by Ekim Saribardak, CTO of Rewire Security
Businesses that don’t evolve to adapt to new operational challenges will be left behind in today’s fast-paced world. With the increasing need to transport goods on a larger scale than ever before, transport and logistics companies require a management system that’s capable of handling such complex business operations.
A growing number of business owners and fleet managers are transitioning to GPS-based vehicle tracking systems to help overcome their operational challenges. These modern fleet management systems are far superior to the old “dots on a map” telematics systems – they provide a sophisticated set of tools that can help companies achieve greater results and gain an edge over their competitors.
In fact, a good tracking system can help a business with everything from lowering excess fuel use to improving fleet safety. What’s more, they offer massive savings on costs throughout fleet operations. With a real-time overview of their fleet and telematics data at hand, field managers can improve almost every aspect of their business operations.
Let’s take a look at some of the ways vehicle tracking systems have reshaped the world of fleet management:
Resource Optimisation.
Every business owner wants to reduce expenses while fostering productivity. For fleet businesses, fuel, vehicle maintenance, and driver-related costs are all substantial expenses. Fleet tracking software provides managers with comprehensive reports on trip time, length and distance; fuel usage and driving behaviour; and engine diagnostic data. With accurate and actionable data at hand, managers can analyse employee work hours, ensure timely vehicle maintenance, eliminate causes of fuel waste, and enforce safety policies on irresponsible drivers.
When drivers perform their duties by the book, they tend to complete more jobs each day. With efficient route planning and improved dispatching, employees can respond to more job orders or deliver significantly more payload, resulting in increased revenue. Regardless of their size, every company has finite resources, so they need to be managed meticulously. By maximising the efficiency of drivers and reducing the amount of resources needed to run each route, fleet businesses can improve their productivity across the board and boost their profits.
Dispatching and Routing Efficiencies.
Without customers, there is no business. It’s important for any company to keep their existing customers as well as add new ones to their portfolio, but the huge amount of competition in the fleet industry makes it paramount for fleet businesses to ensure customer satisfaction. Having the ability to locate any vehicle in real-time has massive benefits in this regard. Whether you service individuals or companies, customers often need immediate attention, and responding to these requests in a timely manner is vital. When dispatchers know the precise location of every vehicle in the field, they can send the closest tech team or delivery personnel to the client in need. With efficient route planning and dispatching, not only can businesses save money on fuel and enhance their resource management, but they will also gain loyal customers thanks to their vastly improved response time.
Route planning is a key part of the fleet management process. Drivers’ routes tend to be repetitive, but you might not recognise the patterns or know how to utilise this information. The tracking software processes the data into easy to understand information that field managers can use to map out better routes for maximum efficiency. Additionally, managers can utilise live traffic info to make last-minute changes to routes to help drivers avoid any major downtime.
Paperwork and Management Workload.
Fleet companies have to obey the numerous laws and regulations overseeing the transport industry. However, it can be challenging to ensure compliance across all branches of a company. Fleet operations are much more complicated than simply moving cargo or sending teams to perform maintenance. To ensure everything is within legal regulations, there has to be a paper trail for each transaction and detailed mileage logs for every business trip, and businesses are required to provide the necessary paperwork to the regulatory government agencies in the event of an audit.
While the process sounds really complicated, fleet tracking software can significantly lessen the amount of paperwork involved. Best GPS trackers collect and store every piece of information about fleet operations which makes it considerably easier to generate the required documents and ensure there’s no foul play by either employees or executives. Fleet management systems grant greater visibility into business operations with easy access to vehicle and driver data. Managers can generate customised reports, distinguish business from personal trips, and promptly present the government authorities with the exact information they demand.
For companies operating a vehicle fleet, it has become a necessity to integrate an intelligent vehicle tracking system into their infrastructure in today’s business world. A seemingly ordinary feature like Trip Logging can save a company hundreds if not thousands of pounds a year on tax returns – and this is just one example of how these smart systems can reduce a company’s expenses.
With on-demand access to a myriad of powerful management tools, business owners and fleet managers can increase their operational efficiency and promote safer driving habits, all while improving customer satisfaction and lowering costs. The capabilities of IoT-enabled fleet management systems are endless, and thanks to the advances in GPS and telematics technologies, vehicle tracking is both affordable and extremely reliable.
CTO of Rewire Security Ekim Saribardak is a highly motivated IT professional who possesses a never-ending love and passion for web application and software projects. He is experienced with technical knowledge in all areas of telecommunications, GPS technology, web applications, digital marketing and product management, with an aptitude for problem-solving and decision-making with the ability to influence others in complex and pressurized circumstances. He has worked in both hardware and software fields for different businesses for over two decades.
