Technology plays an increasingly important role in keeping supply chains running. Today, the majority of fleet managers and those in other crucial positions at trucking fleets - such as dispatchers, route planners, drivers, and safety and terminal managers - rely on technological solutions to optimize the day-to-day operations of their companies. As the industry continues to evolve, however, choosing the right fleet management software can prove daunting.

HERE Technologies teamed up with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and ABI Research to conduct a survey and publish a white paper dedicated to understanding how industry leaders view fleet management software, as well as the benefits and challenges that come with adopting these technologies.

Over 80% of the fleet managers HERE surveyed said that at least half of their fleet operations are already digitized. This illustrates a continued march toward greater technological adoption across the logistics industry as a whole.

One of the key benefits of digitization is gaining better insight into overall performance via operational data. With a significant amount of digitization already happening in the industry, most respondents indicated that they already have access to large amounts of data.

The current usability of that data is lacking, however. Survey respondents indicated that it often comes from disparate sources and is not integrated to provide fleet managers a holistic view of operations. This undermines the usefulness of fleets' existing solutions.

"As a result, data analytics is a key area of current investment. This can give fleet managers a better understanding of how to use the data to optimize operations," said HERE Senior Manager of Market Intelligence Nina Hallquist.

In addition to data analytics tools, fleet managers, leaders and other employees are keenly interested in adopting fleet management software that directly helps them improve their operational performance.

HERE's research uncovered the most in-demand fleet software capabilities. These features include real-time tracking, demand/load planning, route optimization and fuel management.

These key capabilities are popular for a reason. They have an outsize impact on day-to-day operations and cut to the heart of what matters most to companies across the industry: improved efficiency and increased profitability.

"We are hearing the top reasons for investing in fleet management software are increasing revenue and improving operational efficiency," Hallquist said. "So, using those two goals as a guide when choosing software is important for fleet managers."