Vehicle Tracking Systems Benefits for businesses

Vehicle Tracking can help you to save money, increase productivity and improve security. You to track your entire fleet live online from your desktop PC, laptop or smart phone. You can track cars, vans, HGVs, trailers and plant equipment.

Slash Fuel Consumption

With fuel costs on the constant increase it is highly important for any business that has company vehicles to make sure they are not wasting fuel. Vehicle tracking is an effective tool to lowering fuel consumption. In fact in most cases this benefit alone will pay for the cost of vehicle tracking.

Private Millage, Business Millage and HMRC Compliance

The main way vehicle tracking can save you money on fuel is by cutting out wastage. If your vehicle is tracked you can put a stop to private usage of the vehicles or keep it to a minimum. Some companies even use millage reports produced by their tracking system to calculate how much to charge their employees for the private usage of the company vehicles.

Also it can help with HMRC compliance. The HMRC accept historic reports produced by tracking systems as proof of private and business millage.

Stop Aggressive Driving and Frequent Speeding

Some vehicle tracking systems have driver behaviour reporting and speeding reporting. Driver behaviour reporting gives you reports on how the vehicles are being driven. It can tell you which vehicles have been driven aggressively with excessive harsh accelerating and breaking, a good indicator of a vehicle that has been driven in an uneconomical manner. If vehicles are driven with lower revs it can cut fuel consumption considerably.

Speeding reporting gives you reports on vehicles that frequently go over speed limits. Speeding can also lead to increased fuel consumption.

Both aggressive driving and speeding can be dangerous. This is not good for your company’s image if vehicles with your business name on the side are being driven badly. Also, this can help with aspects of your duty of care.

Monitor Fuel Consumption

Some vehicle tracking systems have a feature known as CAM Bus integration which can monitor the fuel consumption of your vehicles. This can be a very useful tool, especially for HGVs which use a lot of fuel.

Put a Stop To Employees Skiving and Increase Productivity

Have you ever wondered where your employees are throughout the day? With vehicle tracking, you can make sure everyone is where they should be at all times and that your staff is not taking you for a ride. Some mobile employees will take unauthorised breaks and vehicle tracking can help to put a stop to this. This will lead to increased productivity and fewer wasted hours.

Less Admin and No More False Overtime Claims

Most vehicle tracking systems come with timesheet reporting. This is incredibly useful as it can save your payroll department a lot of time and make false overtime claims a thing of the past. It can also put a stop to your employees arriving on site late or leaving early.

Integrated Satnav

Do your employees spend a lot of time driving around trying to find the location of a business or their next service call? Maps of course can help with this problem, but it is difficult and dangerous to read a map and drive at the same time. Some vehicle tracking systems have the optional extra of integrated satnav making it easier for employees to find locations and therefore wasting less time and fuel.

Increase Customer Service

It is always good for businesses to improve the quality of their customer service. Opening up better lines of communication between customers, employees and the office is just one of the rewards you will experience with a vehicle tracking system. For example, if a customer phones to ask for an update on their delivery you can now give this to them by simply viewing your tracking application and seeing where the driver is. This is both easier and quicker than phoning the driver.

Lower Insurance Premiums and Increased Security

Looking for more ways to save money, how about through your insurance? Did you know that it could be possible to save on your premiums when your fleet has a GPS vehicle tracking system installed? This is because vehicle tracking enables you to know where the vehicle is at all times. This means that the recovery rate of stolen vehicles with tracking installed is considerably higher. That said not all insurance companies will give you a discount, so do not assume you will receive a discount just because you have tracking. Have a word with your insurance company and see what they have to say.

Locate The Nearest Person

Without a tracking system, you would probably need to phone several of your mobile team to find out who is nearest to any new jobs that occur throughout the day. With tracking, you can simply look at your tracking application. Some tracking systems even have a feature called “Locate Nearest Driver”, with this you just put in the postcode of the new location and it will tell you who is nearest.

Things To Consider Before You Purchase Vehicle Tracking

If you are thinking of investing in GPS vehicle tracking then you should research the subject thoroughly before you leap into a contract with a tracking supplier. There are lots of things to consider. These include:

1. Payment options, lease, rental, pay as you go
2. Features and type of tracking system that will suit your business.
3. Which company will be able to best suit your needs and looks like it is here to stay.
4. The length of the warranty given.

These are just some of the considerations you should think over before getting a tracking system.

Types of Tracking

As well as vehicle tracking systems there are other types of tracking. These other products are developed to solve different problems. Some of these tracking products may be of use to your business.

Lone Worker Tracking

Lone worker tracking as the name suggests is a product aimed at workers who work out of the office and on their own. These types of products have been developed to solve a number of problems including the lack of safety some lone workers have to experience. Typical users of lone worker tracking are nurses visiting patients’ homes and engineers working on-site. These types of tracking systems come with panic alarms so that if the worker needs help they can alert their HQ or office.

Anti Theft Tracking

This type of tracking is used primarily to track vehicles that have been stolen. Many insurance companies now insist on expensive motor vehicles being fitted with a Thatcham-approved anti-theft vehicle tracking system before they will insure the car. Other insurance companies simply make the premiums ridiculously high on expensive cars unless you get tracking fitted. Usually, it is cheaper to get a tracking system fitted.

Plant Tracking

Plant tracking is becoming very popular and this type of tracking has two main purposes. Firstly it is an anti-theft tracking system. Plant equipment has long been a target for thieves and this problem is not getting smaller. Plant tracking both increases the chances of recovering the plant and also catching the thieves.

Another use for plant tracking is to keep tabs on the usage of the equipment. This helps hire companies that hire the equipment by the day. If it is hired out over a weekend to be used on Saturday then it should not be used on Sunday unless they pay to rent it on Sunday as well as Saturday. The problem is you cannot take it back on a Sunday. You have to take it back on a Monday. Obviously what people often do is pay to rent it for just Saturday and then use it Saturday and Sunday and take it back Monday and pay for just Saturday.

Now plant tracking can tell the hiring company when it has been used. If it was used on Sunday then they can charge the customer for the Sunday as well as the Saturday.

Trailer Tracking

Trailer tracking is to track the trailers that lorries pull behind them. This is for security reasons and can come with other features to give managers information about the trailer. One feature is to keep tabs on the temperature of a refrigerated trailer where it is not meant to drop below a certain temperature.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, vehicle tracking enables you to gain greater control over your fleet of vehicles and your mobile operations, enabling you to save time, and money, increase profits, increase safety and increase security.