GPS Vehicle Tracking and Your Business
Satellite vehicle tracking is quickly becoming essential for businesses that rely on ground transportation for both services and deliveries. With advances in technology, software, and not to mention, affordability, businesses have access to one of the most useful tools available.
How can GPS vehicle tracking improve your business? Find out below.
Increase Accountability and Decrease Idle Time
One of the primary uses for GPS vehicle tracking is monitoring your business’ property and the people responsible for it. When you send an employee to deliver products or on a service call, you want to ensure that the driver is driving in a trustworthy manner and not wasting company time. While some employees do not need additional oversight to be trustworthy, there are many who do.
Companies can also choose to use discrete tracking so that they can identify questionable driver activity – whether it’s deliberately slow, unnecessary stops or even criminal activity. By covertly installing the GPS device in your company’s vehicle, you can get a more accurate sense of driver behavior, without tipping off the offending employee. At the very least, if your employees become aware that their vehicles are installed with vehicle tracking, they will make more of an effort to work responsibly.
By tracking vehicles, you can reduce idle time and improve your business’ productivity. You also can reduce fuel and vehicle maintenance costs.
Improve Planning and Scheduling
Satellite tracking isn’t all about accountability. It also helps with long- and short-term planning for your fleet. Looking at an outdated atlas won’t help your business much if traffic patterns have changed or if sections of road are under construction. Many GPS tracking options offer a way to observe real-time conditions by using such mapping services as Google Maps. You can observe current traffic, as well as how weather is affecting certain roads.
This information can help you plan the most efficient routes possible for your fleet. Plan to navigate around problem areas, and observe in real time whether your new route is actually working.
For scheduling purposes, GPS tracking can help a business communicate with customers waiting on service calls or shipments. If shipping is your business, you can use your online monitoring ability to inform the receiving crew about delays so that shipping docks can be staffed accordingly. By eliminating the confusion associated with vague arrival times, you can reduce employee idle time and save money.
Direct communication with your customers is critical to improved business, as well. If a customer is waiting for your vehicle to arrive, you have the ability to pinpoint his location and provide a better estimate of arrival time.