Do You Know Where Your Drivers Are?: How Fleet Tracking Will Help You Keep Track of Your Fleet
As a small business owner, the biggest asset in your business may be your fleet. If this is true, knowing where these assets are at all times becomes important. You have money invested in these vehicles, and your drivers have to be responsible for them while behind the wheel. Even if you trust your drivers, you can’t be next to them in the vehicle all the time – there is only one of you. So, during the regular business day, do you know where your drivers are?
What is GPS Fleet Tracking?
To understand GPS fleet tracking, you have to understand GPS technology. GPS stands for global positioning system and is a satellite-based navigation system made up of at least 24 individual satellites orbiting the Earth. When used for fleet tracking, it can provide the location of the fleet at any given moment.
The satellites communicate with receivers that can be found in a variety of devices. When these devices intercept communication from four satellites, an accurate location can be pinpointed for that receiver’s location. You have seen how GPS works when you look up directions from one place to another. The location services work much in the same way for fleet tracking.
Why Should You Use GPS Fleet Tracking Software?
GPS fleet tracking software helps the small business owner keep track of fleet drivers and makes them accountable for their driving habits. The more efficient the driver, the more efficient the fleet. Most owners and managers look at items like fuel consumption and driving behaviors that could put the fleet in danger.
- Track your fleet using real-time location and driving status on the map. See the trip history for every vehicle in your fleet.
- Keep drivers safe by being alerted of aggressive driving behavior, speeding, and hard braking. You can see each driver’s safety score and driving efficiency.
- Save money on fuel and maintenance costs by being more efficient. Track your maintenance schedule to make sure you are keeping up with required maintenance.
Fleetr makes it easy for the small business fleet managers to track their drivers and vehicles’ location. For one small fee per month per vehicle, all the information can be transmitted to your smart device – we will get into that more a little later.
Why Should You Monitor Your Fleet Drivers with GPS Tracking?
Since you can only be in one place at a time, you can use GPS tracking software to know where your fleet is at any given moment. Location services are only one perk of using a GPS tracking software program in your fleet.
Accountability of Your Fleet
Even if you are just checking the timesheets of your employees against the tracking data, the GPS tracking software can help keep track of where each vehicle has been. The GPS location can tell you the amount of time the fleet vehicle was at a given location and on the road. Every mile is accounted for on your fleet vehicles.
Increased Fleet Safety
If a driver is taking too long getting back to the office from a worksite, it is possible that they came across trouble along the way. Having tracking software can pinpoint the vehicle’s location and allow you to determine if the driver is running behind or is in danger. Having alerts for unsafe behavior and seat belt violations lets you know when a driver is not safe on the job.
Asset Protection
A fleet is expensive to replace. Even excessive repairs at one time add up, making replacement a cheaper option. You want to protect your asset and keep it safe, and we don’t blame you. Using tracking software helps to know where the vehicle is and if it is being misused while being driven. You may even have the capability to set up a geofence that alerts you when the vehicle goes outside the boundary.
Enhanced Customer Service
The quicker you respond to customer service calls, the more likely you will have repeat customers. With your GPS fleet tracking capabilities, you can dispatch the driver closest to the emergency call. You can create the most efficient daily routes using location services and set up alerts in some circumstances to let you know when drivers deviate from their set paths.
Manage Company Costs
By being more efficient with fuel costs and employee routes, you can reduce the amount of money your company puts out. With an efficient fleet, you can reduce the amount of employee overtime that gets put on the books by keeping them on task during normal business hours. You spend less on fuel and maintenance costs, making your fleet run more efficiently for longer.
Fleet Tracking Makes Management Tasks Easier
You handle a lot of things in your role as a manager over a small fleet. Part of your duties is to maintain the information logs for each driver and vehicle. Traditionally, you have to keep track of paperwork for each driver and vehicle that is a part of your fleet.
Using a fleet tracking system can help you automate this process. Keep track of the employee hours and vehicle mileage, making it easier to free up your time and stay on top of your paperwork. Using this type of software records all the data from your drivers and makes the information accessible through the application.
Insurance carriers are also likely to give you a reduced insurance premium when you use GPS tracking. The insurance company considers this a safety measure that helps to thwart off theft and other misuses. Verifiable data also helps keep your business out of lawsuits that may be considered frivolous by the insurance company.
Stop Unauthorized Fleet Vehicle Use
One of the advantages that some drivers have when working in a fleet is that they can take the vehicle home with them at the end of the day. This action reduces the number of miles they are putting on their personal vehicle to and from the office and helps if there isn’t a large lot for all of its fleet vehicles.
