Telematics, vehicle tracking software, works by placing a GPS system in a vehicle. This record and collates data about each vehicle in a fleet, building up a picture of how the whole fleet is working. Its primarily used to track the location of vehicles but it can do so much more.
Vehicle tracking software will often be able to provides important information on each driver’s journey, as well as its fuel use and driver habits. Knowing this information and digging into the data will help you business to save money in a number of costly areas.
Monitor each driver’s behaviour to reduce fuel spend
Leading provider of vehicle tracking, Movolytics state that with a vehicle tracking device in place, fuel spend can be reduced to 30 per cent, with inefficient and wasteful driving easily identified, quantified and fixed.
For example, if records show that a driver is frequently speeding or accelerating too fast, this will cause the tires to heat up, thus burning excessive fuel, increasing your fuel spend unnecessarily. If after being monitored by the tracking device, a driver agrees improves their speeding habit, it can also reduce the fleets chance of accidents significantly.
Similarly, idleness also has a negative impact on fuel costs. One hour of idling is equal to between 80 and 120 minutes of driving time, resulting in the loss of fuel.
GPS vehicle monitoring is also a great money and fuel saver as it allows companies to identify routes where drivers waste a lot of fuel. It can also be used to find drivers near to new jobs, saving another driver from using fuel to get to a pick up point that another driver is near to.
Minimising the impact of drivers on your fleet will have a huge impact in what you have to spend on fuel, leaving more profits to reinvest in your business.
Prevent loss of vehicles with theft protection
Preventing the loss of vehicles in your fleet due to theft is certainly important, but so is making sure that an unauthorised use if accounted for. Fleet tracking helps you combat both.
If a company’s vehicle is stolen and it doesn’t have a vehicle tracking system, it will take up more time and resources for the police to locate your vehicle. If the vehicle can’t be found then your business will lose a lot in replacing the vehicle, not to mention the business lost from not having that driver’s vehicle available.
Making sure you equip your fleet with vehicle tracking will not only better the chances of your vehicle being recovered, but insurance companies will see you have taken the initiative to be safe and provide discounted premiums. Insurance company Mark Lucca said some insurance companies can provide discounts as substantial as 15 per cent.
Get alerts to maintenance needs before they become costly breakdowns
With fleet tracking software installed in your vehicles, you’ll have locations, fuel use and driver stats at your fingertips. Vehicle tracking software can also help by building in alerts to ensure your fleet is up to code and passing all its regular maintenance checks.
Even if you only have 15 vehicles in your fleet, remembering when each needs engine, tire or oil checks is time consuming and easy to miss. If you do end up forgetting and something goes wrong, that could easily be a costly repair or emergency breakdown callout.
A vehicle tracking system will help communicate that a vehicle is ready for service and will provide logs of previous maintenance events. By using the GPS system to alert you to organise routine maintenance checks, will help increase the fleet fuel economy by 10 per cent and unexpected costly repairs will be a thing of the past.
