IoT in transportation and logistics

Fleet management

IoT leverages real-time device and location data, powered by Azure Maps, to manage daily operations, quickly analyse root causes, and perform predictive maintenance.

An alert signals an issue in the fleet

The fleet manager monitors dozens of vehicles on routes across Europe. Through remote maintenance, they can see that there’s an incident in Germany requiring immediate attention.

A deeper look at the problem

The fleet manager checks which type of vehicle is generating this alarm. In Germany, there are 872 active vehicles carrying three types of goods: refrigerated, dry, and hazardous. The alert is traced to one of the 370 vehicles carrying hazardous goods.

A deeper look at the problem

The fleet manager traces the alert to one of the vehicles near Frankfurt. When they zoom in, Azure Maps dynamically renders greater levels of detail, including city names and major highways.

A real-time view of routes in Frankfurt

The fleet manager identifies the vehicle creating the alert near Frankfurt. In this view, they can visualise real-time traffic in the city.

Route information

The fleet manager can learn this vehicle’s route, the driver’s name, the route origin and destination, the original estimated arrival time, the new delayed arrival time, and the type of cargo the route is optimised for.

Root-cause analysis

Finally, the fleet manager gets a closer look at telemetry from the various IoT sensors aboard the vehicle.

Root-cause analysis

The alert was generated by the cooling-unit sensor, triggered by an increase in humidity.

Re-routing the driver

Using Time Series Insights on the left, the fleet manager sees that the cooling unit’s humidity threshold has been crossed, requiring the driver to be re-routed to the nearest depot. Using Azure Maps, they can identify the nearest depot and create a new route for the driver.

Alerting maintenance crews and scheduling a replacement

Through Dynamics CRM integration, the fleet manager issues a ticket to alert the depot’s maintenance crew of the problem and schedules a replacement truck and driver.

Calculating a new route and communicating with the driver

The fleet manager calculates a new route based on the same parameters as the original route, including vehicle type, cargo type, and destination, and it’s sent to the new driver.

Issue resolved

The fleet manager identified the source of the sensor alert, calculated a new route for the driver, and assigned the route to a new driver. The fleet manager can now return to the original view to oversee the rest of the fleet.