A Global Positioning System (GPS) is one of the most important upgrades a fleet manager can choose. GPS fleet tracking yields financial dividends that improve your bottom line. The constant flow of data about vehicle movements empowers you to cut fuel expenses, increase productivity, and promote safety. Fuel Express provides Geotab GPS solutions that integrate with our fuel cards to build a full picture of fleet activity.
How GPS Controls Fleet Fuel Costs
Fleets can’t control the price of fuel, but they can help manage how much fuel their fleets use. GPS fleet tracking shows you how to shave fuel costs through route optimization and identification of bad driving habits. GPS tools allow you to plan the most direct or best routes for your vehicles. This reduces mileage bit by bit and yields measurable fuel savings over the long term. Additionally, GPS records vehicle speeds, braking behavior, and idling time. This vehicle movement data could reveal better routes.
You could discover that the most direct route is plagued by bad traffic that leaves your vehicles idling. Solve this with GPS tools that help you find a route with less traffic that improves fuel efficiency. As the fleet manager, you get to see reports about each individual vehicle. You’ll see if certain drivers accelerate rapidly, which burns fuel unnecessarily. You can also enforce company-wide maximum speed limits. Going above the speed limit normally wastes fuel. You might also spot drivers who go off route without explanation. In this way, you can eliminate the side trips that you’ve been paying for.
GPS Fleet Tracking Boosts Productivity
When you know exactly where your vehicles are at all times, you can dispatch the closest drivers when customers call. You avoid adding miles unnecessarily, and your customers get quicker service. You also get the benefit of monitoring vehicle downtime. Fleet drivers normally spend time at loading facilities and making deliveries. If you detect unreasonable or unexplained amounts of time at job sites, you can take steps to correct the problems.
GPS Improves Safety
Safety is also an important factor for fleets in terms of financial and human costs. Your first level of defense is the ability to identify reckless drivers. By enforcing safe driving behavior across your fleet, you could reduce the chances of accidents. You might also be able to manage insurance costs. After an accident, the vehicle movement data captured by GPS fleet tracking could defend you from accident liability claims.
GPS Forewarns You About Maintenance Issues
On top of enforcing driving rules, you can leverage GPS data to improve vehicle maintenance. GPS reports will reveal if a vehicle is suddenly consuming more fuel than usual. When alerted to engine trouble, you can repair a vehicle before a breakdown interrupts work and impacts customer service.
Of course, any fleet will have inevitable breakdowns. If your fleet has Geotab from Fuel Express, then a driver can easily call roadside assistance through the GPS system. Location information sent to the towing company increases response time and reduces your downtime.
Learn More About Geotab
GPS fleet tracking is essential for streamlining fleet operations. On top of everything else, Geotab also works as your Electronic Logging Device (ELD). It automatically collects the information that you need for your compliance reports. To see how Fuel Express can connect your fleet to modern GPS solutions, contact us today.
