What are the principle benefits of vehicle tracking? There are many opportunities to increase the efficiency, productivity and accountability of your organisation through the simple, cost-effective implementation and use of a vehicle tracking solution. The often quoted principle benefits of vehicle tracking include - Increased productivity
- Reduced operational costs
- Improved customer service
- Enhanced security for both driver and vehicle
The list below provides some examples where the use of a vehicle tracking solution can have an effect in an organisation. There is a caveat; and that is, for these benefits to become a reality your organisation really has to be able to make full use of the information the tracking product delivers. A lot of thought should go into what can really be achieved by the implementation of a system. The stated aims need to be realistic and the chosen product needs to contain all the features required to assist you in meeting your desired objectives. 10 Reasons to install (and use!) a vehicle tracking solution. - Introduce an AVL tracking system to your employees as part of a bonus and cost savings program. Employees and staff need to quickly accept the idea of using vehicle tracking technology to keep up with the times and increase the financial position of the company; rather than “big brother watching over them”. Employees value their jobs in a tighter economy, more than they do the idea of being supervised. At the end of the day, vehicle tracking technology is essentially just another management tool to help you better run your business.
- An AVL vehicle tracking system can be actively used to resolve customer disputes related to arrival time, service duration and service location. Employees will appreciate this level of detailed support.
- By knowing the exact location of a vehicle, pinpointed on a map, remote staff that are lost can be better helped. This helps the employee stay on schedule and not have to speed or work over time to recover lost time.
- Reducing the average speed of your vehicles. As an example, if you get your vehicles to slow down and stay within the speed limits, this relates directly into fuel consumption, maintenance and accidents that could save up to 20% on your monthly fuel bill. The additional benefit of reducing speed is that your drivers may well keep their licenses for a while longer! and you can reduce your insurance liability. You may find that servicing and maintenance costs will reduce, however this will only be evident over time. It might take a year for you to really see the difference on your bottom-line, but it has to come if you are driving fewer miles and at the legal speed limits.
- Verification of the accuracy of time sheets can be a key area for improvement. The introduction of an AVL system gives you the facility to compare a typical start-stop report to the time sheets. Determine what the average margin of error is and then compare that to the time sheets before you installed the vehicle tracking system. The benefit can equate to savings of thousands of pounds, per employee, per year.
- Verify existing and promote new sales calls from your sales team. If each sales person can generate one additional sales call in every three days that mean an extra 84 sales calls, per employee, per year. How much in extra sales, new business and profits will this mean to your business every year? Add to this the savings from not paying for mileage or fuel for unproductive or personal driving on company times and your business is even further ahead.
- Actively monitor the time per stop or call. A good service manager will know exactly how long a quality service call or delivery will take. By watching the reported time they can determine whether the employee is spending too much, “unproductive time”, or too little “valuable” time with customers and clients. This results in fewer customer cancellations, allowances, returned goods and an increase in sales. Efficiency is the key here.
- Use the fact that you are utilising the latest vehicle tracking technology as a competitive advantage. Telling customers that you will be there between 8 am – 5pm is becoming less acceptable in the marketplace. Customers want more accurate and better-informed call times. When all else is equal between customers, use of vehicle tracking technology will be a distinct sales advantage.
- Contact your insurance provider and request a discount when you can show them your vehicles are now driving slower, driving fewer miles and you are reducing the risk of accidents. If the insurance company will not give you a reduction, shop around. There are insurance companies that will offer a discount, once you can show an improvement.
- Use the reporting a system can help to eliminate moonlighting, driving after hours and unwanted stops during the workday. This will save you money on wages, fuel, maintenance, limit your liability and provide for better customer service. Your driving policy must be a written policy to reduce your liability in case of legal action. -- See the Duty of Care article
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