Photo Courtesy of J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc.

Photo Courtesy of J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc.

The adage, “Survival of the Fittest, Only the Strong Survive,” coined by Herbert Spencer in 1864, has never been truer than it is today.

If you’re a small operation, every challenge is multiplied by your small economy of scale. Private and business fleets have little offsetting revenue, as every expense comes directly off the bottom line. A single mistake can require the perfect execution of multiple trips to make up for the loss. And what’s most painful is the missed opportunities swallowed up by avoidable errors and poor planning.

Time is money. You are operating blindly if you don’t know where your vehicles are, how long they’ve been there, what route your employee took, and when they will make it to their next location. Fortunately, GPS vehicle tracking technology provides a quick return on investment (ROI) by effectively addressing the impact of these challenges. Vehicle trackers help eliminate operational blindness and give you insights and the ability to manage employee productivity, fuel use, and vehicle recovery.

Employee Productivity

“What gets measured gets done.” Nearly everyone is familiar with the adage. Yet, managers send out front-line employees in 6-figure vehicles and hope for the best.

Business fleets, like other operations, need to measure the output and productivity of their resources — like employees, equipment, and expenses — to optimize return. Because your employees drive for you and are essentially remote workers, you need a mobile solution, like vehicle trackers, to help you substantiate and measure their productivity. 

Consider this common scenario. A job ticket that should take an hour remains incomplete three hours later. The work output did not match expectations, and all you have is anecdotal evidence.

Eliminate the uncertainty and get concrete GPS and time-related data with vehicle trackers. They provide what you need to improve productivity and operations:

  1. Real-time vehicle location
  2. Route history
  3. On-site/task times
  4. Engine data

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Trip Planning – Faster Routes & Improved Fuel Efficiency

Drivers are creatures of habit and, like most of us, believe they “know” the best way to get from point A to Point B. That’s fine on our own time, but employee drivers who make up their routes could be wasting company time, resources, and money. Even minor, seemingly inconsequential variances can add up quickly.

While there are many possible routes between two points, not all are created equal. For example, one route from Point A to Point B is 100 miles, and another 125 miles. All other things being equal, the second route would require 25% more fuel than the first. That unnecessary, unknown expense adds up.

Vehicle trackers enable managers to plan the best routes and confirm that the routes are followed. In addition, they provide reporting on out-of-route miles and speeding instances, as well as geofencing, mapping, and weather and traffic alerts.

Vehicle Recovery

The current demand for vehicles and vehicle parts has exacerbated cargo and vehicle theft. In 2021 there were nearly 1,300 supply chain risk events in Canada and the United States.1 Even if your vehicle isn’t stolen, you could find yourself in one of these not-so-uncommon scenarios:

  • A vehicle is broken down, or your employee is lost “somewhere on State Route 55”
  • The driver has not been heard from, and you need to do a welfare check
  • A driver is involved in an accident
  • The driver needs to be shut down due to a positive random drug or alcohol test
  • A driver abandons the vehicle with a “keys are on the dipstick” message

When a vehicle needs to be located, the search must be quick, easy, and accurate. Vehicle tracking is the best option to meet all three requirements.

In Conclusion

Business fleets share one controllable variable – time. Time is money that you can only spend once. And when your drivers are on your clock, you are spending money. Vehicle trackers give you the ability to get more money from your time by measuring and tracking productivity with exceptional accuracy. Therein lies your opportunity for greater confidence and knowledge to make 2023 a more profitable year. 

Learn more by downloading the free whitepaper, The Case for Vehicle Tracking — Mitigating Operational Blindspots.
 

At J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc., we protect people and the businesses they run. Companies across North America rely on our expert insights to safeguard workers and reduce risk. As a family-owned company since 1953, J. J. Keller is a most trusted name in safety and compliance. JJKeller.com.

1. CargoNet®. “2021 Supply Chain Risk Trends Analysis.” https://www.cargonet.com/news-and-events/cargonet-in-the-media/2021-theft-trends/