Commercial Vehicle Drivers Are an Untapped Differentiator for Telematics Providers

This blog post is the second of a two-part series on Escalent’s latest Fleet Advisory Hub™ Roadmap to Telematics Growth report. In part one, we analyzed how telematics penetration varies by commercial vehicle segment and unpacked the implications for solutions providers.

Telematics adoption is growing among fleet businesses. However, for telematics solutions providers, so is the struggle to stand out. In part one of our two-part blog series on our latest Fleet Advisory Hub Roadmap to Telematics Growth report, we examined the overall state of telematics penetration and explored which commercial vehicle segments are poised to lead—or lag—in the next wave of growth. While the outlook is promising, it revealed a complex road ahead for telematics providers hoping to tap into the rising demand to increase their market share.

Based on the data from this study, which feature feedback from more than 1,000 fleet business decision-makers, we identified key opportunities for telematics service providers seeking to differentiate their brand. In this blog, we focus on one such opportunity—driver-centric features—and explore their strategic potential to help telematics providers better align with fleet needs and reduce barriers to telematics adoption.

Driver-Centric Features: Widely Used, Rarely Integrated Within a Telematics Solution

Staffing qualified commercial vehicle drivers is a long-standing challenge for fleet leaders—and one telematics providers are increasingly well-positioned to help address. When we asked about driver involvement in the telematics purchasing process, 92% of decision-makers said they engage drivers within the process of bringing new connected solutions into the business and almost 80% indicated this happened before the purchase decision was made. In other words, for telematics solutions providers, drivers aren’t just end-users—they’re key stakeholders in the purchase process.

Building on this, we asked fleet decision-makers about the driver-centric workflows and functionalities they use today. Simultaneously analyzing the importance, value and interest in packaging various features within a telematics solution, we identified three distinct tiers of driver-centric feature groupings.

The majority of tier-one solutions support driver safety and security and, consequently, have the highest take rates among the features evaluated. Between two-thirds and three-quarters of fleet decision-makers report they have solutions in place for emergency services, vehicle inspections, security alerts and hands-free communication. However, many indicate they are currently running these functions outside of an integrated telematics solution. This means decision-makers likely do not need to be convinced of the value of the feature or its integration within a telematics solution, especially with nearly half saying these features and workflows must be integrated with a telematics package for maximum value.

What’s even more notable is that decision-makers showcase higher satisfaction when driver-centric features are part of a telematics solution. For example, satisfaction with tier-one vehicle health and predictive diagnostics features jumps by 77% when integrated within a telematics solution compared with other digital or connected management systems. Interestingly, there are some features—particularly those in tier three—decision-makers do not want to have packaged in their telematics solutions.

This suggests that while fleets recognize the importance and value of these driver-centric tools, they’re often implemented in disparate, stand-alone systems, limiting their full impact. As such, there is a tangible opportunity for telematics providers to close this gap by offering a one-stop telematics solution that flexibly packages the right driver-centric features. Providers can then focus on ways to demonstrate the performance gains—and broader operational benefits—a consolidated telematics platform yields, serving both the fleet manager and the drivers of the fleet vehicles.

Strategic Packaging of Driver-Centric Features as a Differentiator for Telematics Providers

Planning and prioritizing technology investments is no easy task for today’s fleet leaders. The uncertain business environment is prompting many companies to rethink where and how they allocate resources. At the same time, commercial vehicle drivers are often overlooked as stakeholders but play a central role in the telematics adoption process and should be treated as such.

The good news is that, with the right approach and flexible packaging strategy, telematics providers can become essential partners in tackling these issues, arming fleet decision-makers with the tools and knowledge they need to overcome persistent operational pain points.

Our findings demonstrate that the most widely embraced driver-centric telematics functionalities are offerings that align with driver and vehicle protection. Telematics providers that recognize these priorities—and package features accordingly within a telematics system—stand to gain both trust and traction in a competitive, commoditized market. Ultimately, the path to differentiation may lie in a simple shift: developing telematics solutions with drivers in mind, not just the broader management of the business or commercial vehicles.

Thanks for reading our “Roadmap to Telematics Growth” miniblog series! If you have questions for our commercial vehicle and fleet industry experts or want to learn more about our Fleet Advisory Hub research, please complete the form below.

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