How Tracking Vehicle Movement Saves Your Company Money
If you have been managing a fleet of vehicles very long, you know that every minute a vehicle is on the road is costing money. So, how much are you spending on unauthorized vehicle use and on drivers who waste time and money to reduce work? Managing this cost alone by tracking vehicle movement could make you the company hero for the next year.
Most companies have policies in place stating that company vehicles can only be used for company business. Some companies allow their employees to take vehicles home, while others do not. But are you tracking vehicle use? Some of the most common abuses of company vehicles include:
- driving around throughout the day to do personal errands between business stops
- using the truck for your weekend moving business
- using the company car to take your kids places on weekends
Each of these abuses of the privilege of driving a company vehicle can be detected by tracking vehicle movement. With a simple GPS tracking device that attaches to the steering column of each vehicle, you can not only know where each vehicle is at any moment (because you will be tracking vehicle movement), but you can also use the capability of tracking vehicle movement and save the history to prove where each vehicle has been and when it was there.
What is that weekend antique dealer costing you? If this person takes home a box 20 foot truck every other weekend to deliver and pick up antiques - using company diesel fuel - and clocks 425 miles each of these weekends, the fuel cost is significant. By assuming the truck gets 10 miles to the gallon and fuel costs $3.00 per gallon, the cost for this single vehicle comes to $3,315 per year. With that amount of money, you could install GPS devices for tracking vehicle travel in 9 vehicles and pay for the tracking services for a full year.
If you then calculate all of the other costs to the company of employees making unauthorized use of vehicles, the total could reach triple digits. Tracking vehicle use with a simple and affordable GPS device will enable you to calculate all costs of operating your fleet on a "per vehicle" basis. You just need to pull together fuel, maintenance, oil, parts, tires, wear and tear, insurance, license tags and taxes and estimate the risk of having the vehicles on the road. The total cost could be staggering.
When you add up all of the costs for unauthorized use of all vehicles in your fleet you might be surprised by how widespread the problem actually is. When the reports from tracking vehicle movement are compiled, you would have a good bit of evidence for tighter enforcement of the rules governing use of corporate vehicles. You might also discover that you would be able to save enough money to pay for GPS devices for every vehicle and for monitoring in less than 90 days. You could end up getting a raise, the reports from tracking vehicle travel patterns would make your work easier and faster, and the company could do something important with the money you save.
The next step is to begin to think about how tracking vehicle driving patterns could help you improve driver safety, efficiency and even save fuel so you are environmentally friendly. If you know you have habitual speeders, you can use the GPS device to set an alarm to notify them when they are exceeding the speed limit. You can track drivers who accelerate like they are drag racing when they pull away from a stop sign (and all the wasted fuel). You could put a stop to wasteful work habits and save money while also improving productivity and customer service. If you are a fleet manager and you would like to be a hero, sell the company on tracking vehicle travel patterns.
For more information about the benefits ofbehavior, get the free report "7 Ways Your Company Can Save Thousands of Dollars With GPS Fleet Tracking." Many companies have increased their revenue and lowered their costs by implementing a GPS tracking system for their fleet. To calculate the ROI for your company, see the ROI calculator.
How a GPS Vehicle Tracking System Increases Productivity
GPS might be one of the best things since sliced bread. Can a GPS vehicle tracking system save a company and the environment? Probably not -- at least it can't do it alone. But it can help a fleet manager, a customer service manager or a business owner save a bundle of money and reduce fuel consumption. When the information provided by the GPS vehicle tracking system helps you operate cleaner and more efficiently-operating vehicles in ways that reduce fuel consumption and carbon emissions, you also help to protect the environment.
If your business or service operates a fleet of vehicles, a GPS vehicle tracking system can help you save money, time and fuel. You will also find that it helps you increase the productivity of your drivers, keeps your vehicles on the road longer, and helps you improve customer satisfaction.
You work for a plumbing company and you have noticed that three of the plumbers you have on the road spend far longer on many jobs than the other seven plumbers. But you don't know why. A GPS vehicle tracking system would tell you that those three plumbers actually do the job in the same amount of time. The difference is that they spend the extra time sitting in the truck with the engine idling. This behavior affects gas mileage, individual job productivity, company customer service productivity, and customer satisfaction (because the customers can see the trucks still sitting outside their homes). The data from your GPS vehicle tracking system will report to you how long the engine is idling, where it is located while idling, and exactly when the engine was turned on and off, as well as how long the vehicle stayed in any single place all day.
