Empowering Fleet Management Operations with Blockchain Solutions

 Using Blockchain for fleet management companies can be a technology adoption that may prove a boon or a bane. They seek answers to a few critical questions. Let's find out those answers and how blockchain solutions impact fleet management operations.

Blockchain Solutions Across Diverse Industries

Blockchain is proving to be a promising technology for diverse industries. It provides solutions to improve and strengthen various complex business operations and processes. Businesses are using blockchain solutions to remodel commercial operations, remove intermediaries, and enable interoperable, efficient, and secure internal processes.

Using Blockchain to Enhance Fleet Management Operations

Mostly, people relate the blockchain technology with cryptocurrency development. Or, they consider it as an open-source distributed ledger that acts as an underlying technology for application development. 

Indeed, blockchain has much more to offer. It has evolved from an open-source technology. Now, fleet management companies can create a private consortium of identified stakeholders. They can enable only permissioned members or a group to access transactions' information stored on the database, or in other words, the chain of information. Then, stakeholders like fleet managers, owners, operators, employees, vendors, and anyone else with permission in the supply chain can access blockchain content for their perusal. At Oodles, we develop efficient, compliant, and secure blockchain supply chain solutions and systems equipped with emerging technologies and high-grade security mechanisms.

Blockchain Applications in Fleet Management Functions

From vehicle maintenance and route scheduling to compliant payment systems, blockchain solutions can streamline various fleet management processes. Specifically, a permissioned blockchain based system can provide refined access and efficiency in fleet management's various operations. Now, let's take a look at the benefits and advantages of using blockchain solutions for fleet management. 

Efficient and Fast Payment Systems

One of the effective applications of Blockchain is its use as the underlying technology for payment systems. It provides a digitized roadmap of routes while enabling the use of smart contracts. Smart contract solutions trigger automated fund transfer to a driver upon the agreed completion of a shipment contract. Blockchain-powered distributed ledger in the operations ensures transaction immutability, trust, and end-to-end transparency. 

Relevant Read | Blockchain for Freight Audit and Payments in the Oil and Gas Industry

Simplified and Accurate Record-keeping

Fleet management companies can maintain immutable records of each trucking consignment. They can have access to information about every maintenance performed or damages incurred throughout a truck’s life. It includes information access from the moment a truck rolled off the assembly line until it was sold. With such information, companies can buy, sell, and repair vehicles shrewdly.

Logistics Issues and Food Handling

According to the World Health Organization, about 420,000 people each year die from consuming contaminated food globally.

With blockchain based fleet management, in the distribution process, tracing the source of a contaminated shipment can be simplified. For instance, it took weeks to track the source of the disease during the salmonella outbreak at the Chipotle fast-food chain. If the restaurant had been using a blockchain solution, it would have taken only a few minutes to track where and when the contaminated food was delivered. 

Additionally, the use of a blockchain with an IoT (Internet of Things) based system can enable the integration of sensors inside refrigerated trucks to monitor temperature and other parameters for medicines and food. Then, it can notify the driver if the level climbs above a certain degree. The same sensor-based solution can enable distributors to track and weigh their loads at all times. 

Currently, they rely on hand-recorded inventories that are error-prone. Using blockchain for supply chain, including fleet management, can enable monitoring of loads and send verifiable data to customers and drivers alike.

Load-Matching and Distribution

Companies can also have blockchain-based trucking load-matching apps that identify excess capacity across distribution networks and coordinate accordingly for efficient load distribution and transportation. It can enable fleet management stakeholders to manage the shortage of drivers or trucks, maximize fuel efficiency, or even identify areas to cut within budgets.

Conclusion

Many giants consider the fleet management operations areas as ripe for Blockchain. There is a new consortium called the Blockchain in Transport Alliance (BiTA). It is working to apply blockchain to address the most challenging problems in trucking and fleet management. Significantly, the blockchain technology can strengthen an already powerful industry.