Use of data and objectives
The Fleet Monitoring Program is available to any University department that would like to opt in their leased or department owned licensed vehicle.
Department access
Departments will have access to data on their departmental vehicles to use to:
- Create a safer work environment for employees.
- Reduce accidents.
- Increase driver safety and reduce risk through implementing Vehicle Safety Scorecards and managing safety dashboards.
- Improve vehicle routes and efficiency.
- Reduce wear and tear on brakes, tires, and suspension systems.
- Improve vehicle fuel economy (idling/hard acceleration/hard braking).
- Know where each vehicle is at all times, allowing quicker response to University driver requests.
- Streamline all preventative maintenance, aggregate costs and get insights into vehicle degradation due to driving patterns.
- Review trips to confirm when a driver arrived or left, what route they took, and how long they were at a location.
- This information can be used to substantiate deliveries or service visits made, confirm billable hours, or verify employee work hours.
- Monitor vehicle health and track maintenance (maximize uptime).
- Capture recurring instances of speeding/braking/etc to help identify “problem areas” on campus.
- To support University policy: Rules for Operating University Vehicles
Fleet Services access
Fleet Services will regularly review and use data to:
- Aid in recomposing and/or reducing the University fleet overall through asset utilization reports to identify under-used and overused vehicles and can help right size the university fleet.
- Add/change existing policy language.
- Increase driver safety and reduce risk.
- Track and reduce emissions.
- Know where each vehicle is at all times, allowing quicker response to University driver roadside assistance requests.
- Reduce wear and tear on brakes, tires, and suspension systems.
- Monitor vehicle health (faults/error codes) and track maintenance to improve preventative maintenance practices to reduce costs, and reduce vehicle downtime.
- Identify locations for EV charging ups aiding in ongoing University fleet transition to Electric Vehicles.
- Geofence charging areas to gather further information around charging efficiency and optimizing EV vehicle usage.
Other access
Who else has access to data and under what circumstances?
- Assigned Department Contact(s) will only have access to assigned department vehicles.
- Fleet Services will have access to all vehicle data.
- Frontline vehicle users will not have access to the data.
- The University of Minnesota Department of Public Safety will have access upon request.
- VSB will have access upon request via the Fleet Lease and Rental Manager handling accident reports.
Alerts on data collected
Assigned Department Contacts may sign up to receive Live Alerts via email when “rules” that have been established by Fleet Services have been triggered. Live Alerts will be generated when rule parameters are violated or exceeded and will be provided to the Assigned Department Contact by the Geotab platform.
- “Rules” are parameters that are applied to data that is being collected from the Geotab devices.
Weekly and monthly summary reports on vehicle rules will also automatically be sent out to Assigned Department Contacts. Assigned Department Contacts will investigate all notifications and elevate their findings to their direct supervisors for further action, if applicable.
When Rules are triggered, this will result in the GPS device beeping to alert the driver and the incident will be included in an automated Weekly and Monthly Summary report sent to the Assigned Department Contact. If a Rule is egregiously broken, an instant email (Live Alert) will be sent automatically to the Assigned Department Contact.
The following Rules are designed to promote driver safety, optimize fleet operations, and to aid in sustainability initiatives:
Safety
| Event | Rule is triggered when: | Live email alert sent when: |
|---|---|---|
| Harsh braking | A harsh braking event causes a g-force greater than the configured value to be exerted on the vehicle. | A harsh braking event causes a g-force greater than the configured value to be exerted on the vehicle. |
| Hard acceleration | A hard acceleration event causes a g-force greater than the configured value to be exerted on the vehicle. | A hard acceleration event causes a g-force greater than the configured value to be exerted on the vehicle. |
| Harsh cornering | A hard or agressive turn event causes a g-force greater than the configured value to be exerted on the vehicle. | A hard or agressive turn event causes a g-force greater than the configured value to be exerted on the vehicle. |
| Speeding | A vehicle has been traveling at 11 mph over the posted speed limit for more than 90 seconds. If there is no posted road speed information for a section of a trip, then no violation will be logged. | A vehicle has been traveling at 18 mph over the posted speed limit for more than 90 seconds. |
| Seat belt | The driver isn’t wearing a seat belt while the vehicle is moving faster than 6 mph. | The driver isn’t wearing a seat belt while the vehicle is moving faster than 15 mph. |
| Major collision | A vehicle makes an immense impact with a vehicle or another object. | A vehicle makes an immense impact with a vehicle or another object. |
Fleet optimization
| Event | Rule is triggered when: | Live email alert is sent when: |
|---|---|---|
| Engine light on | This identifies vehicles being driven with the “Check Engine” light on and can be used to schedule maintenance or prevent serious damage. | Sent to Shop Manager as well. Shop Manager may request vehicle to come in for service. |
| Battery drain | This rule identifies vehicles that have a battery voltage below 9 volts. An alert from this rule can help to identify general battery problems or to remind drivers to turn off their vehicle’s lights. | Sent to Shop Manager as well. Shop Manager may request vehicle to come in for service. |