You can help your drivers and your vehicles achieve maximum efficiency and maximum productivity in several ways. Here are some additional ways to improve productivity, reduce costs, and increase efficiencies with a GPS vehicle tracking system.
- Monitor various driver activities that waste time and money with a GPS vehicle tracking system, compare time spent at each location or on particular tasks to demonstrate waste and take steps to improve productivity.
- Track and investigate excessive idling times. Use the information derived from your GPS vehicle tracking system to end this behavior, reduce fuel consumption, reduce fuel costs, reduce carbon emissions, and help the environment.
- Locating and redirecting or directing the closest vehicles to customer locations is a critical performance factor for companies in many industries and a leading reason for purchasing a GPS vehicle tracking system. The ability to dispatch the vehicle closest to the customer in need by the most fuel-efficient and fastest route is a primary deciding factor for many companies that purchase a GPS vehicle tracking system.
- Use your GPS vehicle tracking system to manage dispatching of vehicles for maximum efficiency and effectiveness. Speed of response is directly related to customer satisfaction. Happy customers are loyal customers, and these customers keep your company in business.
- Installing a GPS vehicle tracking system in each vehicle in your fleet will improve your cost efficiency and improve your job productivity. Because a nearly invisible GPS device attached to the OBDII connection in the vehicle makes it possible to receive an immediate alert notification if there is a vehicle theft and because the GPS device allows you to pinpoint the location of the vehicle every second, retrieving the vehicle and apprehending the thief is much more likely. Most insurance companies offer reduced rates on insurance for all vehicles that are part of a GPS vehicle tracking system.
- Use geofencing capabilities in your GPS vehicle tracking system to create alerts if your vehicles are being driven outside your region of activity or if they are driven from the garage or lot after hours for unauthorized use by your employees. Some companies report saving tens of thousands of dollars by eliminating unauthorized use of vehicles.
- Your GPS vehicle tracking system also provides maintenance alerts. This can extend the life of the vehicle and preventing costly break-downs. It can also help you detect problems when they are just beginning.
By improving productivity, increasing fuel-efficiency, and reducing costs for maintenance, operation, safety and insurance, you might not save your company or single-handedly save the environment. By investing in a GPS vehicle tracking system, you will, however, be doing your part to help both the company and the earth.
To learn more about the benefits of a, get the free report "7 Ways Your Company Can Save Thousands of Dollars With GPS Fleet Tracking." Many companies have substantially increased their revenue and lowered their costs by installing a GPS tracking system for their fleet. To calculate the ROI for your company, see the ROI calculator.
Work Smarter With GPS Fleet Management
Managing a fleet of vehicles for any company is a tough job. Whether the fleet is the center of your business or a way to get products to customers, what you do to manage maintenance, scheduling, driver assignments, tracking, trimming waste, controlling costs, and the like is a complex job. No matter the size of the fleet or its centrality to the company's business, you can work smarter with GPS fleet management.
You might know that GPS fleet management equipment allows you to see (on your laptop) exactly where every vehicle is at a particular point in time. But do you know that this same equipment also maintains a complete history for each vehicle of where, when and how that vehicle has traveled over any time-frame? If you notice an anomaly at any time, you can download a report of the history of each appropriate vehicle and analyze the cause for the anomaly and determine what corrective action is appropriate.
GPS fleet management software also allows you to sit at your computer and watch the movement of all of your fleet vehicles in "real time." What you might not fully understand is that the same GPS fleet management equipment will also let you set conditions, events, actions, etc. and either receive an instant alert or build a history of such things as when the vehicles are moving, idling or stopped; when any vehicle moves outside a specified area; and when the drivers are either driving unsafely or in ways that increase fuel consumption.
If you want to receive alerts for emerging mechanical problems, you can choose a GPS fleet management system that includes maintenance scheduling systems. You can simplify the task of monitoring the maintenance schedules of all those vehicles manually and prevent costly breakdowns by fixing problems before they cripple the vehicle.
Your GPS fleet management system will monitor fuel mileage reports for you, allowing you to simply download the reports you need to manage engine tuning, most efficient routing and driver behaviors. With these reports from your GPS fleet management equipment your will extend the life of your vehicles, reduce schedule disruptions due to breakdowns, increase fuel efficiency, and run a leaner and greener operation. This will show up on the bottom line in big cost savings.