The problem that some managers run into is unauthorized use by employees after hours. When this happens, the fleet vehicle is putting additional miles on the odometer and is at risk of an after-hours accident. This is not the same as making an after-hours service call. Your driver would be alerted to do this, and you would be aware of it.
In some cases, the employee may not have a secondary vehicle, so they use their work vehicle as a primary and work vehicle – without authorization. Before using the fleet tracking systems, a manager may not know this until it was too late. Many managers can’t individually babysit their fleet 24 hours a day, which is why incorporating these types of tracking software make it easy to see who is abusing privileges.
Be Audit Ready
Audits happen, whether we want them to or not. Having all of your fleet’s information in one location can help make the process a little less invasive. If you don’t end up audited, this organized information will make it easier for you to plan your annual reviews and other budgeting meetings that require the use of data points.
Fleetr Changes the Way You Look at Your Fleet
Keeping the small business fleet in mind, Fleetr offers fleet tracking solutions for fleets of up to 100 vehicles. That makes us different – we don’t tell you the minimum number of vehicles you have to sign up with. We also don’t lock you into a contract – come and go as you please.
How can you make Fleetr work for you and your fleet?
Fleetr is a Monthly Subscription – Cancel Anytime!
The Fleetr fleet tracking software is a monthly subscription that costs $9.99 per month per fleet vehicle. You aren’t charged a monthly amount for the equipment, only the monthly recurring fee. We don’t believe that the small fleet owner should be tied down to a binding contract because circumstances happen.
When you decide to end your subscription with Fleetr, call at least five days before the end of the month to cancel before your next monthly cycle begins. The only thing we ask is that you send back your Fleetr hardware when you cancel.
How Fleetr’s Hardware Works
When you sign up for Fleetr, we send you the hardware you need to get started. Our hardware fits in the OBD II port of your fleet vehicle. This may be located to the left or right of the steering wheel, the glove compartment, or in another location specified by your vehicle’s owner manual.
All you have to do is plug in the hardware and download the Fleetr app from the iOS or Android stores. You can download and use the Fleetr app with your username and password on any smart device that supports the application. The hardware collects the information and transmits it over wireless networks, keeping the network completely mobile with fast loading times.
Fleetr takes care of all the costs for using the wireless networks’ data plans across the United States.
Easy Installation
We don’t believe that installing your GPS tracking for your fleet should be a difficult experience. After you call us to begin your subscription, we send you the devices for all of your fleet vehicles. You can even begin getting your app ready for use by entering in all the information and then updating it when you have the devices. When you receive your hardware, simply plug it into the OBD II port. After installation, open the app and customize or link it for vehicle and driver. That’s it!
What the Fleetr App Does For You
Fleetr’s GPS tracking application monitors unsafe driving habits that your drivers may be exhibiting on the road. You get push notification alerts about excessive speeding, aggressive driving, hard braking, and rapid acceleration. We make it possible to know as soon as it happens.
Our weekly reports provide you with a safety score for each of your drivers, letting you see who is the safest and who needs attention. You can see the trip history and the trends of your fleet over time. Learn the patterns of your drivers to see where changes need to be made.
We alert you of the cost savings potential your fleet could have. Our after-hours usage assessment, excessive idling, and other fuel-wasting activities help determine how you can save money across all aspects of your fleet. How does saving money every month on your fuel costs sound? Fleetr can tell you how!
Why Fleetr is the Right Fleet Tracking Solution For You
Unlike other fleet tracking solutions, we don’t believe that you should be locked into a long-term contract. We know that changes occur within a business, so why would we hold you accountable for things beyond your control? We also don’t have a minimum amount of hardware you have to pay for monthly.
We know what it is like to try and multitask your fleet, especially on your own. Our fleet application options provide you with all the information you need to run more efficiently and with safer drivers on the roadway. If someone asks you why you spy on your drivers, tell them that you aren’t – you are keeping track of your fleet vehicle, which is an asset to your company. Then ask them why they have location sharing in case they lose their fancy smartphone. Guaranteed they will tell you because it was expensive.
Fleetr makes tracking your fleet affordable. At only $9.99 per month per vehicle, you will be able to see better efficiency and savings after only a couple of months of use. You will gain access to a more efficiently run fleet and savings beyond your wildest dreams. Okay, it may not be that extreme, but you will be extremely satisfied by the results you get when you use Fleetr for your fleet tracking software.
