There are many things a fleet manage should take into account when it comes to car monitoring and vehicle tracking for your business – especially for those who jot things down manually with pen and paper. Which driver is the nearest to a particular client? Where are my vehicles right now? How can I be sure my fleet is on track? How do I maintian and decrease overall fuel costs?
Running a fleet can be a logistically challenging task. But it doesn’t have to be.
In this blog, we will lay out five ways car monitoring systems, also known as vehicle tracking systems, give you a proper and accurate operational overview.
1. Know Exactly Where Your Drivers Are
Have you ever had to ring your drivers up and ask them of their whereabouts? Not only does this process take up valuable time, but the location details are often vague:
“I’m coming up to the roundabout on Oxford Street”
“I’ve just left the depot”
“I’ll be there in 10-20 minutes”
These conversations are commonplace, and even more inefficient when duplicated over your entire fleet.
Vehicle tracking business’ car monitoring devices on the other hand allow you to pinpoint exactly where your drivers are on your phone or desktop, without the manual checkups via hands-free telephoning. Therefore, you can gain an operational overview into not only where your drivers are, but how close they are to your clients.
Accurate and streamlined operations can only be carried out if the fleet manager gains a real-time insight into where their fleet is. This allows you to accommodate for any hiccups drivers may encounter out on the road in reaching your clients. Should a sudden road closure or necessary detour affect the planned route, you will be able to follow as if you were in the passenger seat.
2. Always Send Your Closest Driver To The Client
Some jobs can’t be planned in advance and require your fleet to be on standby. However, you can always be more prepared. By knowing exactly where your fleet is in real-time, you can send your closest driver to a client should an emergency or ad-hoc task arise.
Cars break down, a pipe may burst or a boiler may leak. These scenarios are all particularly sensitive in nature and require quick attention. Therefore, businesses that deal with emergency callouts need to stay alert, and car monitoring systems will help you to do so without cutting corners.
This isn’t just resigned to the trade industry. For example, in the case of medical services, patients don’t plan to have an emergency in advance – things happen quickly and unexpectedly. It is therefore essential that they can physically be reached as soon as possible.
3. Know Which Vehicles Are Available For Use With Car Monitoring Systems.
This reason follows up from the previous one. Car monitoring devices also give you a clear operational overview into what vehicles are parked at the office, and which vehicles are out and about.
Why exactly is this useful?
Well, car monitoring devices tell you exactly how many vehicles you have ready and waiting, and which ones are currently in operation. Again, this is particularly useful when it comes to planning your operations. Questions such as “how many vehicles do I need?” and “will I need extra vehicles for this job?” are swiftly taken care of.
Read more: Optimise Your Fleet From Home
4. Coordinate Your Trips & Save Fuels Costs
The big one you’ve been waiting for: Car monitoring devices save fuel costs. How so?
The longer your cars are out on the road, the more you’ll have to spend on fuel. This is the case with one vehicle – now consider this, multiplied by the number of vehicles you have within your fleet. These costs add up and can prove to be a substantial business expenditure if left unchecked over time.
Luckily, a vehicle tracking business will help you and your drivers coordinate journeys. Plan smarter, quicker and more efficiently to reach your clients.
By viewing your drivers’ locations with real-time data, you can check that the most efficient routes are being taken, as well as being able to send your closest available driver to your clients (as mentioned above) – saving you time and those all-important fuel costs.
5. Receive Alerts Every Time A Journey Is Complete.
Ever been unsure that a vehicle within your fleet has reached its destination? Car monitoring devices also clear this issue up. They come together like cogs within a car monitoring system, and you can choose to set up and activate alerts. Simply set up a notification setting around your office, depot or client location to get started.
It pays to be certain
As the ultimate aim of a trip is to actually reach your destination, trip completion alerts can give you certainty that the journey has been finalised.
For example, let’s say that all vehicles within your fleet have to be back at a certain time, but you currently find yourself out of office. Luckily, you can gain peace of mind via a simple push notification or email.
The same principles goes with reaching your clients. You will receive the same alert and peace of mind that your client has been visited. Gone are the days of having to manually call to confirm for individual procedures. Now you can access all this data instantly.
Stay In Control Of Your Fleet With Vimcar
Vimcar’s Fleet Geo car monitoring system is the solution to give you a smooth operational overview. It acts as a solution to manual vehicle tracking with pen and paper, or manually liaising one-by-one with each driver.
Vimcar is an industry-leading vehicle tracking business that provides UK businesses with the most accurate GPS tracking service for their vehicles. Trust Vimcar to speed up your operations and help you save fuel – from as little as £7.90 a month.