If theft prevention is an issue for your vehicles a GPS fleet management system can help you in two important ways. First, if a vehicle is stolen your GPS system will allow you to help police locate the vehicle quickly. Second, GPS fleet management systems also provide the capacity to disable the engine and lock the doors from a remote location. This is why most insurance companies reduce rates as much as 15% on every vehicle equipped with GPS.
These GPS fleet management capabilities will help you spend the time saved on paperwork using the data to coach your drivers in the driving habits that will reduce fuel consumption, reduce carbon emissions, cut costs, and improve productivity. Unlike most managers, you will have the chance to improve both employee productivity and asset productivity (your fleet).
Here's an example of how GPS fleet management can help you excel at your job. You are the fleet manager for a county in a mountainous region. The area receives frequent heavy snow during the winter months. The nearest hospital is 60 miles away and there are 3 rescue units in the county. You have adopted a strategy of positioning three of your plows and salt trucks beside each of the rescue units before the storms hit. This allows you to clear a way for the rescue units to get out to the main highway. Your fourth truck is positioned in a parking lot in the center of the county which can function as a helipad. From these and three other locations, your plows and salt trucks can move out to clear major roads. With a GPS fleet management system, you can also monitor police, fire and rescue calls. This gives you the information you need to call specific drivers and tell them they need to plow a route to a specific location so police, fire and rescue units can get in and out without incident.
You can work smarter with GPS fleet management. These are just some of the things it can help you accomplish:
- track all movements of every vehicle and maintain a full history on the movements of every vehicle
- reallocate the time you save on other things for strategizing with and coaching your drivers for greater efficiencies and cost reductions
- stay on top of maintenance schedules and issues without the headaches
- protect vehicles against theft or find them quickly if stolen
- help the company by increasing productivity of employees
- manage vehicles for extended life and fuel efficiency.
By installing GPS fleet management devices in all of the vehicles in your fleet you can begin to see cost reductions immediately. On average, companies that install GPS fleet management systems report that they pay for the system and a whole year of monitoring with the savings they achieve in the first 90 days or less. So, what's stopping you when you can save money for the company and work smarter?
For more information about , claim your white paper "7 Ways Your Company Can Save Thousands of Dollars With GPS Fleet Tracking." Many companies have substantially increased their revenue and decreased their costs by implementingGPS vehicle tracking for their fleet. To calculate the ROI for your company in under 30 seconds, see the ROI calculator.
A Look At A Postal Code Map
Countries throughout the world use a in their postal stations. These maps are compiled for each country, state, country, and region and are kept in a centralized location where they are scanned into scanning machines that are used in postal stations throughout the world.
The kinds of scanners that are used for postal stations are often very large. Letters are collected from villages, towns, and small cities and transported to large, centralized distribution centers where the scanners read bar codes that have been placed on envelopes and parcels.
Many of these scanners also are made to reach the handwritten numbers and letters on envelopes. These letters are often more difficult for the scanner to read appropriately and, when it is not possible to discern the number or letter, the machine passes the letter or parcel to a human for review. The individual reviewing the letter will then direct the item to its appropriate distribution point.
People will find a postal station in almost every small town or city. Mail is distributed to, and collected from, the residents of the town. In most cases the mail is collected by services on a daily basis and transferred to the centralized station where it is sorted and shipped to distribution points in other regions.
The main scanning machines that are used in centralized stations are very large. When mail is dumped on the link chain conveyor it moves very quickly through an ever narrowing group of sorters that lead to the main point for scanning. As the mail is scanned, it is then directed to bins for local, national, and international distribution. When hand written letters or numbers cannot be read, the scanner sends the letters to a human who has a small handheld scanner. The code on the letter is scanned with the handheld scanner and the data is transmitted to the main computer. This allows the main scanner to read the numbers and letters when they come through again.
When the wrong postal code is placed on a parcel, it can be directed to the wrong country very easily. Many people put codes on their letters they are unsure of, when this occurs the letter or parcel can be missing for several years before it finally is returned or ends up at the correct address.
Scanning machines use a global postal code map that is built in to the hard drive of the system and updated regularly. An individual who does not put a postal code on a parcel will find that the postal station will put a label with the correct postal code on it so that the parcel will be sent to the proper location.
In many cases people are able to get maps that contain postal codes for their region or area. However, some large regions have several codes for cities and use many maps simultaneously in their distribution centers.