| Vehicle Electrical System Rating (ESR) health | The ESR is a rating that measures the health of a vehicle’s electrical system on a scale from 0 to 100. As the rating gets closer to 0 the vehicle is at a higher risk of failure. Once the vehicle’s ESR value is below 16, it should be brought to a mechanic for an electrical system check. Note: Not applicable to Hybrids or EV’s. | Once the vehicle’s ESR value is below the configured value. Sent to Shop Manager as well. Shop Manager may request vehicle to come in for service. |
| Unauthorized device removal | This rule identifies if a telematics device has been unplugged and then re-plugged at a later date. The notification will only be sent when the device is re-plugged. Generally, device unplugging signals that a driver wants to avoid monitoring. | Sent to Lease and Rental Manager as well. |
| Engine abuse | The rule identifies over-revving of the engine. This rule will trigger if the RPMs go over 7000. | Sent to Shop Manager as well. Shop Manager may request vehicle to come in for service. |
Sustainability
| Event | Rule is triggered when: | Live email alert is sent when: |
|---|---|---|
| Unnecessary idling | A vehicle has idled for more than 11 minutes. | A vehicle has idled for more than 20 minutes. |
| EV charge low | The electric vehicle (EV) battery drops below 15% charge. | The electric vehicle battery drops below 9% charge. |
Vehicle use policy reminder
All vehicle users are expected to comply with the policies for operating university vehicles when operating a University of Minnesota owned vehicle. These include following all start laws and refraining from speeding at all times.
Guidelines for department data access and review
- To oversee the usage of the program, each department must designate an Assigned Department Contact to oversee the Fleet Monitoring Program.
- This Assigned Department Contact will receive a login to the Geotab Platform and is responsible for the oversight of the Program which includes the dissemination of all policies, procedures and updates.
- The Contact must not be the direct supervisor to a driver of any vehicle enrolled in the program.
- It is the responsibility of the Assigned Department contact to inform all staff that they will be driving vehicles equipped with Geotab devices.
- Device data will primarily be used for operational efficiency and safety.
The following recommendations outline which roles should have access to and be reviewing the data. This may vary by departmental unit.
Assigned department contact
- Recommended to be at least 2 levels removed from the driver pool.
- Will have full access to data collected on vehicles within their department enrolled in the Fleet Monitoring Program.
- Will be responsible for reviewing and following University protocol and policies.
- Fleet Services will send out a monthly “Health Check” to Geotab assigned Department Contacts on rules listed above.
- Departments should consult with their HR team whenever situations arise that may require escalation.
- Will not allow frontline vehicle drivers direct access to the data.
Supervisor "View Only" access
This profile view allows supervisors to view only the following aspects of the vehicles they manage:
- Current trips with live data
- Previous trips
- Asset information
Having this view does not allow edits to an asset. If you would like to receive access to this profile view please let us know by email.
Department and vehicle recognition
Geotab will continuously keep Vehicle Scorecards based on the set “Rules” on each vehicle on a rolling basis.
Fleet Services will:
- Send a monthly newsletter to all departments enrolled in the Fleet Monitoring Program to shout out the top 10 vehicles and their departments based on this Scorecard for that month.
- Include a shout out of the top vehicles and their departments in their biannual Fleet Beat Newsletter to all Fleet Contacts
Program support
Opting into the program
- Notify Fleet Services that your department would like to opt into the Fleet Monitoring Program by completing the Enrollment Form.
- Note: Department must commit to 6 months minimum
- Cost: $22.00 per device per month
- The Fleet Shop Manager will reach out to the department requester to set up a time to bring in requested vehicle(s) and complete GPS installation(s)
- A Fleet Technician will install the Geotab GPS device
- Assigned Department Geotab Admin will receive a login and training link
- Get monitoring!
Opting out of the program
- Send written 30 day notice to Fleet Services requesting to opt out of the program and have your Geotab device(s) removed
- The Fleet Shop Manager will reach out to the department requester to set up a time to bring in requested vehicle(s) and complete GPS removal
- Billing will end 30 days from the opt out request
Training and support
First point of contacts:
- Fleet Lease and Rental Manager
- Fleet Assistant Director
- Geotab Support number: 800-379-7102
You can request online support via left hand menu in user profile:
Geotab is actively committed to partnering with the University on training and all things Support. T-Mobile and Geotab provide unlimited free trainings and 24/7 Support. Whenever new users/admins are needing to be added, Geotab and Fleet Services Lease and Rental Manager will assist in getting them added to their respective team within the database and contacted for personalized training.
Rules review and updates
Fleet will be reviewing data across all enrolled departments quarterly. Prior to any rules review, Geotab will schedule a business review where data is aggregated on the University’s behalf, and feedback given on improvements. Fleet will incorporate feedback from Geotab, drivers, supervisors, and other stakeholders via survey to continuously improve the policy.