Safety, sustainability and the cost of fuel are recognised as key challenges in the South African road freight industry, which transported over 150-million tons of cargo between January 2021 and March 2021. A new solution that integrates a range of advanced services, fleet management solutions and connected vehicle technology is designed to address these issues.

The recently launched MICHELIN Connected Fleet aims to give South African fleet operators a full fleet management solution enabling the use of connected vehicle data to help improve sustainability, reduce costs, improve productivity, ensure the safety of drivers and cargo, and improve operational efficiency.

The global tyre manufacturer says that using its energy saving tyre range in conjunction with its fleet management solution will help fleet operators further optimise operations.

Energy saving tyres are designed to reduce rolling resistance, which impacts the energy a vehicle needs to move. The higher the rolling resistance, the more energy is needed to overcome it leading to greater fuel consumption and wear on tyres. Low rolling resistance tyres help reduce fuel consumption, leading to reduced costs and a lower impact on the environment.

“Michelin tyres have a reputation for delivering high value. Switching to our energy saving tyres could save up to 60 l of fuel over their lifetime, and help lower carbon dioxide emissions by 3 g/km,” said Michelin Tyres sub-Saharan Africa MD and VP Marcus Baffoe-Bonnie.

The Connected Fleet solution helps to transform data into insights that can be used to optimise fleet productivity, increase uptime, reduce operational costs, and bolster road safety through preventing accidents by providing feedback on driving behaviours. The solution includes tools such as configurable alerts and high security add-ons to increase the security of goods and the safety of drivers.

“We are focused on helping fleet managers to accelerate their business with consultancy services, based on smart data and tools, which lead to better insights and visibility. Our offers stand out for delivering personalised consultancy from our team of MICHELIN Connected Fleet experts. It’s no longer enough just to provide access to fleet data; we have performance analysis embedded into our offering. This means we are perfectly placed to help customers master the management of their fleets and improve their operations. Our analysis can help transporters be at the forefront of fleet management. We are focused on adding value, at every stage,” affirmed Michelin country manager Shivani Pillay.