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Two years ago, Bill Powell and other executives at Automotive Resources International got some gentle prodding from one of its vehicle fleet management customers regarding shortcomings in ARI's analytics capabilities. The customer, a utility company, was looking for more detailed information to help it identify steps that could be taken to cut vehicle costs and increase efficiencies in its fleet operations, according to Powell, ARI's IT director. The analytical reports that ARI was providing "didn't go as deep as they wanted," he said. "A lot of the reports were more aggregate because they took so long to run." There was no lack of data available to analyze. ARI collects information on fuel consumption, idling time, driving speeds and other metrics every few minutes from GPS devices installed in vehicles. The Mount Laurel, N.J., services provider also receives volumes of data on gas purchases, which offers further insight into fuel efficiency and costs. "You can imagine the volume of information that's coming back," Powell said....