GPS systems are getting cheaper everyday. It's not hard to find where you need to go using address validation, and
Why Every Parent Should Consider Teen Tracking Technology
U.S. Defense Monitoring systems and cell phones have brought together several communications technologies in ways that enable parents to know where their teenagers are at any time. Teen tracking technology actually utilizes other vehicle tracking applications in combination with global positioning systems that provide real time information and the capability to monitor the activities and movements of anyone with the appropriate device on their vehicle, phone, or person. Because the technology is both available and affordable, every parent should consider teen tracking technology to keep their teens safe.
Teen tracking technology gives parents and their teenagers the tools to allow teens more freedom to go places with their friends or to go to their activities without an escort while also letting parents know where they are and that they are safe. By placing a GPS tracking device in the car your teen drives, you and your teen can review information about driving speed, coming to a complete stop at stop signs, other people in the car, and more. Information about fuel consumption, vehicle servicing needs, and the like can help your teen take responsibility for the vehicle and demonstrate their maturity. You can also use a teen tracking device to create "geo-fences" around areas your teens are not permitted to frequent and receive alerts if they break the rules. An even better use of geo-fencing is to create a fence around the areas where your teen customarily drives. Then if the car leaves that area, you receive an alert and you know something is wrong.
There are other clear benefits of using teen tracking technology. Because the technology uses a GPS system, parents can upgrade to the devices that provide additional options, such as real time re-routing if there is heavy traffic or an accident ahead. Teen tracking technology will save time for the driver and keep the driver on a planned route instead of becoming lost when attempting to detour around a traffic jam. Some of these systems will provide both the street address and the name of the establishment when the teen is located by the teen tracking system.
Monitoring your child's activities with teen tracking can also provide other important information:
-- when your teen driver exceeds the speed limit
-- monitor engine and tire safety
-- monitor approved and unapproved locations
-- monitor improvements in your teen's driving capabilities
-- monitor if others are in the vehicle with your teen
-- monitor most frequently visited locations
-- when your child has left a geo-fenced area, possibly indicating danger
Here are some facts you might want to share with your teenager to help him or her understand your concerns:
-- Almost half a million teen drivers are injured or killed in automobile accidents every year.
-- One teen dies in an automobile accident every day of the year in the USA.
-- Speed and lack of experienced judgment are the two most common reasons for teen auto accidents.
-- Safe drivers pay less for automobile insurance and have a better credit rating.
-- The knowledge of being monitored could provide the only reason your teen needs to resist peer pressure to make bad choices.
Carefully programmed and consistently used, teen tracking can also help you protect your child from becoming a victim of crime. The National Crime Prevention Council states that "for all major types of crimes, people aged 12 to 19 are the most frequent victims." Teen tracking technology, clearly programmed to protect the safety of your teen and not to spy on him or her, could get help to your child before he or she becomes a victim of crime.
The crime statistics are undeniable. Teens are the most likely age group to be reported missing. Teens are just as likely as younger children to be abducted. The increase in human trafficking puts teens at greater risk than any other age group. Inexperienced teenagers, no matter how intelligent and responsible, can be in danger if they have a flat tire or if the car breaks down. The ability of parents to know because of a teen tracking device and respond quickly could be the single factor that prevents a crime against that teenager.
Most teens don't have the life experience to be relied upon to think clearly and logically in a stressful situation. Why not discuss safety and responsibility with your teen and invest the relatively small cost of the teen tracking device in your child's safety? Your teenager will feel safer and you will worry less with a teen tracking device in the teen's vehicle.
To learn more about , visit the Geosavi web site. While you are there, get the free report "7 Ways Your Company Can Save Thousands of Dollars With GPS Fleet Tracking." To calculate the ROI for your company , see the ROI calculator.
Why GPS Fleet Tracking Helps Your Bottom Line
Everyone knows that GPS fleet tracking has become a standard tool for large fleets of vehicles managed from a central location. Knowing where all of your vehicles are at any given moment is a basic foundation for keeping track of valuable assets, getting cargo to its destination on time, and preventing significant losses from theft. But GPS fleet tracking increases efficiency and productivity, too. It is a simple matter of purchasing and utilizing all of the capabilities you want. For example, when they installed GPS fleet tracking and used it wisely, the San Diego County Water Authority reported a reduction in fuel costs of $25,000 per year.
GPS fleet tracking is not just for large companies with big fleets. B&B Professional Plumbing of Clearwater, Florida equipped their ten trucks for $4,000 for hardware and a $15 per vehicle maintenance fee. With GPS fleet tracking they reduced their response time to customer calls by 10% and moved from having each truck service 4 customers a day to each truck servicing 6 customers each day. They saved $1,300 per month in fuel costs through more efficient routing, and paid for the first year costs for the system in under 4 months.
