Why GPS Fleet Tracking Helps Your Bottom Line

Sales of GPS fleet tracking systems have grown by more than 300% in each of the last two years. The reason is simple: it saves money and increases productivity. If you have a fleet of five or more company vehicles and you have not investigated the savings you can achieve with GPS fleet tracking, now is the time to take action. Don’t lose thousands – even tens of thousands – of dollars this year because you failed to take action.

You can install a GPS fleet tracking system for just about $300 per vehicle. Then there will be a monthly maintenance fee of less than $50 (in most cases). You can expect to recover the entire first year’s cost in under 6 months. After that, you will be calculating the return on the investment. Some companies have even reported a positive ROI in the first month of using a GPS fleet tracking system. Here are some of the factors that help the company’s bottom line.

1. Improve navigation. Your GPS fleet tracking system will be fully integrated with Google maps. This enables drivers to identify the fastest, most direct or most fuel-efficient route to a destination (whether it is within the city or across the country). The navigation function also provides live time reports on traffic conditions along the way, even providing detours around traffic jams. If the weather is bad, you can choose terrain views to see what is ahead. Navigation functionality in your GPS fleet tracking system also allows fleet managers to know precisely where every vehicle is at any time. This makes it easy to identify the closest vehicle to an emergency situation and quickly re-route a vehicle.

2. Monitor and improve driving habits. Because your GPS fleet tracking system compiles data on driver behavior, you can identify drivers who are habitual speeders or who consistently brake hard or who accelerate too fast from a stop. You will have regular reports of every trip taken by every vehicle. You can program the GPS fleet tracking system to alert the driver when the speed limit is exceeded by more than 5 mph and to alert the fleet manager when the speed limit is exceeded by more than 10 mph. You can track exact routes and know which drivers are taking detours or are sitting somewhere with the engine idling for extended periods of time. By monitoring and reviewing this data with your drivers you can improve driving habits and safety.

3. Anti-theft and accident report function. Not only will a GPS fleet tracking system help you locate a stolen vehicle instantly and share information with the police, you can also disable the vehicle. In the event of an accident, you will be alerted instantly so you can determine the extent of the damages and injuries and send help to your driver. The GPS fleet tracking program will also create an incident report that will document the speed and direction of your vehicle when the accident occurred. The vehicle locator, anti-theft functions and accident report will qualify each vehicle for a discount on insurance of as much as 33%.

4. Vehicle maintenance tools. Either as in independent function or in interface with the computer in the vehicle, GPS fleet tracking software will monitor operation of the vehicle ranging from tire inflation to fluid levels to wear and tear on engine parts. For example, a crack in a fitting in the engine will be reported immediately. The driver can be notified if on a long trip and can stop for a repair before a larger problem is created and s/he is stranded on the side of the road. If the vehicle is driven locally, you can continue to monitor it throughout the day and have the fitting replaced when it returns at the end of the day.

Use of these four major capabilities of a GPS fleet tracking system will help your company save money in the following ways:

– Reduce fuel costs because less fuel is used

– Dramatically reduce repair costs by as much as 20%, drive vehicles longer, and catch problems before they become big breakdowns

– Save 5-35% on insurance costs per vehicle

– Eliminate damaging or costly bad driver habits

– Spend less time driving and more time working, which will increase efficiency, productivity, customer satisfaction, and reduce overtime costs

– Reduce paperwork for drivers, fleet manager and payroll

– Eliminate unauthorized vehicle use and drivers intentionally wasting time

– Achieve greater reliability on arrival times, repair times, travel times; respond faster to customer emergencies; improve customer service and customer satisfaction

Whether you manage a fleet of 5 or 500 vehicles, a GPS fleet tracking system will save you time. It will reduce expenses, make you more efficient, make your drivers more efficient and productive, will improve customer satisfaction and retention, and save a bundle of money for the company in ways that carry straight to the bottom line. Can you really afford to be without a GPS fleet tracking system for your company?

For more information about GPS fleet tracking, get the free report “7 Ways Your Company Can Save Thousands of Dollars With GPS Fleet Tracking.” Many companies have boosted their revenue and decreased their costs by installing a GPS tracking system for their fleet. To calculate the ROI for your company in under 30 seconds, see the GPS tracking ROI calculator.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 18th, 2010 at 4:24 pm and is filed under GPS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.