According to a report from ResearchAndMarkets, trucking industries in North America and Europe are increasingly facing a shortage of skilled drivers and are apprehensive about the economic outlook and their operating margins.

With this in mind, total cost of ownership (TCO), downtime reduction, regulation compliance, driver shortage and equipment utilization are emerging as the primary reasons fleet managers are adopting advanced truck technologies, such as tire pressure monitoring systems and radio frequency identification.

With emission regulations likely to be tightened in North America and Europe, fleets will look to adopt fuel-efficient technologies that deliver value-added benefits such as safety and increased life. Fleets are recognizing the multiple ways in which tire pressure systems can lower TCO and extend tire life. However, the high initial investments and maintenance costs of the system are proving to be major barriers to the adoption of tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS). These devices have not been made compulsory in developed markets yet, but they may become standard in the medium to long term.

Consumer research shows that up to 35% of overall fleets surveyed in North America will adopt TPMS in 2017. In the commercial vehicle segment, trailers in North America and Europe, and vehicles used in the agriculture segment in the off-highway sector in both regions are expected to witness the maximum penetration of TPMS by 2025.

This will be driven by the rising awareness of fuel-efficient technologies in the commercial vehicle industry, and precision farming practices in the agricultural segment. Real-time data connectivity for information to be sent to fleets’ back-offices and provision of actionable data to fleet managers will be critical to the success of TPMS suppliers.

As capacity utilization challenges intensify, monitoring of mobile resources will be one of the top priorities for fleets. The rising importance of mobile resource management, including cargo monitoring, and production efficiency enhancement will aid the growth of radio frequency identification (RFID) in the commercial vehicle industry.

RFID suppliers must make the most of the higher awareness of the benefits of asset tracking and fuel management in enhancing the overall TCO and efficiency. Reefers, dry boxes, and curtain sliders will be the biggest adopters of RFID in trailers as cargo monitoring and temperature sensing become important parameters in fleet management. Suppliers will especially focus on RFID applications in asset management, and fuel cards will emerge as critical applications.

Overall, growing customer awareness, impending regulations, and enhanced value proposition of technologies that offer multiple benefits such as actionable data to fleets will drive the TPMS and RFID market. Suppliers, for their part, need to highlight the added benefits to influence the purchase decisions of fleet managers.