With the urgency of migrating to a sustainable economy, companies are changing their production habits and also their transportation systems. Geotab, a vehicle telematics and artificial intelligence-based solutions company, enables companies to optimize their fleets in ways that make these strategies profitable.
(Sales of electric vehicles has doubled in Colombia).
Its vice president of sales for Latin America, Juan Cardona, in an interview with Portafolio, explained that with information, the transportation systems and vehicles of companies that use fuels can optimize their consumption and be sustainable without having to change their entire fleet to an electrical system.
How, through artificial intelligence, can the performance of vehicles be optimized and made more sustainable?
With artificial intelligence or telematics, vehicles can become an intelligent part of a company's entire distribution chain. So, with these tools, fleets can be more efficient, distributing more products and spending less inputs, thus reducing their environmental impact and being more sustainable.
What are those tools that make this possible?
That's where big data or artificial intelligence comes in. Depending on the complexity of the vehicle, the company can obtain information, through a mobile network, to know what decisions to make regarding turning that fleet into an intelligent system, such as fuel consumption. With this, Geotab can give recommendations on how to drive or the type of road.
(Car shortages and high prices affect the auto industry.)
However, if the vehicle, due to its characteristics, cannot provide the information necessary for diagnosis, the company can provide all the additional technology required to obtain the data. We have the idea of 'what you can't measure, you can't manage'. So we add meters based on what the customer wants to know.
How would AI be applied to mass transportation systems in Colombian cities?
What Artificial Intelligence does is identify the areas with the most congestion and choose the types of buses that those routes need to perform better. The same happens with these points with a high degree of contamination, there if electric fleets should be implemented.
With this analytics, the systems can perform better and consume less fuel, which is what generates these greenhouse gas emissions.
When power systems are needed, how does Geotab advise businesses and governments?
For this transition, Geotab can advise the company on the number of vehicles and which ones are appropriate. For example, if a transport operator has 100 combustion buses; Our EDS system, based on transport, use and traffic parameters, can tell that company that of those 100 only change 15, because it is not convenient for them to change more.
In addition, taking into account the information on the electric vehicle market in Colombia, it can suggest the most optimal type of model.
For companies, how profitable is it to assume this technology to adapt their vehicles?
A fact that should be mentioned regarding savings is that, in Colombia, more or less fuel consumption in a heavy vehicle is five or six kilometers per gallon. This in a developed country is between eight or 12 kilometers, even in the United States it reaches 15.
So, by implementing this technology, companies that are dedicated, for example, to the transportation of products can save on fuel and optimize their trucks per load.
How well has Geotab been accepted in Colombia and what are your plans?
In Colombia we have had great support. We work with large companies such as Argos, Bimbo, Bavaria and Pepsi. We have more than 15,000 vehicles using our system. More than 250 companies, large, medium and small that are our clients.
The interest in Colombia is special because we see great potential in the country due to its topography, its vehicles, and such differentiated systems. In addition, we want to establish alliances with the Government, as we have done with the United States, to create smart cities.
JULIANA PEÑA