GPS tracking devices provide a number of benefits, the chief among them being a plethora of telematics data. Telematics help trucking companies understand how their fleets operate, where the safety concerns are, as well as make business decisions to improve their bottom line. However, many trucking companies install GPS tracking devices as a reaction to unwanted experiences such as dangerous driver behaviors or vehicle misuse. While telematics can certainly tackle those problems, there are better ways to use the technology to mitigate issues while also improving profits.
Reactive VS Proactive Telematics
It’s understandable that a fleet would want to invest in telematics after learning of drivers misusing company trucks to run errands or perform side jobs. While moonlighting isn’t as common as it once was, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the rate hovers around 5%. Plus, anytime a driver takes his or her truck out for non-business purposes, he or she is risking a costly accident with questionable liability.
Reports of reckless driving or high instances of tickets and accidents can also drive fleet managers to seek out a telematics solution. Considering that every instance of an accident can cost a fleet up to $70,000 in lost assets and income, it’s no surprise they want to avoid it.
Telematics data has the undeniable ability to monitor unsafe driving and root out misconduct, but its benefits are much farther reaching for savvy fleet managers. Some of the leading proactive uses include:
- Providing customers with real-time updates on deliveries to manage expectations and provide better customer service
- Defending drivers against false claims of non-deliveries
- Optimizing routes that take traffic and weather conditions into consideration
- Reducing aggressive driving
- Reducing idling
- Cutting down fuel costs
A proactive approach to GPS tracking can allow fleets to not only eliminate vehicle misuse, but it can also improve safety, cut down on costs, and lead to an overall more robust bottom line. Fleet managers can even use the data to implement an incentives program to reward drivers who show the greatest improvement in their safety ratings to help get drivers on board with GPS tracking. To learn more about boosting your fleets’ safety as well as profits, contact the experts at DriverCheck to learn more about our GPS tracking solutions.