1. Improve navigation. Your GPS fleet tracking system will be fully integrated with Google maps. This enables drivers to identify the fastest, most direct or most fuel-efficient route to a destination (whether it is within the city or across the country). The navigation function also provides live time reports on traffic conditions along the way, even providing detours around traffic jams. If the weather is bad, you can choose terrain views to see what is ahead. Navigation functionality in your GPS fleet tracking system also allows fleet managers to know precisely where every vehicle is at any time. This makes it easy to identify the closest vehicle to an emergency situation and quickly re-route a vehicle.
2. Monitor and improve driving habits. Because your GPS fleet tracking system compiles data on driver behavior, you can identify drivers who are habitual speeders or who consistently brake hard or who accelerate too fast from a stop. You will have regular reports of every trip taken by every vehicle. You can program the GPS fleet tracking system to alert the driver when the speed limit is exceeded by more than 5 mph and to alert the fleet manager when the speed limit is exceeded by more than 10 mph. You can track exact routes and know which drivers are taking detours or are sitting somewhere with the engine idling for extended periods of time. By monitoring and reviewing this data with your drivers you can improve driving habits and safety.
3. In addition to instantly locating a stolen vehicle, there are anti-theft capabilities on many GPS fleet tracking devices. These will respond to erratic driving or to a signal from the office and disable the vehicle. Some will even lock doors so a thief cannot get away before police arrive. If the driver is involved in an accident, the GPS fleet tracking system will provide an incident report that will include travel direction and driving speed at the time of impact. Because the maps include terrain views, you can also print a photo of the accident and the intersection.
4. Vehicle monitoring and maintenance management. Your GPS fleet tracking system will also have the option for including a maintenance tool. This can interface with the vehicle's on-board computer to provide notices of times for routine servicing, low tire pressure, evolving engine or system problems or excessive carbon emissions. This enables the fleet manager to either alert the driver of a problem or to bring the vehicle in for service or repairs before there is a complete breakdown requiring emergency action.
All of these capabilities make a GPS fleet tracking system an essential tool for any fleet of vehicles. Consider these benefits:
-- Reduce fuel costs because less fuel is used
-- Reduce engine maintenance and operating costs
-- Pay less per vehicle for insurance due to anti-theft, vehicle location, safer driving, and accident verification capabilities of GPS fleet tracking systems
-- Use the data to create incentive programs that reward safer and more fuel-efficient driving habits, which also save fuel and maintenance costs
-- Increase productivity and reduce overtime
-- Reduce paperwork related to cargo, customer service, vehicle management and payroll by using system reports
-- Eliminate unauthorized breaks, side trips, or after hours use of vehicles
-- Improve customer response times, on-time deliveries in an ever-narrowing window, and reduce billing errors, resulting in greater customer satisfaction
You can expect to recover installation and first year costs for a GPS fleet tracking system in less than six months. For the next six months you can just show an increasing return on the investment in your GPS fleet management system. Find out for yourself why GPS fleet tracking helps your bottom line.
For more information about , claim your free report "7 Ways Your Company Can Save Thousands of Dollars With GPS Fleet Tracking." Many companies have substantially boosted their revenue and lowered their costs by implementing a GPS tracking system for their fleet. To calculate the ROI for your company in under 30 seconds, see the ROI calculator.
How To Get The Most From A Fleet GPS System
If your business owns any vehicles, you need to know about the benefits of fleet GPS systems. GPS devices are very affordable, and they can be installed in one minute or less. But the information they provide and the assistance you gain from the information will be worth far more in one year than the cost of the equipment. You can protect your investment in your vehicle assets, you can help your employees manage the care and maintenance of the vehicles and effectively manage routing to save time, fuel and money. You can even use them to expedite accounting and billing and reduce errors. A fleet GPS system allows you to monitor and gather data and put it to maximum use.
Several Types of Information is Gathered
A fleet GPS system gathers a variety of types of information and uses it to build important historical tracking. Your system will also be connected to a global mapping service and to satellite images of the terrain. You will be able to route and re-route individual vehicles on the best routes. Even more, you will have other data that will quickly become integral to your business operations.
- Precise location of each vehicle up to the minute.
- Vehicle route history.
- Proximity mapping for emergency responses.
- Monitoring and alerts when drivers engage in unsafe driving practices, do things that waste fuel or violate traffic laws.
- System tracking and scheduling of vehicle maintenance and service.
