In the modern age, establishments that depend on their fleet vehicles for day-to-day operations tend to face a multitude of roadblocks, varying from increasing fuel costs to ensuring drivers' security.
However, one of the technologies becoming relatively famous is integrating business vehicle trackers. That said, a vehicle tracker is a device installed in a fleet and uses GPS advancement to track its real-time location. Moving ahead, the data gets transmitted to central servers where the manager or business owner can access all the data.
Before elaborating further, let’s delve deeper into the advantages of installing business vehicle tracker, coupled with potential challenges and considerations.
What’s The Context of Business Vehicle Trackers?
Vehicle trackers have been in the market for several years. However, their incorporation has become only relevant in the last two decades.
Moreover, with the introduction of many modules and upgrades, a business vehicle tracker has evolved significantly. In today’s date, trackers can offer a wealth of information, like speed, location, and even driver behavior. Wait, there’s more! Talking about endless features, such devices can also enable route optimization, lessen unnecessary travel, and enhance fuel efficiency.
Key Benefits of Installing a Business Vehicle Tracker
Why would a business introduce vehicle trackers to their fleet vehicles? Indeed, because of multiple advantages. Some of them are mentioned below:
Increased efficiency
Through the process of optimizing routes and alleviating unnecessary travel, fleet managers can save a considerable amount of money and time. Suppose a heating and plumbing company reported their increased revenue by 25% after integrating vehicle tracking systems. In this case, they could optimize routes and lessen travel time, allowing them to cater to more customers daily.
Fuel management
By acknowledging areas where fleet vehicles are utilizing more fuel, managers can undertake necessary steps to alleviate fuel consumption costs. It’s as simple as it gets. The more money you’ll save on fuel consumption, the fewer miles your truck has to cover, leading to fewer maintenance costs and so much more.
According to some research pieces, aggressive driving patterns lower gas mileage by approximately 33% on the highway and 5-8% on city roads.
Maintenance scheduling
By alerting companies when fleet vehicles are due for services and maintenance, they can ensure their cars run smoothly and prevent frequent workshop visits. Such a scenario also improves safety since well-maintained vehicles are less likely to lead to accidents or break down.
Safety
When you monitor driving behavior and patterns, business owners can pick out risky driving motifs and offer specific training to boost and enhance their performance. Monitoring such situations can lessen the risk of accidents, resulting in considerable cost savings for fleet establishments.
Reduce Insurance Costs
Wondering if drivers take an alternative course to conclude the job? As an operator, you have to trust your staff. However, not every member is as genuine as you’d want them to be. This is where a reliable tracking system can be noteworthy. Speaking of which, fleet monitoring systems have the potential to track if a fleet vehicle has deviated from the expected course. If it’s a yes, they quickly alert the department, boosting the chances of recovery in cases of theft and accident.
Meanwhile, they can also offer insight into a driver’s behavioral pattern, encouraging drivers to be more responsible when possessing company vehicles. This is where insurance companies can provide unique discounts on vehicles equipped with a GPS tracking system, enabling you to pay relatively low premiums of up to 20-30%.
Considerations You Must Know
While selecting vehicle trackers, you must consider several factors. The most important being:
Fleet size
Massive fleets might need advanced tracking systems, whereas smaller ones may do with simpler ones. In addition, companies should consider specific features they need, like geofencing, real-time tracking, and driver behavior monitoring.
Handpick providers
Consider picking service providers that are reliable and offer reliable customer support. While you’re at it already, make the most of the system cost, along with any ongoing support fees and maintenance. Moreover, did you know businesses must seek a service provider with a track record of offering quality and reliable services? If you’re in a fix, know that the provider must have good customer support. This caters to issues with the tracker system if something goes south.
Type of tracking system
There are many tracking systems, including satellite-based, cellular-based, and hybrid systems. That said, cellular-based systems are relatively more common and utilize cellular networks to transmit data, whereas satellite-based systems employ satellites to transmit data.
When it comes to hybrid systems, you must know about their versatility. What makes them an ideal option? They use satellite and cellular networks to transmit data, providing a more accurate and reliable form of tracking data.
Level of detail
While a few systems offer basic location tracking, others tend to give away more comprehensive data like driver behavior, vehicle speed, and fuel consumption. For small-scale operators, it would be a wise choice to evaluate your requirements and then integrate the amount of detail you’d wish to accommodate.
The verdict
With severe repercussions looming large in the absence of fleet trackers, it’s your fundamental responsibility to employ such trackers in your fleet vehicles. Consequently, installing vehicle trackers can provide you with multiple benefits. They can reduce costs, increase efficiency, and improve safety. However, companies should also be aware of possible complexities and concerns like data management and privacy. By acknowledging such factors and choosing an ideal tracker, you can maximize the several benefits of such a tracking technology.