Webfleet has secured On-Board Mass (OBM) certification in Australia, a move that opens the door to deeper engagement with heavy transport operators and large commercial fleets.
For Jonny Clarke, Director of Webfleet Australia and New Zealand, which is part of Bridgestone Mobility Solutions, the milestone marks the culmination of a long-term strategy.
“For us, it’s been part of a five year journey since the acquisition with Bridgestone,” Clarke said. “It was clearly mapped out that we weren’t fully ready to service the heavy commercial fleets.”
Clarke explained that Webfleet’s historical focus was centred on passenger transport and lighter commercial vehicles.
“Our product was geared towards passenger transport, utilities like commercial so it’s a natural evolvement with the acquisition,”
Jonny Clarke, Director of Webfleet Australia and New Zealand
Two years on from gaining TMA accreditation, the OBM certification completes a critical missing piece for the Australian heavy vehicle market.
“It gives us access to opportunities that we couldn’t get before,” Clarke said. “It gives us an opportunity to sit at the table with certain providers… it’s going to give us access to new customers, but it’s also going to improve things for our existing customers as well.”
Why OBM Matters in Australia
For heavy transport operators, OBM capability is increasingly a baseline requirement rather than a differentiator. Without it, technology providers struggle to compete for large fleet contracts.
Marcelo Godinho, Vice President Fleet Management System – LATAM, Middle East, Africa, Australia and New Zealand, said the certification was essential for relevance in this market.
“I think that that’s really important. It’s an important milestone for us in that market,” Godinho said. “A lot of the large fleets, especially in Australia, for this heavy transport, they needed to have it.”
He was candid about the commercial reality.
“If you’re not present on that business, you cannot have two fleet management systems, one to manage one, one to manage another.”
Australia’s regulatory environment and long-distance freight task make mass compliance and load visibility central to fleet operations. Godinho acknowledged that the local requirement demanded specific product adaptation.
“OBM was part of that,” he said. “It took truly some time to get it. But finally, we integrated, we got the certification, and I think we will be able to be more relevant for the customers, and more relevant for the Australian market.”
From Tyres to Total Mobility
The certification also strengthens integration between Webfleet and its parent company, Bridgestone.
Bridgestone is widely recognised in Australia as a leading tyre supplier, but its broader mobility strategy is less understood. Godinho outlined the shift.
“If you want to bring value for the mobility, it’s not just the tire, it is the ecosystem,” he said.
Fleet management systems now sit alongside tyre management as part of a broader service model aimed at improving efficiency, safety and performance.
In Australia, Bridgestone already provides total tyre management services. Clarke said OBM capability allows closer alignment between vehicle data, load information and tyre performance.
“We’re looking at the full ecosystem for the vehicles, from tire management right way through to fuel and data analytics,” Clarke said.
“With this smart OBM capability for the heavier trucks, now we can give them a full analytics, a full process of analytics all the way through.”
Driving Efficiency in a Competitive Freight Market
The timing of the certification coincides with margin pressure across the freight sector. Operators face rising costs and limited ability to pass increases on to customers.
Clarke said data-driven efficiency is now essential.
“They can’t increase costs if they want to retain business. They need to drive efficiencies in their own business,” he said.
OBM data combined with telematics provides deeper visibility into fuel usage, load distribution and driver behaviour.
“If you’re driving the truck today and I’m driving the truck today, the same truck, the same model, the same load, but at the end of the day there’s a discrepancy in the fuel level between us, why is that?” Clarke said.
“We can actually really analyse that… we can see from the scales, from the weights, what’s actually been happening with the vehicle.”
For heavy transport operators, that insight can translate into improved fuel performance, better load management and stronger asset utilisation.
“If they can get more freight into the vehicle by managing it properly… then what we’re actually going to see is that they can get more revenue coming per week, per truck, per month, per year,” Clarke said.
A More Mature Fleet Conversation
Beyond compliance, both executives see OBM certification as part of a broader shift in fleet management maturity.
Godinho said the company’s ambition is evolving beyond pure tracking.
“It is moved towards become a fleet advisor,” he said.
The focus is increasingly on using fleet data to deliver measurable operational improvements rather than simply reporting on vehicle location.
For Australian heavy fleets, OBM certification is not just a technical checkbox. It is an enabler that allows Webfleet to compete more directly in the regulated heavy transport space and integrate load, tyre and operational analytics into one system.
As Clarke put it, the goal is straightforward: “We’ve got an obligation to help them deliver better service.”
With OBM now certified, Webfleet is positioned to have that conversation with a larger share of Australia’s heavy transport operators.
