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Drivers often indirectly drive the direction of a company based on their terms. And if you are not proactive in monitoring your drivers, you’ll be left in the dark.
You might have no idea that they are taking longer lunches, or doing personal stops every day, or several other tasks unrelated to work.
You have to see whether they are following your instructions and are productive enough. Else, you’ll make incorrect decisions based on wrong assumptions and data.
And this could be fatal to your business.
This is where GPS tracking comes in.
It comes with a plethora of benefits that could help you:
- Monitor your driver’s activities during the day,
- Analyze and improve their productivity, and
- Keep your customers happy.
All of this is critical for growing your field service business.
ALSO READ: Why You Should Track Your Drivers and How a Mobile-Enabled Route Optimization Software Can Help
But, that’s not all.
There are many other reasons why a commercial GPS tracker is hard to ignore.
So, to help you understand how it can benefit your business, we have listed the six major reasons below.
#1 Track Vehicle Speeds
Your drivers might speed up when they’re behind schedule or sometimes even without reason. This is not good for your business.
Aggressive driving includes rapid acceleration, speeding, and hard braking. And, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, such driving can reduce your gas mileage by:
- 5% around town and
- a whopping 33% on highways.
So, your drivers must maintain proper speeds to reduce their fuel usage. Easier to do when you have an app for GPS tracking.
It provides information on their current speed and alerts you when a vehicle is driving too fast. This helps you identify and communicate to the aggressive drivers that they need to slow down. They will then realize that they must maintain the speed limit to avoid excessive fuel usage.
It’s human nature for most people; we tend to work better when we know someone is watching our progress closely.
Such driver feedback can save fuel and improve gas mileage by around 10%. That’s like saving about $0.07 to $0.22 per gallon.
But, it’s not only about saving on fuel expenses.
Excessive speeding can cause accidents or road law violations. And this can eventually jeopardize your business.
Can you afford that?
#2 Avoid Excessive Idling
There could be times when your driver wastes fuel by using their vehicle as a climate control system. They might also not turn off their vehicles from their first delivery until they return to the depot.
They could even park their vehicles without turning off the engine. And, such excessive idling could cost you almost a gallon per hour for no reason.
The amount of wastage can go even higher, based on the engine size and air conditioner usage.
Normally, it’s hard to figure out the idle time of every vehicle. But, it’s easy when you adopt a GPS tracking system.
It will alert you in real-time when any vehicle is idle for a longer period. In this way, you can take corrective actions.
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#3 Increase the Security
Most fleets experience an average of two vehicles stolen per year. Also, the majority of fleet owners fail to recover their vehicles.
In addition, around $30 billion in cargo is stolen annually in the U.S., as per a study.
These are alarming figures and, if you don’t want to be a victim, you need to have a GPS tracking app.
In any case, if any vehicle is used after hours, it notifies you immediately. Also, even if the vehicle is stolen, you can recover it easily as a GPS tracking device quickly gives you every detail of its whereabouts.
#4 GPS Tracking Helps Improve Your Customer Service
GPS tracking also helps you know where your drivers are in real-time and what they are doing. This gives you the ability to effectively direct your drivers to any job site.
For example, you can send the closest vehicle to a new customer location. Or, you can reroute a vehicle to deliver a package on time if the designated truck falls behind schedule.
This will ensure that you never miss a deadline and will eventually make your customer happy.
Moreover, if customers ask for an ETA, you can provide them with an accurate delivery time. You can also keep them informed of any late delivery times.
This will create the impression that you are committed to ensuring a successful relationship. And, this will eventually push them to do more business with you.
It will also help you avoid any customer disputes as you’ll have every small delivery detail. You will know the exact time a driver turned up and how long he or she stayed at the location.
So, if a customer complains about a late delivery, you’ll have data to know the truth.
#5 Save on Insurance Premiums
GPS tracking comes with a psychological advantage as well.
RELATED: How Vehicle Route Planning Software Can Help You Get Employees on Board with GPS Tracking
If your drivers know that they are being watched, they’ll try to avoid risky driving behavior. This will reduce the chances of potential accidents. And, that means that you’ll have lower repair expenses, replacement costs, and liability litigations.
You can also indicate this to your insurance company and prove that you have safe drivers. This could result in a lower insurance premium.
And, that’s not all.
You can get discounts from your insurance companies if you track your drivers.
Tracking devices are considered anti-theft devices. And, insurance companies must provide you with discounts if you have such technologies enabled.
For example, AAA insurance offers about 20% discount, and USAA offers up to 33%!
#6 Avoid Legal Hassles
You can face legal hassles due to many aspects. For example, your drivers could speed up in a crowded area or break the speed limit specified in an area. They could even be driving the wrong way down a one-way road.
Even unauthorized vehicle usage by your drivers could put you in legal hassles.
They could use your vehicle for personal reasons during work hours and create an accident. Although there are many factors outside of your control, some affect you. You might be financially and legally responsible if it happened during work hours.
But, when you use a vehicle tracking system, you will easily know when a driver makes a personal stop. You’ll also know when they are visiting a restricted area. This will help you instruct the driver to stay on the route.
Conclusion about GPS Tracking
Route optimization software with a built-in GPS tracking feature can help you stay informed when a driver is:
- Stopping at unauthorized stops,
- Goofing off on the clock,
- Insecure of the loading of goods,
- Taking prolonged lunch breaks, or
- Parking offhand.
With such data, you improve their productivity and get rid unproductive drivers.
Also, by relying on GPS tracking, you can experience financial benefits. It puts you in the passenger seat of every vehicle in your fleet. You also gain full control over your fleet, improving productivity and reducing expenses.
So, do you track your drivers, or are you still dependent on them?
