ABM Q4 - Flipbook - Page 63
OPINION
FLEET
REDUCING ROAD RISK
operators. Across Europe, losses from
cargo theft have increased by 438%
since 2022. For a lean operation, a stolen
vehicle or missing load does more than
create a replacement cost — it halts daily
revenue, breaks client commitments, and
triggers an insurance review.
Tracking solutions gave surveyed UK
small businesses a 61% recovery rate for
stolen vehicles and across all industries,
33% of businesses using asset tracking
successfully reduced theft incidents.
Unauthorised use after hours adds a
separate layer of risk of significant safety
and legal exposure. GPS tracking helped
34% of service operators decrease
unauthorised vehicle use, keeping assets
on authorised, billable tasks.
4. Grounding driver coaching in
objective data
Driver coaching works best on clear
evidence. Without data, it can feel
subjective: a driver may feel singled out,
or a manager may only step in after a
serious incident has already happened.
Telematics and video footage remove
subjectivity from these conversations.
Managers can reference specific
timestamps and events to discuss
what happened and how to handle the
situation differently next time. That shift
allows fleets to support drivers earlier,
rather than waiting for bad habits to
become collisions, claims or downtime.
Across fleet types, 69% of operators
who use video for active coaching
saw speeding drop by more than 21%.
Improvement comes from consistent,
data-backed feedback rather than
reactive interventions. Incorporating
driver rewards and safety gamification
also builds a collaborative culture around
safety, replacing unnecessary pressure
with shared goals.
For small and medium-sized fleets,
none of this requires a huge overhaul.
The value of connected technology lies in
giving lean operations the same visibility
→ Oliver Holt
is senior sales manager at Geotab
Outward-facing
cameras are a practical
starting point, as they
avoid the concerns
some drivers have
around in-cab
recording. The key
is being transparent
about how footage
will be used"
that larger fleets have long relied on,
turning scattered incidents into patterns
managers can act on. Predictive insight,
video insight, video context, asset
protection and evidence-based coaching
each address a different pressure,
but they share the same effect: fewer
surprises, and more control over the days
where something goes wrong.
For operators where a single vehicle
off the road can define the week, that
control is worth more than the sum of the
individual savings.
Q4 2026
AUTOMOTIVE BUSINESS
63