- Ability to route vehicles the best way to save fuel.
- Anti-theft mechanisms and police assistance with locating stolen vehicles.
- Geo-fencing capabilities.
- Ability to instantly map alternate travel plans and routes.
Possible Data Applications
No matter how great it seems to think about these specific bits of information you will gather into your fleet GPS system's memory, it is the use you can make of the data that makes it truly worth having. You will be able to use information to increase productivity of your employees, improve customer service, save fuel, save money, and automate several internal processes and functions. Here are just a few of the possible applications for the data you will gather with a fleet GPS system.
1. Use data to define driver training for those who drive unsafely or inefficiently.
2. Make driver data the basis of a pay-for-performance program or pay bonuses for safe driving or fuel-efficient driving.
3. Document such things as stop duration and schedule tracking to support drivers and employees in resolving customer complaints.
4. Use instant routing to get lost drivers back on track or to route drivers around accidents or road construction.
5. Ability to define routes on the basis of travel time, fuel efficiency or route characteristics.
6. Proximity mapping can identify the closest vehicle to a location or emergency.
7. Program driver alerts when speed limits are exceeded or other bad driving habits are used.
8. Implement and activate sensors using the fleet GPS system to prevent theft.
9. Verify time cards, automate billing and accounting steps and avoid mistakes.
10. Take driver productivity to the next level by preventing wasted time.
11. Monitor use of vehicles outside defined areas or outside of specified times to eliminate personal use of vehicles.
12. Use your scheduling accuracy and reliability as a marketing tool.
13. Rack up insurance discounts on each vehicle equipped with a fleet GPS tracking device.
The data tracked, functions enabled, and possible uses of data increase every year. Your fleet GPS system will likely pay for itself in one year or less in the savings you will achieve in just one area, like fuel savings. As you build more history and customize the system for each driver you will see more and more benefits of the system.
If you think fleet GPS tracking doesn't offer enough benefit or if you think your business is too small, you would do well to learn more about fleet GPS tracking.
For more information about tracking, get the free report "7 Ways Your Company Can Save Thousands of Dollars With GPS Fleet Tracking." A number of companies have boosted their revenue and decreased their costs by implementing a GPS tracking system for their fleet. To calculate the ROI for your company in under 30 seconds, click through to the ROI calculator.
You Can Improve Asset Management With Truck GPS Tracking
Managing a fleet of trucks for any business is a complex job. It involves so much more than simply loading cargo or parts onto the truck and dispatching it promptly to the right destination(s) so it will arrive on schedule. There are also such concerns as the safety of the cargo, the reliability of the drivers, maintaining the trucks and even fuel use and cost. If you own or manage a fleet of trucks, you can save money with truck GPS monitoring.
Today, most everybody knows about GPS technology. We know that some device or some part of a cell phone sends out a signal that bounces off a distant satellite and provides to monitoring computers the precise location of the device. When connected with global mapping data and topographical images, truck GPS devices can show you in a single view where all of your trucks are at any given moment. They can also zoom in to show you the lay of the land and the surrounding streets, businesses, etc.
With truck GPS routing systems, the same GPS technology is used to map out the best route for each truck. You might define the best route as the most direct, the fastest, or even the route that supports maximum fuel efficiency. Once the truck is on the road, the system can identify traffic jams, accidents and other situations the driver should avoid. It can then calculate a new route and communicate it instantly to the driver.
A good truck GPS tracking system also offers certain protections in the event of an attempted theft or hi-jacking. With geofencing technology you can define parameters of the region within which the truck should be operating. If it is taken outside of those parameters, you receive an alert. If the truck is actually stolen, you will be alerted and you can use the system to disable the truck or call attention to it with very narrow geofencing, disabling the starter, locking doors and triggering horn blasts. Finding the truck is as simple as looking at your map and calling police.
The cost for installing a truck GPS tracking and routing system is surprisingly small. The units placed in the trucks cost less than $300 each. Many companies with these systems indicate that they pay for the entire system and its installation with money saved through first-year fuel economies alone. From the minute you install the system, it will start building historical data on each truck. This data will help you with driving history, servicing, fuel efficiency and much more information on a daily basis.
Your truck GPS tracking system will provide all the information you need to manage an entire fleet of trucks efficiently and cost effectively. You can work with drivers to correct any bad habits that create excessive wear and tear on the truck or that waste large amounts of fuel.
