Fleet GPS Tracking Systems are Designed to Save Time and Money

10 Primary Functions of Fleet GPS Tracking Systems

As a business owner, operations vice president, or fleet manager, the primary concern of operating a fleet of vehicles is maximizing revenue while reducing expenses without sacrificing the customer experience. Monitoring drivers, managing fuel expenditures, planning routes, and staying on top of vehicle maintenance schedules can become a difficult job without the right tools in place. Without an effective fleet GPS tracking system in place, managing a vehicle fleet can get out of hand, quickly costing the company $1,000’s.

The following are 10 functions a fleet manager should consider when deciding on a Fleet GPS Tracking System.

Real Time Tracking – being able to follow a vehicle in “real time” is essential to any effective tracking system. Administrators can view exact location of a specific unit or a designated group of units. This can assist with immediate instructions to the driver, locating lost/stolen units and verify if driver is on/off designated route.

Reports – what’s a business without reports? As the fleet manager/administrator, it is imperative to be able to generate specific reports related to various aspects of the fleet. Reports need to be easily generated and easily deciphered for upper management to review and make educated decisions as to where money is being spent, how to save money on specific areas and how to implement cost saving recommendations.

Two-Way Garmin Communication – in today’s GPS world, Garmin is a stand out leader for “in cab display” navigation devices.  GPS tracking system providers, that want to make sure their service is relevant, are able to integrate with Garmin devices allowing two-way communication between administrator and driver. This allows for up-to-the-minute changes in route planning, accident reporting, traffic conditions, weather conditions, etc. ensuring time and money is not wasted.

CAN Connection – tracking devices can connect to the vehicle’s onboard ECM to monitor engine condition, total mileage, engine revolutions, consumed fuel, Power Take Offs (PTO) and other essential functions. This information is remotely transmitted directly to the administrator’s tracking system to be generated in a specific report.

Temperature Monitoring - For vehicles, the cargo transported by which, require maintaining a particular air temperature, effective tracking systems offer an additional temperature measuring device, the indications of which can be viewed by the administrator in the system, in real-time. Alerts can be set up to notify the administrator and driver of any change in temperature that could damage the cargo and save the customer relationship.

Behavior Analysis – monitoring, analyzing driver behavior has become a valuable function of GPS fleet tracking systems. The function monitors driving characteristics like excessive speeding, hard braking and acceleration, idle time, down time, and time on/off the clock. Companies that have embraced this feature and carefully implemented it to their fleet drivers, offering rewards for positive behavior and punishment for poor behavior, have noted significant improvement in cost savings.

Fuel Management – fuel is one of the largest expenditures relating to operating a fleet. Companies continually review areas to reduce fuel expense without sacrificing customer satisfaction. Today’s fleet tracking systems and hardware configurations have options to install accessories into the fuel tanks to monitor, in real time, actual fuel levels. This data can be tracked in the system for administrators, managers and executives to determine cost saving actions.

Alerts - Automatically generated and sent (to e-mail or by SMS txt) warnings save both administrators and drivers time, making the work more effective. There are several types of warnings available in the majority of today’s systems. For example, exceeding the speed of the vehicle, entering a particular place (geofencing), failure to comply with working hours, or approaching the end of insurance validity are a few examples.

Safety Features - For the purpose of increased safety, effective fleet tracking systems offers a safety remote which will send emergency responders to an emergency situation. In the event of remote activation, the security company receives notice of the accurate location of the vehicle without communication to the driver. In the event of an accident, this can prove lifesaving.

Remote “Starter Kill Switch” - If installing a device with the “kill switch” option, administrators can remotely stop the vehicle, thus ensuring additional security in emergency situations. Vehicles can also be disabled in the event they are left overnight or a lengthy time period in an unsecure area. For finance companies, it can save an asset from being illegally taken across borders.

EquipTrac would like to be your "go to" fleet tracking system provider. With affordable monthly subscriptions, 3G tracking devices and a feature rich SaaS web based tracking platform, EquipTrac has the tools your company needs to make it operate at it's most efficient. Contact us today for a no pressure demo of our system.