The questions all businesses ponder especially small to medium ones.
All businesses have had these questions come up:
“Do I or don’t I?” “Can I afford it?” “Can I afford not to?”
Think of the reasons you would “like to, need to and want to” have a tracking solution, and know where both your people and your assets are at any time.
Look at the benefits, and assess what you “need” against what you “want/wish” you could have (we all have a wish list).
There are multiple options – why buy a Ferrari when you only need a Commodore – paying for something you don’t need is expensive if you don’t use it!
Some of the issues and questions are:
- Where are my guys now? Why are they there, and not….?
- A customer called and needs to know how far away they are from the job, or a new customer needs an urgent quote. What do I say, do I chase the driver on mobile?
- Look at their location/s using the GPS platform on PC or phone 24/7.
- If you know and can see where they are now you can advise the customer
- If I know and can see which driver is closest I could send them
- Are my guys on the job site? If not, where are they?
- Productivity
- Safety
- Security
- How long have they been there?
- Proof they were there if customer needs it
- Peace of mind knowing they have been on the job site (sorry, it can’t tell you if they were working though!)
- I have several drivers on several routes, can these routes be improved and do they overlap?
- Don’t have the time to sit and physically review on a map? Using historical trip data you can visually see their trips and routes quickly and conveniently.
- Are my mobile asset secure?
- Assets/vehicles can be secured using Geofencing
- Are my vehicles, plant and other equipment secure (24/7)?
- If one of my mobile assets was stolen what impact will it have on operations?
- Maybe tracking will help reduce my insurance costs? Talk to your insurer
- If they are moved when they shouldn’t be, how will I know? Automated alerts (24/7)
- Do you know when scheduled maintenance is due?
- View the engine hours or mileage
- Reports – Schedule and automatic report options
- How are my vehicles being used after hours?
- How often are my vehicles being on weekends, long weekends and holidays?
- Are my people moonlighting after hours using my “tools”?
- I would know this if I could see where the vehicles have been – Trip data & reports history
- How do my drivers look after my vehicles? Driver Behaviour.
- Speeding ticket we get in the mail, who was driving? I can’t remember what work was being done in that area a month ago.
- Data history will provide the trips for that day – then I will know who was driving.
- How can I reduce my fuel costs? Speeding drivers also means more fuel, alerts can let you know when they are!
- How do they treat my vehicles? Harsh driving such as harsh breaking, steering and speeding have an impact on wear and tear. Know their behaviours.
- Will having my vehicles fitted with GPS tracking devices have an impact on my drivers and will they accept being tracked?
- Explaining the overall business benefits to you workers and the savings in admin, vehicle fuel and maintenance costs, together with improving of efficiencies, makes their jobs more secure.
- Most businesses will immediately see an improvement and ROI – research has shown ROI is seen in as little as 6 weeks as.
In summary:
- Improved efficiency, visibility and customer/client service – more competitive
- Improved driver habits – saves on fuel and maintenance costs
- Improved operations through better use and deployment of assets and people
- Improved security against theft – operational benefits and potential insurance savings
- Regular driver routes – visually see and amend and assess changes particularly where they overlap saving time, fuel, money and improving efficiency/utilisation
- Having a GPS solution will save you money and gain many efficiencies
- Choose the best solution for YOUR needs, not others – price/benefits
- Look at the different options such as wired device (requires installation) or a plug-in device that is self-installed.
Is it time to investigate GPS tracking solutions and see how this can help improve your business?
