A Quick Fix or an Actual Telematics Solution?

Ever heard of the old idiom “you get what you pay for”? when Sir James Goldsmith (and other claimers) said that he was referring to people rather than systems, you get as much value as you are willing to pay for it. Here we draw similarities of value to telematics systems all across the market.

In today’s telematics (tracking, ELD, dashcams, etc.) market, you have so-called ELD systems claiming “comprehensive” appeal in the telematics market hassling customers like in the San Fermin Festival – Running of the Bulls where every bull has its sights set on every man running away in the street. These same so called “market disruptors”, “innovators” telematics providers make customers sign the dotted line with a promise of getting something cheap and quick. More so, these systems commit you, the customer, to an annual subscription-based contract with subpar service and support. Evidence of that is whenever an FMCSA – ELD audit is done these same companies fail and bail, leaving customer in the lurch. When you google these ELD providers, you’ll see great reviews but once you dig little deeper the real reviews will show sub-par service, loose ELD compliance, and serious lack of customer service and support.

Most of these ELD providers were founded around the official ELD implementation ruling in December 2017, as in any industry to make a quick buck. They have positioned themselves for an exit strategy and either have a wall street hedge fund or VC to buy them out or raise company finances to a plateau so they can have a healthy IPO. All of this can be seen as a great business strategy but it’s not for customers who need a reliable provider to build their business for long-term.

It’s kind of like if I see bunch of construction workers and I set up a lemonade stand and call myself the best lemonade ever made in the history of lemonades and only charge 0.50 cents per cup. Would you trust that lemonade to be a reliable source of potassium and vitamin C? some would even question if it has real lemons. Of course, many will argue that they will be alright with drinking the same “lemonade”, but I promise you would end up spending more only to quench your thirst and potentially damaging your overall health with this so called “lemonade”. Thus, bad lemonade - bad ELD / telematics system - can really hurt your fleet monitoring with inaccuracies which would then cost you more in spending your resources in trying to figure out the actual issue. It would also cost you double if you ever needed to change the system, plus the loss of business you would incur by implementing a terrible system in the first place.

The definition of a real and reliable telematics system is not a magic unicorn, but it is a system that has a workhorse-built functionality carrying substantial bandwidth to take on the daily challenges of your fleet. It’s a system that is not foolproof but has a quick answer to an issue while keeping real updates front and center, leading up to its target toward a clear resolution. After the sale is made, the major indicator is whether the post-sale support is solid while holding your hand throughout the process to a clear onboard and account implementation.

In the end, depending on what’s needed and according to the time and place of a situation, everyone likes to go with what they are comfortable with. However, as Warren Buffet put it - Price is what you pay. Value is what you get. All who understand great value over the next cheap thing can withstand the storms, sustain their position in the market and win out in the end.

Jameel Saqib
Co-Founder, McCord Telematics
May 7, 2024