The U.S. Department of Energy conducted a recent study of fuel efficiency and other maintenance costs for vehicles driven in particular ways and at specific speeds. A few of their most significant findings relevant to truck GPS tracking are:
- If you increase your highway driving speed from 50 mph to 60, you need more than 70% more horsepower; increasing to 70 mph takes about 160% more.
- Every time you increase your speed by 1 mph over 50 mph you start using one and one-half percent more fuel. So if you have drivers cruising at 60 mph they are burning 15% more fuel than they should be.
- Drivers who cruise at 70 mph double the wear and tear on tires over those who cruise at 50 mph.
- Driving at 70 mph also pushes cost to maintain the vehicle up by 3/4.
Many other studies have revealed a connection between various unsafe driving behaviors and increased fuel use. Leaving a vehicle idling either in traffic or while inside a building burns a huge amount of fuel. Flooring the accelerator when pulling away from a stop light causes a huge drain on the fuel tank. And racing up to an intersection and slamming on brakes is hard on the brakes, the engine, the transmission, and fuel use. A truck GPS system can, however, help you identify and correct these problems and save money on fuel.
The bottom line is this: you can save money with truck GPS monitoring and fleet management. This is a state-of-the-art tool to help you maintain the vehicles, protect cargo, improve productivity and efficiency and save a bundle on fuel costs while also getting a longer life from the trucks. And your truck GPS tracking system will make your job a breeze.
To learn more about , claim your free report "7 Ways Your Company Can Save Thousands of Dollars With GPS Fleet Tracking." A number of companies have substantially increased their revenue and decreased their costs by implementinga GPS tracking system for their fleet. To calculate the ROI for your company in under 30 seconds, see the ROI calculator.
Responsibly Manage Your Fleet of Vehicles With GPS Fleet Tracking
Two issues that are very much on the minds of most people are the economy and the environment. For businesses operating a fleet of vehicles (of any kind), the two are inextricably intertwined. The good news is that installing a new state-of-the-art GPS fleet tracking system in your vehicles will help you increase productivity, reduce costs, improve fuel efficiency and even reduce emissions. In addition, you can improve customer service, increase the life of your vehicles and put a stop to personal use of company vehicles.
For just $300 per vehicle, you can equip every vehicle in your fleet with a GPS tracking device. An each device can be installed in less than a minute. These devices will then communicate by satellite with your central monitoring station to communicate data from the vehicle to the station and from the station to all or individual vehicles. This fleet tracking system will give your managers and dispatchers the information they need to make smart decisions that will improve fuel economy, increase driver productivity, and save you a serious chunk of change. Some business owners report savings in fleet operating costs of up to $100,000 per year!
Among the results you can achieve with fleet tracking are:
- Decrease paperwork.
- Reduce billing and payroll errors.
- More efficient routes and speeds resulting in lower mileage and lower fuel expense.
- More efficient routing reduces extra stops.
- More efficient routing and driving reduces idling times.
- Ability to redirect the closest vehicle with fleet tracking for urgent needs.
- Tracking eliminates unauthorized use of company vehicles.
- Crack down on employee fraud.
- Ability to improve safe-driving habits and fuel-efficient driving habits.
- Drivers protected by fleet tracking against false customer claims and dangerous driving accusations.
- Protect drivers and your company from false customer claims and dangerous driving accusations.
- Faster and less costly delivery of services, products, materials, etc.
- Ability to define key performance indicators for drivers and use them for employee recognition and reward.
- Reduce insurance costs because of GPS fleet tracking.
A fleet tracking system can provide managers and executives up-to-the-minute customized or standardized data on individual vehicles, individual drivers or on the entire fleet. You will be able to track the location of every vehicle in a single screen view. You can review data or reports in the office, from any remote computer, and from many mobile phones and other hand-held devices. Imagine the value of putting statistical information into the hands of your sales force when they are working with a customer or a potential customer to answer questions, estimate costs and schedules, or to contact individual drivers with important information.
Some of the companies installing fleet tracking technology are reporting ROI of 1000% or of 15 to 1. The Aberdeen Group recently conducted a study of how fleet tracking can improve productivity of service calls on products. This study indicated an increase in the number of service calls a technician or specialist can complete per day of almost 25% when GPS fleet tracking was installed in their vehicles. Imagine what that kind of productivity improvement would mean across your entire company!
When a fleet tracking system can stimulate such a significant productivity increase, it also proportionately decreases overtime. When technician overtime is reduced, it also reduces the amount of overtime necessary for others, such as dispatchers, supervisors, garage staff, etc.
