Sensors measure...
Vehicles are outfitted with telematics hardware that reads integrated vehicle sensors such as GPS, OBD-II / CAN-bus (engine RPM, fault codes, fuel), accelerometers (harsh braking/accel), gyros, temperature/cargo sensors, door/lock sensors, dashcams, and optional driver-ID radios (BLE/NFC).
Telematic devices collect data...
The telematic device timestamps, samples, and sometimes preprocesses sensor data: aggregates values, detects events (e.g., harsh braking), compresses/batches telemetry, and stores data temporarily if offline.
Data Transmission...
Data is sent from the device to backend servers via cellular (4G/5G), satellite, or Wi-Fi. Transmission patterns vary based on the telematic system used and can be continuous streaming, periodic polling (every N seconds/minute), or event-driven (only send on notable events).
Servers process data...
- Ingestion & Queuing – Cloud/local servers receive incoming packets from the telematic devices. The data is validated, de-duplicated, and placed into streaming queues for processing.
- Decoding & Enrichment – Raw data is decoded (e.g., CAN IDs → human-readable engine metrics), GPS is reverse-geocoded into addresses, positions are snapped to roads, and vehicle metadata (driver, vehicle type, assignments) is joined.
- Real-time Processing & Event Detection – Stream processors analyze data in near-real time to detect alerts and patterns (speeding, geofence entry/exit, maintenance triggers, harsh driving). This is where immediate notifications and in-cab alerts are generated.
- Storage & Retention – Processed telemetry and events stored for historical analysis in appropriate stores: time-series databases for frequent telemetry, relational DBs for vehicle/driver metadata, and blob storage for large files (video, logs). Retention policies are determined by the organization.
Data published...
Historical data fuels dashboards and reports (fuel usage, route efficiency, driver scorecards). Data models can predict maintenance needs, optimize routing, and flag anomalous behavior. Fleet managers use web dashboards, email and text alerts and mobile apps to view live maps, run reports, set alerts, and act on issues.