June/July 2003

Managers at around a third of companies, and drivers at over three-quarters of them, have negative perceptions of the telematics systems in use at their company, according to a new survey.

In the survey, which was conducted by Steve Carson, a student at the University of Huddersfield, managers at 37 UK companies were questioned about their own attitudes and those of their drivers after using their telematics systems - "mostly tracking systems" - for periods of up to two years.

Carson's findings are that managers at 12 firms (32 per cent) feel distinctly negative towards their systems overall, while drivers at 28 firms (over 75 per cent) also dislike working with them. Only 15 out of 37 firms (40 per cent) say their expectations of financial savings from such systems have been met or exceeded, while 13 of those surveyed (35 per cent) say not enough of the non-financial key performance indicators for their systems have been met.

Additionally, 22 of the firms (nearly 60 per cent) report issues with trade unions or driver groups about the use of such systems, and 18 (just under 50 per cent) have encountered instances of driver tampering or vandalism to units.

 

Carson's study, which set out to evaluate how user feelings about such systems change over time, suggests that both management and driver attitudes get worse after a system has been used for the first six months. The good news is that management attitudes subsequently rebound after the system has been in use for a couple of years. But drivers' attitudes just continue to worsen.

"To be honest, I was expecting driver attitudes to improve more than they did," comments Carson. "It starts low and just gets lower. A lot of drivers just don't like it, and regardless of the advantages they see it as Big Brother - the enemy."

A key issue for managers, meanwhile, is cost savings. "Many managers said they had gained the impression from providers that big savings would be made in a short period," Carson says. "But many found that the actual savings were not as significant as expected. One manager said the proposed and actual figures were 'worlds apart'."

Third-party telematics providers have greeted the survey with caution. Some argue that they have many happy customers on their books and must be doing something right despite the survey's results, while others suggest drivers could be made happier about working with systems if they were properly informed about their role in improving company efficiency. "It's important to tell drivers up front what's going on and why," comments Richard Cartland, managing director of Thales Telematics. - Robin Meczes