Masternaut launches short-term hire vehicle telematics

London, 10th August 2017 – Masternaut has launched a new device to expand the use of telematics beyond the permanent fleet. The simple self-install track-and-trace device from the UK market share leader allows companies to easily add short-term hire vehicles and any other vehicles not currently tracked to their existing fleet management dashboard.

Businesses have long benefited from the use of telematics in their commercial vehicles, as users have seen a considerable reduction in road accidents, fleet-related costs and CO2 emissions. A recent study across 10,000 commercial vehicles in Masternaut’s customer base shows that the average savings are £660 per vehicle per year.

However, even though short-term hire vehicles account for 20% of fleets1, they are not usually equipped with telematics due to installation costs and logistical challenges.

To answer this challenge, Masternaut is expanding its hardware portfolio with the launch of a self-install track-and-trace device, the M300. The M300 is mounted to the vehicle’s windscreen and ready to use within minutes. As it is powered by a built-in battery, it can be removed with ease and reinstalled in any vehicle, avoiding vehicle downtime and the cost of an engineer.

This new device is part of a range of innovative proprietary devices that help Masternaut’s customers connect their entire fleet. The M300 data will appear in Masternaut Connect, the UK’s leading fleet management application, along with the rest of the fleet using permanently-installed telematics. Operations and Fleet managers will have a complete overview of the entire fleet for analysis and optimisation.

Dhruv Parekh, Masternaut’s CEO, commented: “In a few years, it won’t matter which telematics device or connected car reports vehicle data - all data needs to be analysed on one platform. We’ve built a secure platform that takes inputs from different hardware and provides actionable insights to our customers through one application. The M300 is consistent with our strategy to remove installation hurdles and make collecting vehicle data from various sources on our platform easy, so we can provide better insights to our customers. The M300 will help our customers expand their view to their entire fleet and optimise business impact through telematics.”

This launch is part of Masternaut’s continuing efforts to eliminate hurdles to telematics use. In May, Masternaut announced their global exclusive partnership with Vauxhall, offering factory-fit telematics that eliminate installation costs. By adding a solution for temporary vehicles, Masternaut ensures that the entire fleet benefits from the use of telematics.