How do APIs work with integrated fleet management systems?

Business and fleet leaders know the importance of having the right tools, but for growing organizations, the role of API integrations in modern fleet management is what truly drives efficiency. Off-the-shelf solutions often fail to scale with complex IT infrastructures, creating silos that hinder growth. One of the challenges that comes with modern digital transformation is the use of different platforms, each requiring their own logins and requiring multiple tools to complete a single task. 

For those that utilize a fleet management solution, application programming interfaces (APIs) can extend the value of that solution throughout their operations every day.

Does your fleet management software integrate smoothly with your other business solutions?

Fleet management software is a large part of your organization, particularly for fleet operations. But one of the biggest challenges most IT and IS departments face is maintaining the integration between various back-end business systems—and as operations expand, it becomes critical to have integrated fleet management systems that work with the rest of your IT infrastructure. Growing companies need to know how fleet management software integrates with business processes like payroll and dispatching to remain competitive.

APIs enable seamless integration with business-critical systems and functions—including customer relationship management (CRM), enterprise resource planning (ERP), human resources (HR), billing and safety—to help eliminate redundancy and strengthen the infrastructure of any organization. 

Eliminating redundancy across your back-office systems is the key to true digital transformation. To see how a unified view of your data boosts total fleet ROI, download our eBook: 8 benefits of an integrated platform.

API integration benefits for fleet managers

Some of the largest fleets in the world use fleet management software—and these companies need to have full confidence in their IT systems and know that they're flexible enough to accommodate their stringent requirements. 

APIs provide demonstrable benefits for fleet-based organizations, but in particular for those who utilize Verizon Connect platforms. Our telematics API integrations allow in-house software engineers or third-party developers within an organization to easily build custom connections using commonly accepted standards and robust security protocols. This results in efficient, automated and secure two-way data sharing that leads to significant business benefits, including:

• Paperless timesheets and notifications: Through Verizon Connect Reveal or Fleet, all delivery information is stored in your ERP system, and an API allows you to export it into your route planning software to create optimized routes. The API then sends route data back to your ERP system for customer billing/notification. Automating the data flow between your ERP and route planning software significantly reduces manual errors.
• Driver performance: Import driver behavior data from your fleet management software into your HR system to monitor any moving violations drivers receive over a specific period of time, or to record any exception you specify, such as vehicles leaving designated areas.
• Assign drivers to jobs: For dispatch staff using a CRM to manage customer interaction, the right API enables you to assign a driver to a new job from within the CRM system, sending the job directly to a driver for processing.
• Third-party work orders: Complete your picture of daily activity with summary and variance reporting in your fleet tracking software to include third-party work order data.
• Journey history: See near real-time data detailed or summary data for driver and vehicle locations/status in your back-office dispatching, GIS, CRM or other systems.
• Vehicle depreciation: Import information (such as mileage data) about fleet vehicles into your ERP software to calculate depreciation for accounting purposes.
• In-house safety programs: Enhance fleet safety programs by collecting near real-time harsh driving behavior and high-speed events from your drivers and vehicles.
• Compliance monitoring: Leverage HOS data within back-office systems to verify hours worked. For growing fleets, ELD systems integration with fleet management technologies ensures that as you add more drivers, your compliance reporting remains automated and error-free.
• Streamline personnel logins: Keep your vehicle tracking solution in sync with your back office across all driver, vehicle, group and key location data. Manage user access and adjust group members automatically as your organization changes.
• Tracked maintenance: High-growth companies require comprehensive fleet maintenance solutions for medium size operations. By using telematics systems that integrate with maintenance software, you can track vehicle operating and maintenance costs with preventive and as-needed services.
• Get more from your Verizon platform: Verizon offers its Reveal and Fleet customers simple partner APIs that quickly streamline telematics data collection for a range of fleet data types across an array of integration categories.

API integration is a cornerstone of a mature fleet operation. Download our Fleet Management Best Practices guide to see how to build a connected, data-driven culture.

Telematics API integration categories

As a Reveal or Fleet telematics solution customer, you can take advantage of integrating third-party systems for greater business insights across a number of categories, including field service preventative maintenance, dispatch, fuel tax reporting and vehicle maintenance. Two key categories are top of mind for fleets:

• Supply chain: Supply chain integration creates greater visibility for shipment estimates and progress, while reducing unnecessary communication between customers and drivers. Visibility into the supply chain is important for carriers, shippers and shipper customers alike – and utilizing Verizon Connect’s free API integration service connects all parties and enables the seamless sharing of GPS tracking data for analytics, compliance and location-tracking purposes.
• Fuel card management: Fuel consumption is one of the greatest fleet costs. Integrations related to fuel card managementallow fleets to compare and collect fuel usage transactions with vehicle location and activity data, often revealing fuel costs that might otherwise be invisible. This helps to reduce both unauthorized fuel purchases and overall fuel use. A detailed level of reporting, including whether a fuel card purchased the amount of fuel a vehicle can hold, or whether the card and vehicle were where they were supposed to be in the first place, is crucial to cost and operational management as well as detection of card abuse.

Our software integration partners

Our solutions aim to make it simpler for you to enhance your core fleet management software with functionality that makes your mobile workforce more efficient and productive—and that extends to our API integration partnerships. We offer integrations that span an array of industry categories; here’s a sampling of our current API integration partners:

• FLEETCOR (fuel management): Verizon Connect integrates with FLEETCOR to automatically align fuel transactions with vehicle location and activity data.
• FOURKITES (supply chain visibility): FourKites integration allows for supply chain visibility powered by Verizon Connect telematics location data.
• PENSKE (vehicle maintenance): Integration with Penske imports vehicle defects identified in driver vehicle inspection reports into the Penske Fleet Management System.
• PROMILES (compliance): International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA) filings can become simpler and more accurate by enabling ProMiles to directly collect telematics location and mileage information.
• PROPHESY HIGHJUMP (routing and dispatching): Integration with Prophesy HighJump helps the entire fleet improve planning and delivery for increased visibility and estimates when tracking loads.

APIs keep getting better: Make the most of integrations

According to Automotive Fleet, “one prevalent [fleet] industry challenge that’s expected to continue into 2019 is the difficulty in integrating OEM telematics with aftermarket vehicle telematics systems.”¹ This difficulty is exacerbated when mixed fleets are involved, leading to an inability to integrate data and gain accurate insight into your operations. One way to remedy this is problem is “to look for solutions that offer API (application programming interface) integration to bring all available data into one central location for easy access.”¹

For Verizon Connect customers, it’s easy to take advantage of integrations that combat OEM telematics and data connection issues across a variety of categories. Whether users need interface customization or have unique hardware needs, a good fleet management solution has the internal resources and comprehensive partner network to make it happen. 

Ready to unify your tech stack? For businesses looking for the best fleet management solutions with API Integrations, the goal is a unified data environment. Our fleet management platforms offer robust API integration capabilities that fit into your existing IT infrastructure, helping you create a truly connected operation.

Sources

¹https://www.automotive-fleet.com/323794/latest-trends-in-telematics