Here Are The Essential Starting Steps For Fleet GPS Tracking
Just making up your mind for fleet GPS tracking is not enough. Far from it, you need to prepare yourself and your team for this transformation, understand the changes and then adapt to the new work environment. But before you do any of that, you need to get a fleet tracking system that resonates with the needs of your business so that you can get the best out of the practice.
Here’s how you should start:
Know What You Plan On Doing & How Much You Can Pay For It
What are your goals? Do you need the monitoring abilities that come with it, improve your drivers’ behavior on the road, optimize the operations, reduce fuel wastage, or whatever you will? Well, fleet management is a very vague and broad answer – dig real deep into your thoughts and figure out precisely how do you plan on using GPS tracking to add value to your business.
After defining your specific goals (it’s okay if you have more than one), you’ll be in the clear about what type of fleet management system will be best for you, or at least, you’ll have a narrower selection to pick from. Next, you also need to pull budget constraints into the equation and don’t kid yourself, you can’t afford everything, and even if you could, you shouldn’t go for the most expensive deal without knowing the full extent of the cost.
Fleet GPS tracking is meant to reduce the burden for a business, not to create an additional drag for it. Unless you tackle the cost question effectively, you’ll end up doing more harm than good. Always consider how much all of this is going to cost you and how much you’re going to save/make extra. This way, you can decide which would be the most efficient and profitable choice for you.
Explore The Market & Find The Perfect GPS Tracking System For Your Fleet
The features of a fleet GPS tracking system and assorted details are also very important – you need as many features you can get your hands on without having to pay a huge sum. Luckily, fleet GPS tracking systems built for smaller business fleets have several handy features, and they are quite affordable too. Still, you need to ascertain that the effectiveness of the said features meets your expectations.
For instance, location tracking is a highly vague term. You can’t know just by reading this much whether the location updates are instantaneous or intervalled. In the former case, also known as live location tracking, you get to see the movements of your fleet vehicles as they happen in real-time on your fleet GPS tracking application. However, some low-end services lack this feature and only let you see the before and after these movements with their screen refreshes (after 30 sec, 1 min, or 2 min intervals).
Note, firstly, if all the features you’re looking for have been mentioned in the product description of the fleet GPS tracking system, and then you can search it up on YouTube to see whether or not the said features work as you expected them to. The same principle applies in all other cases. Just be as specific as possible about the features (check out reviews, ask questions, etc.) before purchasing so that you don’t have to deal with any trouble later down the road.
See If You’re Okay With The Terms & Conditions Of The Product
The terms and conditions are another important concern for any new buyer. You don’t want to get involved in a poor deal and then be left unable to step back. Some products come with binding contractual obligations that either force you to commit to a certain period or may ask you to track a certain number of vehicles at the least.
There can be other scenarios, but the common denominator here is that your freedom of choice is being compromised. Try to avoid such deals because you’ll find it very hard to disentangle yourself from the clutches of such deals later on. Ideally, a fleet GPS tracking product should not dictate how much you use it and for how long. You should let your experience with the services decide that for you.
Fleetr, for instance, comes without any binding commitments.
Make Sure There Are No Extra Charges To Deal With
Your deal should specify clearly how much you’ll have to pay for the product. Usually, companies like to put forward a moderate sum in front of the customers, and then later down the road, when the client can no longer go back, reveal that the said sum is only part of what they have to pay. Ask them specifically if the said sum is all that you’ll be paying or will there be tax charges on top of that or some other hidden fees for installation, initiation, and whatnot.
Be very specific in your questions and note if the answers you get are clear and concise or not. Also, brush through customer reviews and see if there is any mention of hidden fees or extra charges. For products like Fleetr, the most important plus point is avoiding these charges, all we ask for is $9.99 per month, and that is it, nothing on top of that, unless you want to track another vehicle, in which case it will be $9.99 (per vehicle, per month) for that one too.
Be Careful When Introducing The System To Your Drivers
How you present the novel idea to your drivers is also something you need to prepare beforehand and be ready to deal with because there might be friction. You must presume the worst, even if it doesn’t come to be – this much is certain that your drivers will not jump on board like that. They’ll need to be convinced. Fleet GPS tracking may seem like an invasion of privacy for them because they don’t know much about it and have no idea what you will monitor.
Introduce the system and its features well, laying emphasis on the things you’ll monitor and why you have to monitor them. Assure them that you don’t doubt how they work and have no intention of spying on them or whatever, but instead, the system is more of a productivity booster for all involved. Then you need to draw their attention towards the many merits of such integration for both the business and the people associated with it.
Next, you can’t stress enough how important this system is for your business and that there is no alternative where you can get as much productivity in return. Plus, also tell them how they’ll benefit, in particular, in such a revised operation protocol, i.e., meritocratic assessment, rewards for hard work, possible raises, and so on. If you put it before them confidently and in an informed manner, you’ll hopefully get them to agree with you.
Fleetr Is The Perfect Solution For Small Business GPS Tracking Requirements
Having gone through all the considerations and initial steps you need to take care of before you get started with tracking your fleet, you might be already, in part, convinced that Fleetr is the one for you. It is affordable, highly effective, demands no advanced technical knowledge on the part of the customer, and you can sign up for the deal without agreeing to any binding contractual obligations.
On top of it all, your free tracker device will be shipped to you upon subscribing to our services so that you can get started right away. All you have to deal with is a $9.99 monthly rent for tracking one vehicle, and you’re all set for monitoring your fleet vehicles and getting more work done every day.
Call us now if you’re curious, and we’ll show you what Fleetr can do for your business!
