NASHVILLE— In times when industry technology is advancing at a rapid pace, state and federal regulations change yearly, and efficiency and cost savings are paramount, having visibility into all aspects of fleet management has become more than a powerful tool—it’s a must-have for business. This fact was apparent here at Motive’s inaugural Vision conference.
The company’s goal for its first conference was 250 attendees, Manuel Venegas, director of corporate communications at Motive, told FleetOwner. That goal was easily achieved and doubled, with nearly 500 fleet leaders in attendance. The conference consisted of breakout sessions, fireside chats with customers, and a keynote address that debuted three new innovations to Motive’s current offerings. Each innovation had the same theme: enhanced visibility.
“We live in a data-driven world now, and visibility is huge,” Greg Morrow, VP of ARL Network, a large intermodal drayage company based in Pennsylvania, told FleetOwner at the Motive Vision 24 conference. “We really want to push for a safety-minded culture and organization. Without the data and seeing the events and seeing the dashcam, you can't do that ... without that information.”
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Motive’s innovations provide automation and visibility
Motive, an integrated operations platform for fleet management, uses artificial intelligence in its products to automate “manual work so our customers can focus on the people and things that matter most,” said Shoaib Makani, co-founder and CEO of Motive.
Morrow gave FleetOwner one such example. Logs were manually managed by the company before Motive. “We had an entire team that was sitting there just receiving the logs, managing through those logs in order to make corrections and changes. It was just a very tedious task,” he said. “Now that it’s all online ... we’re able to do it more effectively, more efficiently.”
One of the AI innovations announced at the conference was AI Omnivision, a suite of AI-powered software solutions that delivers even more visibility to every corner of a fleet operation. Using AI Omnicam, AI Omnivision can help fleet leaders develop and deploy precise, tailor-made AI models quickly.
“Anything you can see, we can train this camera to perceive,” Makani said during the keynote.
See also: The importance of visibility
For example, those in waste services will be able to observe and detect overflowing trash bins and potentially hazardous materials to help reduce risk. In construction, Omnivision identifies and alerts managers of job-site hazards, such as workers not wearing proper safety gear. In transportation, Omnivision can identify unauthorized movement of cargo and track unauthorized access or theft. Finally, Omnivision can provide visibility for drivers’ blind spots, detect pedestrians and cyclists, and alert drivers to potential collisions.
“Because the AI Omnicam has an integrated cellular modem, we're able to deliver that update to you in real-time and allow you to understand and know exactly what's happening in the field,” Makani explained. “As long as there's cellular connectivity, (the manager is) going to get that notification.”
Asset tracking and theft recovery
Morrow told FleetOwner that theft is a growing concern of his. With Motive’s Asset Gateway tracking device, he was able to pinpoint the exact location of a stolen cargo container, notify local law enforcement, and recover the cargo.
“We found the warehouse that it got taken to, (law enforcement) surveilled the area for a couple of weeks, and when they went in, they found all of our products minus one toy,” Morrow told FleetOwner. “But they found $5 million of Nike products in there as well. It was a massive warehouse that ended up being a front for a theft operation.”
See also: Cargo theft 2024 outlook: All-time high
Motive took asset tracking a step further this year, announcing the launch of the Motive Beacon, a small, durable tracking device designed for small equipment on a worksite to a single pallet in a warehouse. The Bluetooth-based device connects to the Motive Beacon Gateway, accessible through a tablet, smartphone, or desktop. The Beacon can even provide navigation to the lost item. By connecting Motive Beacons to the Motive Beacon Gateway, Motive creates a wireless technological net that, using the Motive Fleet App, can lead workers directly to the assets they need.
Visibility leads to safety
The last of Motive’s keynote announcements was all about driver safety. With Omnicam’s visibility and integrations with the truck systems, Motive can detect when a collision or accident takes place on the road, placing the platform in a perfect position to dispatch help. Motive’s new First Responder functionality simultaneously provides managers and emergency service personnel with key data from the event, such as precise location, make, model, color, license plate, orientation, passengers, and other important information to ensure help is dispatched as quickly as possible.
Providing this information quickly is critical because every minute counts. According to a study conducted in 2019 by a group of physicians, the average response time to 911 calls is 10-19 minutes, and fatalities can be reduced by 13% for every minute that first responders arrive faster at the scene of a collision.
“Motive sends key incident data directly to EMS on your behalf,” said Nihar Gupta, senior product manager at Motive, during the keynote. “Because this happens programmatically, we are saving precious seconds and oftentimes minutes off of the time it takes to alert EMS. With this solution, it happens immediately and automatically to the exact right local EMS.”
See also: Fleet uses technology to improve driver safety
Additional announcements included enhancements to the Motive Driver Safety Solution. These include AI detection of drowsiness, lane swerving, forward collision warnings, sideswipe and blind spot monitoring, and unsafe parking.
“With our continued investment in AI and computer vision research,” Makani stated, “we're automating even more of the manual work that you have to do every day so that you can focus on the people and the things that matter most in your operations.”
