7 Reasons to Always Use a GPS Tracker in Fleet Vehicles
Have you considered outfitting your fleet with a GPS fleet management system? A recent survey found that 76% of fleets experience improved productivity by simply using a GPS fleet tracker in each vehicle.
The benefits of GPS tracking for fleets are numerous. They include fuel savings, improved business efficiency, increased fleet safety, and better driver performance.
So, keep reading to learn the top seven reasons why you should use a GPS tracker in each of your fleet vehicles.
1. Improved Efficiency and Profit
Tracking your trucks will help to make sure that your drivers are on the road and that your trailers are full.
Knowing where your trucks are helps you to efficiently pair trucks with loads by location. For example, by using a GPS tracker you can quickly see which drivers are closest to a client site where a pick up is needed. Similarly, you can schedule drop off and pick ups that are close together to reduce down-time.
In addition, GPS provides real-time data on your vehicle locations, speeds, and behaviours. This data can help you to ensure that your drivers complete pickups and deliveries on-time. And meeting shipping deadlines is certain to make your customers happy.
Using GPS trackers will ultimately improve your truck efficiency and increase your profits.
2. Live Location & Traffic Data
Pair a GPS tracker with a good fleet management platform to give your drivers and dispatchers access to real-time traffic data. They’ll be able to plan, cancel, and alter routes to prevent delays and down-time.
You’ll also be able to see exactly where your trucks are, and identify where service overlaps are occurring. Do a little reorganization with your loads and efficiency is yours!
Real-time location data can also come in handy in the case of an accident or maintenance issue.
3. Lower Fuel Costs
Eliminate unnecessary mileage, overlap, idling, and deadhead to capture fuel savings for your business. GPS tracking has helped approximately 89% of fleets to reduced their fuel costs.
When your drivers sit idle in traffic or at a loading dock they’re burning up a significant amount of fuel. First, you can use GPS tracking to adjust routes and avoid traffic jams. Then you can use it to better match loads with nearby or quickly available trucks. The final results will be fewer trucks wasting less fuel and a healthier bottom line.
Speed is another factor in fuel efficiency. Use a GPS tracker to monitor and encourage improved driving behaviours. Driving above the speed limit wastes fuel and puts lives at risk. Fortunately, a quality GPS system will help you to track truck speeds, identify risky behaviours, and make policy adjustments accordingly. Drivers are more likely to drive better when they are being tracked and recognized for their behaviours
4. Fewer Maintenance Costs
Telematics provides data on vehicle performance, driving behaviour, mileage, and active hours. Keeping track of how often and how far each truck drives makes it easier to give your fleet the maintenance it needs.
Without tracking, businesses typically schedule maintenance on a set routine. So, trucks often receive maintenance services long before or after they are truly needed. Now, this results in increased vehicle wear, risk of breakdowns, and/or maintenance costs. With a GPS tracker, you receive alerts as to when maintenance is needed. Those alerts are based on actual mileage driven or active engine hours.
So, protect your trucks and your drivers. Use telematics to know exactly when to change a tire or flush an engine. You’ll find yourself with more money in your pocket. Prevent unnecessary maintenance, avoid breakdowns, and reduce maintenance-related accidents.
5. Automation
Remember those paper driver log sheets and maintenance forms? Say goodbye.
A good GPS tracker will work with electronic forms and ELD platforms to automatically collect and record details such as odometer, mileage, and time-on-site. Your drivers can save service records electronically, upload fuel receipts, and supplement forms with photos. Meanwhile, you gain access to employee hours, mileage, load schedules, job assignments, routes, and more.
This means less paperwork, easier organization and improved transparency for you and your drivers. So, are you convinced yet?
6. Improved Performance and Safety
As mentioned, drivers who know that they are being tracked tend to drive more safely. Install a GPS tracker and you will quickly see which drivers are your top performers. Plus, you’ll see which drivers need to watch their speed, harsh-braking, and idling time.
But telematics also helps to protect your drivers directly. If they’re ever in an accident, or find themselves needing urgent help, GPS tracking can provide their exact location resulting in quicker emergency response times.
Additionally, with efficient and timely maintenance, your trucks stay healthier, and your drivers spend less time stranded on the side of the road.
Eliminating poor driving behaviours and maintenance problems will keep everyone on the road safer. Consider rewarding your drivers for safe driving with incentives and recognition to increase performance and acceptance of GPS tracking.
7. Lower Insurance & Liability Rates
Did you know that many insurance companies offer discounts to companies that install GPS trackers in their trucks? Some insurers will even offer continuously lower rates as an ongoing reward for safe driving. These discounts can really add up for a business considering how high insurance costs can be.
Additionally, using a GPS tracker can go a long way towards reducing your liability in the case of an accident. You can use telematics data to ‘reconstruct’ an accident and prove that your driver was not at fault (if he truly wasn’t). This can save you time, stress, and money.
Finally, you can reduce your liability for workers’ compensation and accident costs by monitoring your fleet and staying up-to-date on vehicle maintenance.
Using A Fleet Management GPS Tracker
Installing a GPS tracker in each of your fleet vehicles will result in cost-savings, improved business efficiency and increased driver productivity. You will also benefit from easier organization and tracking, fewer maintenance problems and increased fleet safety. So, take the first step and find a fleet management solution that’s right for you.
Are you currently using a GPS Tracker? Let us know in the comments!
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