There are many businesses out there that require the use of multiple vehicles and multiple drivers at a time. Whether you run a taxi service, search and rescue operation, heavy hauling company, or anything else that involves juggling several vehicles in the field at once, you want to be sure that you know where all of your vessels are at all times and that they are running smoothly. This can seem impossible to do, because it is not feasible to be conversing with all drivers simultaneously to get live updates of them and their vehicles. Thankfully, there is a system that caters to doing this for you. With GPS fleet tracking equipment, you can know where your vehicles are and more.
GPS fleet tracking equipment is, in a nutshell, a software that uses tracking devices to monitor a fleet of vehicles. For you, this software can gather anything from the vehicles’ location, health, productivity, and driver behavior. While this would prove useful to make sure that your employees are remaining on task, it also can help you ensure that all of your drivers are safe, especially in regions that battle adverse weather, such as snowy places that require commercial snow removal and plowing. Here are five facts about using a GPS fleet tracking business in and how it can positively affect your company and each commercial vehicle you use.
A commercial snow removal vehicle that is fully equipped can weigh up to 15 times as much as an average car. This stark difference in size and weight can prove to be a dangerous scenario if all the wrong circumstances occur. With GPS fleet tracking, you can make sure that your plow drivers are moving at a safe and appropriate speed and that all of their machinery is operating smoothly. Additionally, snow plow drivers often end up in dangerous situations regardless of whether or not civilian drivers are around; since they are often out at hours of the day that others are not and road conditions are not favorable, you can quickly notice the warning signs that an accident has occurred and your plow driver needs assistance.
The Canadian city of Montreal uses 172 commercial snow removal vehicles at a time to clear all roads, and an additional 188 to clear sidewalks and pedestrian walkways. With this many vehicles in action at a time, it is impossible to not utilize GPS fleet tracking equipment. There are simply too many moving parts to keep track of a fleet this size by hand.
Snow falls in Canada in great amounts. In fact, the highest recorded Canadian snowfall occurred in British Columbia, when almost a meter and a half of snow slammed the town of Tahtsa. Extreme weather conditions of this magnitude are even more unsafe for snow plow drivers than they are for civilians, because they are the initial people on the roads braving the unsafe conditions. This is all the more reason to keep tabs on the people and equipment you are responsible for. With blizzards of this size, the absence of GPS fleet tracking equipment could mean finding a driver in distress after it is too late.
GPS fleet tracking equipment can help you slash the cost of idle drivers, literally. Studies estimate that idling vehicles can cost almost $800 a year per truck, and even more than that if you live somewhere with high gas prices. Since GPS tracking equipment can give you reports on a vehicle’s productivity, you will know when a driver is spending too much time taking it easy.
In a span of two years, almost 130,000 Candian vehicles were reported stolen with the keys still left inside. Utilizing a GPS fleet tracking system can help you pinpoint irresponsible drivers, problematic routes, and the location of stolen vehicles.
Unhealthy commercial snow removal vehicles, unproductive drivers, and stolen equipment can quickly rack up costs for your company. You can easily slash those costs by investing in a system that will do all of the tracking for you.
