Businesses large and small have one thing in common — the need to regulate, monitor and reduce costs and overheads wherever possible in order to survive and grow the business in this cut-throat, fast-moving world.
There’s no doubt that costs in and around the transport industry seem to go only one way and that is up, but there is a way you can help your business to thrive and become more efficient and more cost-effective. Whether you run one or two vehicles or a large fleet, you may not have thought of how fleet tracking can benefit you and whether the costs involved justify the outlay. Trackershop comes across this question time and time again and their advice throws useful light on the issue.
What Do Fleet Trackers Do?
You’ll be familiar with the GPS system used by satnavs; a vehicle tracker uses the same system to track every movement the vehicle makes and this alone makes a tracker one of the best weapons in the fight against vehicle thieves. There are several versions of fleet trackers available depending on your needs and preferences, but all use the same real-time tracking capabilities provided by GPS signals. Some work on pay-as-you-go tracking while others are available on contract. The best ones are extremely user-friendly plug-in devices that allow you to monitor what is happening with a vehicle at any time.
What Are the Advantages of Fleet Tracking?
To get the maximum level of efficiency from your vehicles and your drivers, you need to know where they are at any given time and at what point along the delivery route they are. GPS fleet tracking devices enable you to do this from the comfort of your own private mapping portal, wherever that might be. In previous years, it was difficult to keep track of where drivers were and what they were doing, and this no doubt resulted in unhappy customers waiting for late consignments. With a fleet tracking system in place, that need never happen again; when you can track exactly where a vehicle is, you can keep your customers updated on the estimated time of arrival and keep your drivers on their toes!
Not only this, in areas where there are diversions or heavy traffic threatening to delay your drivers, you can, with the benefit of GPS tracking technology, divert them away from any congestion onto a quicker route. This can help your business to save time and money and avoid customer aggravation — massively enhancing your business reputation. If a vehicle breaks down, you can use the system to guide assistance to them.
Monitor and Change Driver Behaviour
With a tracking system, you can easily see when drivers are taking too long to complete a route and why; if they are using outdated routes or if they are making unauthorised stops or detours, you’ll know. You can then take steps to change the way your drivers operate and, in doing so, save time and money. You can also see where drivers could be putting themselves and your vehicle in danger at any point, so a tracker can help to keep both driver and cargo safe.
Protect Your Assets
Whether you run a small haulage business or a multinational operation, you need to protect your fleet of vehicles from theft. Organised theft of HGVs, plant machinery and other vehicles is big business and having a vehicle stolen can be ruinous for any company, especially so for smaller outfits. Having a tracking system provides invaluable added security.
If the worst happens and one of your vehicles is stolen either from the premises or out on the road, you can be assured that the GPS tracker will provide real-time information on its exact location, enabling you to swiftly recover it.
