NORTHBROOK, IL – Donlen released the results of its recent fleet telematics and GPS survey. The company conducted the survey to understand how fleet managers are using telematics and GPS to manage their fleets and whether they intend to implement such a program if they haven't already.

According to Donlen, the company grouped survey respondents into three categories: fleets using a telematics solution (21% of respondents), fleets considering a telematics solution (34%), and fleets not considering a telematics solution (45%).

Survey results show the top three reasons for using telematics are improved driver behavior, route productivity, and fuel savings (shown in the table below), respectively. Current telematics users ranked fuel savings as the number three reason for using telematics, but those considering telematics ranked fuel savings as the second reason.

Respondents ranked sustainability as the least important reason for using telematics, with only 20% of fleets currently using telematics listing that as the top reason. Of fleets considering using telematics, though, 36% ranked it as a primary reason for using the technology.

Another finding is that of the fleets surveyed, of those considering a telematics solution, 46% said they couldn’t quantify the future return on investment from a system. Although that might be expected, given a lack of data from an existing program, 40% of fleets currently using a telematics system said they couldn’t quantify the ROI from their telematics solution.

Donlen’s survey found that fleet size contributed most to whether a given fleet is using, or plans to use, telematics. Of the respondents with fleets that have less than 100 vehicles, 80% stated they aren’t considering telematics. For fleets with more than 300 vehicles, the opposite is true, with 80% of respondents either already using or considering telematics.

Donlen’s survey concluded that most fleets see the need for a telematics system and are moving to implement one if they haven’t already and that driver behavior is a key reason for such a system. Donlen didn't disclose the number of survey respondents.

You can download a PDF of the survey from Donlen's site here.