As a fleet manager that controls all operations in a fleet, you must have realized that your employees are your greatest asset and also your most significant liability.
You require employees to drive the vehicles to carry out deliveries and move products, but you rarely have access to any real-time information while your drivers are in transit.
With Global Positioning System (https://www.samsara.com/guides/what-is-gps) enabled fleet tracking, you can maintain tabs on fleet vehicles as-well-as employee productivity while conserving fuel and insurance costs.
GPS Tracking – Elevating Accountability Within Your Business
Fleet tracking empowers you to keep track of where and when your employees are on the road.
Real-time GPS tracking provides you with immediate data on where your automobile is and records where the vehicle has traveled so far.
With vehicles made available to employees on off-days or weekends, GPS tracking corroborates whether the automobiles are in operation during this time.
Here are seven ways through which fleet tracking can increase accountability within your business –
1. Boost Employee Safety And Lower Liability
Unsafe and negligent driving or distracted driving leads to both mechanical and personal cost. It decreases the lifespan of vehicles and can open your company to grave liabilities if the driver is found negligent.
Civil lawsuits have become common in the United States, and nearly half of plaintiffs win their cases with an average of $60,000 for you to pay in compensation.
Trackers announce not just where employees are operating, but the way they are driving, alongside data on speed and acceleration.
It also tells you how long did your drivers actively travel on the road. A tracking system lowers your liability and improves employee safety by holding the drivers accountable for the way they were handling your vehicle.
Read: How to Reduce Distracted Driving for Your Fleet
2. Alleviate Costs
Managers can review fuel consumption during idle times and driving miles for each gallon.
An hour of idling is accountable for 25 miles of driving time. Since a fleet tracking system tracks driver speed, it can spot drivers who routinely drive too fast.
Every five miles driven at a speed of 60 miles an hour consumes about 24 cents per gallon. If your driver fills up to the tune of three dollars per gallon, they would now fill up at $3.24 per gallon.
A tracking system can spot reckless, incompetent drivers, and help you save on vehicle wear and tear.
3. Habit Monitoring Of Drivers
If your drivers are indulging in unsafe driving habits, not only does it put them at risk, but it also risks the well-being of other drivers or passengers, pedestrians, your automobile, and the valuable shipment they carry.
It becomes paramount that you hold your drivers accountable when they do not follow safe driving practices. Negligent driving is the leading cause of poor delivery of performance by the truck and unexpected breakdowns.
With GPS tracking software, you have concrete proof that can hold your drivers accountable for their patterns while operating your fleet.
Decent fleet tracking systems can alert the fleet manager in case there is an instance of severe braking, hard turning, or brisk acceleration.
4. Real-Time Communication With Drivers
With GPS tracking and asset management tools, you can stay in contact with your drivers throughout the day, despite them being on the road and you in the office.
Fleet tracking software empowers the managers with reporting based on time, speed, distance, and turn detection, as-well-as secure, two-way messaging facilities.
You can deliver messages, or have drivers send statuses, such as ‘Clocking In’ or ‘Taking a Break.’ Such texts are efficient for when drivers are operating the vehicle and cannot type a text.
With increasing negligence of drivers towards their automobiles, you need a state-of-the-art car tracking device that you can purchase from Samsara along with other telematics solutions.
5. Effective Customer Service
A GPS tracking system permits you to track your vehicles and alert customers about the expected delivery date and any possible delays.
Some high-quality GPS systems even offer live maps to share with a customer, yielding real-time tracking of a package or vehicle.
By letting a customer know precisely about their order details, not only do you boost satisfaction, but increase driver accountability as well in case any delays occur.
In a dispatch system, fleet tracking lets you contact the closest driver and have them turn up on the site faster than not knowing their precise location.
Even a minor fleet of company automobiles can seek benefits from a real-time fleet tracking system. With regular monitoring, drivers strictly comply with delivery schedules, which also boosts customer satisfaction.
6. Keeping Thefts In Check
While in transit, consider installing a dashcam in your fleet automobiles to monitor the entire route.
Dashcams can increase accountability as it would accurately narrate the scenario about everything that went down during the robbery and if it was the fault of the driver.
GPS tracking solutions notify the fleet manager automatically if a fleet vehicle halts without logging in and stays there for prolonged periods, thereby increasing vigilance.
7. Vehicle Downtime And Maintainability
Every time your fleet vehicle breaks down, you need to investigate the reasons behind it. If you are up-to-date with your maintenance and regular vehicle inspection, the next step is to question the driver.
Remote vehicle diagnostics consistently monitor vehicle health, including engine heat status or rash driving. This insightful data can hold the driver accountable for the vehicle breakdown.
Fleet tracking systems can tell you when maintenance is due for your automobiles and even suggest the next course of action to minimize vehicle downtime and get it back on the road.
Final Words
No matter the size of your business or fleet, fleet management is a troublesome job.
It will help if you are vigilant when monitoring your vehicles as you have entrusted your fleet and your cargo to someone else.
The freedom to operate within reasonable boundaries empowers drivers so that they can perform efficiently and increase value to your business.
Using such an approach congregate with advanced GPS tracking boosts productivity while mitigating fuel costs, as drivers give attention to their driving as-well-as work habits throughout the day.