With driver alerts, you can also encourage safer driving and more energy efficient driving. Simply keeping the vehicles operation at 60 mph or less with fleet tracking will save money in several ways. Increasing speed, according to the US Department of Energy, from 50 to 60 mph uses 73% more horsepower. At 70 mph, that figure increases to 159%. For each mile per hour above 50, fuel consumption is increased by 1.5%. Using safe driving and fuel economy alerts will save you a huge amount on fuel and maintenance costs across the fleet.
Finally, by using the maintenance alerts and schedule monitoring capabilities of a fleet tracking system, you can ensure that your vehicles are operating in peak condition, most efficiently and reduce the number of needed repairs while on the road. This keeps vehicles on the road longer, saves the costs associated with avoidable break-downs, and improves fuel efficiency. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that a properly tuned engine saves mpg by up to 4%. Immediate repair of a major mechanical problem, they say will improve mpg by as much as 40%.
In short, a GPS fleet tracking system can achieve operating efficiencies, reduce operating and maintenance costs for the fleet, achieve significant fuel economies, reduce emissions, and protect your investment in the fleet. Give your drivers and fleet managers the tool that can enable them to responsibly manage your fleet of vehicles and generate greater safety and larger profits.
To learn more about , get the white paper "7 Ways Your Company Can Save Thousands of Dollars With GPS Fleet Tracking." A number of companies have increased their revenue and decreased their costs by installing GPS vehicle tracking for their fleet. To calculate the ROI for your company in under 30 seconds, click through to the ROI calculator.
GPS Vehicle Tracking Reduces Company Vehicle Costs
If you have company vehicles on the road - cars, trucks, tractor trailers - and you do not have GPS vehicle tracking in them, you are probably spending money on wasted time, wasted fuel, and unnecessary vehicle maintenance and repairs. If you want to reduce these costs and improve your bottom line, GPS vehicle tracking is what you need.
You probably remember that UPS made news a few years ago by having their drivers make right turns only. This grew out of analysis of how the drivers were using time and fuel. Most left turns require a wait. Waiting costs money. This is typical of the kind of data and decision-making that can derive from GPS vehicle tracking. It is also typical of the ways companies of all sizes use GPS vehicle tracking data to make decisions that immediately impact the bottom line by reducing operating cost.
GPS vehicle tracking allowed the company to monitor where the trucks were at any given time. They were able to extract reports showing the average wait time to make right turns and to make left turns. They were also able to analyze the amount of extra fuel required to make left turns (due to waiting for traffic to clear or for lights to change). They were also able to convert their findings to dollars lost. They determined that making left turns was simply too expensive.
In September of 2009, the mayor of Dyersburg, Tennessee reported on initial findings about city employee productivity and responsiveness to resident requests for services. Using new GPS vehicle tracking the city discovered several ways to improve productivity, reduce operating costs, eliminate waste, and improve customer satisfaction.
GPS vehicle tracking provides a wealth of information to management, including:
- speeding
- bad driving habits that could harm the car or others
- identification of more efficient routes
- excessive idle time.
- capability for identifying the closest vehicle to an emergency need
- excessive time spent at a location
The information gathered by a GPS vehicle tracking system provides vital decision-making data for managers and company executives. The data can help managers correct bad driving habits, improve efficiencies, identify potential problems and protect their investments. It can become a primary tool in improving customer satisfaction. A good GPS vehicle tracking system can even help you create warning systems for drivers, notify drivers safely of traffic problems and offer alternative routes to save time.
GPS vehicle tracking systems enable you to even extend the life of your vehicles. It can help you identify and correct driving habits that are harmful to engines. It can also help you identify problem employees, identify several kinds of waste, prove unauthorized use of vehicles and find ways to make your drivers and your vehicles more efficient. With GPS vehicle tracking, you can help your employees become more reliable and consistent. You can cut costs while improving productivity; and this will result in increased profit.
Your drivers can find the best driving routes, reduce waiting time, improve fuel economy and contribute to a better bottom line. GPS devices are very affordable and very easy to install and monitor. Many insurance companies even offer rate reductions for vehicles equipped with GPS vehicle tracking. Perhaps best of all, the ROI of this investment will be many times greater than the cost and you can demonstrate improvement almost instantly.
To learn more about , get the free report "7 Ways Your Company Can Save Thousands of Dollars With GPS Fleet Tracking." A number of companies have increased their revenue and lowered their costs by installing a GPS tracking system for their fleet. To calculate the ROI for your company in under 30 seconds, see the ROI calculator.