Effective fleet management means productive asset management. The Fleet Manager has responsibility for optimizing the operation and net cost of a business’s vehicle fleet.
That fleet might include cars, trucks, rentals, construction equipment, road service repair, and even boats and planes.
To optimize your fleet management, you’ll want to think about shopping for GPS-tracking applications.
What GPS-tracking means to you.
Sara Angeles, writing for BusinessNewsDailly.com, says, “Think of GPS fleet-tracking software as your virtual ride-along. Instead of hiring a manager to sit in the passenger seat and monitor vehicles and drivers on the road, GPS fleet-tracking software lets you keep an eye on everything from wherever you are.”
GPS fleet-tracking software bounces signals off geosynchronous satellites to and from your vehicles. Global Positioning Systems (GPS) track the individual vehicles wherever they are in real time.
The real time reports tell you where the vehicle is, how it is running, where it is headed, and much more.
Quality systems plan routes and provide directions, but they also track fuel consumption, maintenance records, and equipment efficiency.
The tracking improves customer service because it allows logistics dispatchers to follow road progress, make changes, and schedule backloads in live time to assures promised arrival time.
And, you might monitor driver behavior that affects road safety and vehicle performance. For example, high speed risks safety and consumes fuel.
What you want in GPS Fleet Tracking
- User-friendly: If the GPS tracking is like a “ride along,” you need to check out the system in action. You want hands on experience with the system to see if the vendor’s promises meet your expectations. And, you must have a system that works across all devices, iOS or Android.
- Price-friendly: Vendors will quote prices, but you want certainty that you pay what you were quoted. Some vendors will charge additional fees for installation and for roaming costs. Fees should not discourage you, but you need to know what you must budget.
- Device-friendly: Quality GPS tracking systems work across all devices, smartphones, tablets, PCs, and anything with internet access.
- Support-friendly: Once under contract, you are likely to be a long term customer. So, you want assurance that the service, support, and training will be there at the beginning and throughout the relationship.
- Learning-friendly: Once you’re into the deal, you want to have it working quickly. As Fleet Manager, you may run the software and/or assign it to a staff member, Either way, you want a short learning curve.
- Time-friendly: The best systems run 24/7 whether or not you are at your end of the GPS tracking. You need data on current traffic as well as historical information. For example, you don’t have to be at the computer to monitor the mileage from the previous night.
- Features-friendly: As long as you are shopping for a system, you should go for all the bells and whistles available. Alerts on speeding, geo-fencing to restrict off-route travel, route and traffic advisories, toll-road avoidance, fuel-card integration, and more help your bottom line.
What GPS tracking does for your business
When your vendor says, “Our GPS Fleet Tracking app helps,” you want to research the return on investment. If your fleet is composed of small vehicles or big, simple or complex machines, gas or diesel drive, you justify your position by keeping wide and deep track of your vehicles.
Tracking follows driver and machine. It monitors upkeep, repair, and condition of your moving assets. It gathers data for mileage and performance on investment. It coaches drivers on most efficient delivery route.
As reported in Fleet Management, “GPS tracking systems have proven to reduce fuel and maintenance costs, increase routing and dispatching efficiency, provide safety and security for drivers, and increase response speed and accuracy to customer questions.”
