is really just beginning.
This is a new version of a post that was first published in March 2018. It has been updated with the latest research and features far more comprehensive insights.
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