How ELD Manufacturers Can Benefit From Polygon Geofencing

Technology is seeping into every crevice of society. Individuals utilize it for convenience and connection, while corporations leverage it to maximize efficiency and productivity. With this in mind, new industries such as telematics have developed over the past few decades. A Market Reports World press release stated the global market for telematics solutions will be worth $39,410 million by the end of 2022, increasing to $84,160 million by 2028. The current and future innovations within the telematics market have an immediate impact on freight professionals, especially as it relates to improving ELD data and usage through polygon geofencing or sometimes referred as polygonal geofencing.

In this article, learn how ELD manufacturers gain both efficiency and productivity, vital to stay strategic and profitable, by implementing automated polygon geofencing by integrating with a data lake with pre-built, pin-point accurate geofences.

ELD Manufacturers Must Offer More Than a Simple Tracking Software

When the congressional mandate of ELDs took effect on December 16, 2019 in the United States, all carriers subject to the ELD rule had to adapt their vehicles with the hardware quickly. These devices have become critical for driving within legal hours of service and managing records of duty status (RODS) data. Yet, three years later, many devices on the road are lacking in modern-day capability compared to the full potential within a flourishing telematics industry.

By implementing advanced geofencing technology, such as automated polygon geofences integrated from a data lake to the ELD, ELD manufacturers go beyond the ability as simply a “where is my freight?” visibility provider to now a vital source of increased data output that empowers carriers, shippers, and the logistics tech platforms with operational and performance data for deeper analytical insight. Polygon geofencing utilizes latitude and longitude coordinates to create a virtual boundary around physical locations with pin-point precision versus traditional circular polygons or manually, hand-drawn polygon geofences.

To that end, with automated polygon geofences integrated into the ELD, when a user enters or exits the geofence, it triggers an “event” that notifies the user or administrator. Logistics tech platforms can then utilize that ELD integration to trigger specific actions based on the data generated, such as triggering a re-order or indicating to the broker or shipper that the shipment is ready for unloading. The possibilities are vast and ELD providers who can provide this value-add are seen as more than a device that keeps track of hours of service to meet a government mandate. As today’s market leaves little room for carrier error, ELD manufacturers must see how automated polygon geofencing works and change the game for their customers.

Building Polygon Geofences With In-House Teams Takes Considerable Resources

Geofences go live with a circular perimeter, akin to the signals emitted by a wifi router. Therefore, just as WiFi signals may be weak within some areas of their intended boundary while extending past the necessary extent in other areas, standard circular geofences have many drawbacks. Yet, manually drawing polygons for geofencing in an ELD is a complex and time-consuming process for even logistic tech platforms. While an over-achiever may be ready to jump in on the labor involved in creating polygonal geofencing, the tracking, testing, maintenance, and updating often get forgotten in the planning process, resulting in wasted time for said over-achiever.  

These later four stages (creation of geofence, tracking, testing, and maintenance) of product design are also where team members tend to lose steam (i.e., fatigue from upkeep and manual drawing) or available resources. Instead, ELD manufacturers should look to integration into an existing polygon geofencing data lake to improve the accuracy of location data and reduce the labor involved in manually drawing or errors using circular geofences.

Manufacturers Also Can Better Integrate With Security and Future Dock Management Solutions Too

In the future, telematics companies could apply polygon geofences to support additional integrations and value-based services for their customers. The simple circular cousin of polygon geofences already holds a corner in the home security industry using hardware such as smart doorbells and security sensors. Leveraging polygonal geofencing technology draws exact coordinates around a truck yard, airport, dock, and more to protect company assets.

Fleet managers and logistic providers can heighten their asset and operation visibility while lowering their risk for property theft by providing recurring alert notifications when any vehicle crosses the geofence. The security benefits of incorporating polygons for geofencing can even extend to couriers and suppliers that must comply with network partner requirements.

Create More Visibility and Generate More Insight With Polygonal Geofencing From Kestrel Insights

As high diesel prices and a tight market increase tension among carriers and supplies alike, they will increasingly look to telematics hardware and software capabilities to find areas of inefficiency. ELD manufacturers can download sample geofence data as well as get their geofence efficiency score. ELD manufacturers should also keep in mind the above benefits of incorporating polygonal geofencing into their technology to support their carrier customers, freight professionals, and logistics tech platforms looking for more accurate visibility data.

Kestrel Insights rises above its competitors with access to a robust locational data lake that applies to even the most complicated polygonal locations. To learn more about what polygonal geofencing technology can do for your ELD optimization needs, start a conversation with Kestrel Insights today.