Thursday, June 5, 2008

GPS Vehicle Tracking: Helping Fleet Managers

By Fabian Toulouse

Does your business maintain a fleet of vehicles and drivers? The responsibility can be overwhelming! The vehicles and equipment are costly to replace if missing or damaged. High fuel costs cut deeply into your business's profits. Drivers can be maddeningly inefficient, if not downright dishonest. Customers complain loudly about late deliveries. The tribulations that come with shepherding a fleet of vehicles are many.

There is help, however. GPS vehicle tracking can eradicate all sorts of headaches. GPS, or Global Positioning System, is an easy way of finding the location of any vehicle carrying a tracking device. Devised and maintained by the U.S. Department of Defense, it is also approved for civilian use. It works by using a constellation of twenty-four satellites which transmit signals to receivers that compute the information to pinpoint not only location, but speed, direction of travel, and time. The accuracy is incredible, and more and more applications are being found all the time.

The benefits for businesses with a sizeable vehicle fleet are readily apparent. Drivers who know they are being monitored are more likely to perform better. Knowing that their stops and idling time are recorded, they complete deliveries more efficiently and refrain from extra "pit stops". This simultaneously increases productivity and cuts down on overtime hours. Speeding is also reduced. Overall, fuel costs are decreased and time is saved.

Because of GPS tracking, businesses are able to offer superior customer service. They can quickly tell a customer where a driver is and when to expect a delivery. Also, the report logs can be helpful in settling disputes with customers.

Businesses who use GPS vehicle tracking devices, whether cellular based, wireless, or satellite, report considerable savings. So many of the frustrations that used to come with controlling a fleet vanish. No longer do you have to send a trailer full of merchandise out into the world like a message in a bottle, hoping that it arrives safely and in time. With GPS, you know.

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