The number of businesses which are using telematics tracking technology in 2016 has almost doubled since last year, according to findings of a new report.
According to the RAC Telematics Report 2016, 65% of companies surveyed now use telematics devices in their vehicles, compared with 38% in 2015.
More than half of all sole traders (51%) say they are now using the technology compared to 14% a year ago, while 58% of small firms with less than 50 staff members said they use telematics compared with 25% last year.
Telematics usage in businesses with 1000-5000 employees, meanwhile, increased from 29% to 66%.
Businesses which use telematics cited benefits such as lower fuel costs (55%), fewer accidents (43%) and a reduction in maintenance costs (31%) among the top reasons for introducing the technology to their fleets.
“We see that the world has moved on from a slight fear about telematics, the old ‘Big Brother’ image that is well behind us now, as people are seeing the benefits, and looking at how they can bring those benefits into their own fleets,” said RAC Telematics managing director Nick Walker. “One of the very clear factors that we are seeing from the report, and from what we’re hearing from customers, is that telematics is now being associated with cost reduction, cost benefits, more insight and duty of care, than it is about pure tracking and the older benefits of telematics.”
