To stay competitive in the beverage world, multiple factors need to be considered. Is your product filling a need? Is it well received? Are you producing it in the most cost-efficient way possible? How’s the delivery?  Is your distribution system working as well as it could be? While these are just a few of the facets that need to be taken into consideration, one aspect of beverage distribution is becoming ever more important to on-time delivery and management: telematics.

Helping companies verify current locations as well as historical locations, vehicle routes of a single truck or entire fleet plays a huge roll in streamlining dispatching, routing and can improve customer service, experts say. According to Craig Whitney, vice president of marketing for San Diego, Calif.-based Networkfleet Inc., it is estimated that less than 20 percent of all fleet vehicles are currently using telematics. But, he notes, “this number is increasing rapidly.”