A waste management telematics product can level up your operations. Better data leads to more informed decisions for improved safety, profitability, and productivity.
But to gain the benefits of telematics, you need to select the right solution for your specific fleet. Look past basic telematics capabilities such as GPS tracking to the seven features below that will make a difference for waste and recycling fleets.
1. Easy installation
Make sure the waste and recycling telematics product will be easy to install. Professional installation costs can add up quickly. Ryan Ennis, chief information officer at FusionSite, a provider of solid and liquid waste management and temporary site services, avoided $60,000 in installation fees by choosing Motive’s telematics hardware that he could install himself.
2. Universal compatibility with your fleet
A waste management fleet with a variety of vehicle types needs a telematics product that will work with every vehicle. Otherwise, you may not be able to get the data needed to optimize operations. For example, FusionSite found their prior telematics solution wasn’t compatible with their light-duty vehicles, which meant they didn’t get readings back from 85% of their fleet.
3. High quality and reliable video
If your telematics product provides cameras or integrates with a camera system, make sure the cameras will reliably provide clear and high-quality footage. Piedmont Disposal and Recycling, a construction and demolition dumpster services provider, had a telematics product with dash cams, but the cameras would freeze and fail to transmit data about safety events. Since investing in Motive dual-facing AI Dashcams, part of the Motive Integrated Operations Platform, Safety Manager Justin Pardue has the data he needs to go back and figure out exactly what happened.
Pardue explained, “Did a car get in front of my employee and slow down? Did we encroach upon the car? I want to know what happened leading up to the incident. And then the minute it happened, I wanted to see how long it took the driver to realize they were too close.” With Motive, he’s able to review exact video data.
4. 360-degree video coverage
Rather than choosing a telematics product that has or integrates with road-facing dash cams, look for dual-facing dash cams and cameras that provide a 360-degree view of vehicle surroundings. Dual-facing dash cams such as the Motive AI Dashcam provide a view of the road and the driver, using AI detection models to recognize unsafe driving instantly. Adding side and rear cameras, such as Motive’s AI Omnicam, provides 360-degree video evidence in the event of an incident — whether it’s safety- or customer-service related.
For example, Prairie Disposal, a waste management service in Alberta, Canada, uses Motive’s AI Omnicam to resolve customer service disputes. Tim Summach at Prairie Disposal said, “What’s so nice about the AI Omnicam, especially on the residential side, is if somebody says, ‘You didn’t pick up my bin,’ we can say, ‘Well, it wasn’t out there and we have video proof that it wasn’t there.’”
With Motive, you’ll be able to use AI to detect overages — AI Vision automatically will detect extra yardage and overages without requiring manual measurement and driver input.
5. Real-time, accurate coaching
Look for a telematics product that integrates with a dash cam that can alert drivers about safety issues immediately. Without real-time coaching, companies are often left coaching drivers as a group, rather than focusing on drivers who need it, or following up on incidents long after a safety event has occurred.
Ennis at FusionSite described how Motive’s AI Dashcam provides fast and accurate coaching to his team. “Hand over fist, you see Motive responding seconds faster than the other very similarly priced solutions,” he says. “So while other technologies are sitting back and not able to give the driver an alert and coach them, Motive has already recognized and alerted to cell phone use when a driver has it on their thigh or their lap, and has already coached that driver about the event that just occurred.”
6. Language customization
If your fleet drivers speak other languages than English, consider whether the telematics product will easily support those languages. For example, 95% of FusionSite’s drivers are native Spanish speakers, so Ryan wanted a product that would make adoption and coaching easy.
“With the Motive system, you have the ability to change a driver’s user profile to be in Spanish,” he said. “Within two weeks, we had the office fully functional and the driver population fully functional.”
Did you know? You can customize AI Dashcam alerts for Spanish-speaking drivers.
With Motive, there is literally no barrier to communication or comprehension. It’s easy to make adjustments, communicate with our drivers, and meet their needs.
7. Integrations with other systems
Look for a telematics product that will connect to your other fleet technology, like fleet maintenance and spend management. For example, Tim Summach at Prairie Disposal gets a notification in his Motive Dashboard if an engine light comes on. He said, “We can see the code, and understand what’s wrong with the vehicle right away. From the engine fault code, we proactively know how to respond. We know right away if we need to send a tow truck or if the truck is drivable to get it back to the shop.”
With the Motive Integrated Operations Platform, you can manage your entire fleet’s operations on a single platform — saving time and improving productivity.
With Motive, we can do everything right from one platform. We don’t have to send out paper documents and verify that they got there. We just pull it up on the dashboard and look at it. It’s awesome.
Waste management telematics is just the beginning
Investing in a telematics solution for your waste management fleet is a solid step toward improved efficiency. But the benefits will be far greater if you invest in a platform that offers a way to manage and optimize your entire fleet’s operations.
Discover the Motive Integrated Operations Platform or watch a short demo.
