4 ways telematics help optimize fleet management
The global economy still remains a bit shaky due to geopolitical tensions, and that unevenness creates competition that many businesses will have to face for the long term. This translates to a laser-sharp focus on refining and tightening budgets and on being aware of where every dollar is being spent and how to manage and, in fact optimize, that spend.
The answer to this challenge lies in today’s technology that provides the data necessary to make business decisions that will help achieve company goals. One area where data is essential to managing cost and increasing customer satisfaction is transportation.
Whether that entails shipping product to a warehouse or getting heavy equipment to a job site, fleets are a major expenditure so any technology that will reduce costs, increase efficiency, and ensure reliability should be utilized.
4 ways to gain control over your fleet spend
At NexTraq, we are well aware that knowing where your vehicles and drivers are, at any time, and where they are going, is always vital information. The switch of many companies to a remote workforce has made that even more important, with fleet managers, logistics personnel, and other employees working from home, at least part of the time. At a time like this, fleet supervisors need to manager their fleets – and their employees – from wherever they are. Telematics has made this possible.
1. GPS Vehicle tracking
2. GPS Asset tracking
3. Fuel Management
4. Geofencing & Mapping
GPS Vehicle tracking
Dependable, reliable and on-time delivery is job #1 for shippers, and GPS vehicle tracking is key to making that happen. This technology, which has been around for a long time, is fortunately seeing adoption by more and more fleets. They are employing this technology not just to promote driver accountability, but to increase productivity. This is accomplished by the ability to send drivers and deliveries to the right place at the right time. This optimized routing helps fleets get more done with less. Imagine being able to quickly find addresses so you can dispatch the closest vehicles. All of this decreases overtime and maximizes revenue.
GPS Asset tracking
Knowing where your power units are is essential; however, it’s also important to be able to track where your trailers, generators, forklifts, and more are located as well. In normal times, when facilities like offices, depots, and warehouses are fully staffed, this is a straightforward task. But many of these facilities have staff working remotely. With that in mind, having visibility into where equipment is matters more than ever. Fleets have found that the ability to monitor mobile assets like trailers, generators, forklifts, pumps and more is important to getting the job done.
Dramatically Reduce Your Total Cost of Ownership
Fuel Management
Fuel is the largest ongoing expense fleets face. You can’t control the market, but you can control your fleet spend by tracking, monitoring and analyzing your fuel consumption. Right now, fuel costs are manageable, but this is an ever-changing commodity and even with low prices, the potential for abuse and fraud by employees is always present. It’s not just tracking unauthorized fuel purchases; it’s also ensuring that employees don’t spend on food and other items on the company’s dime. The way to combat this is by issuing fuel cards which give you the visibility into that spend and the ability to hold employees accountable. Integrating fuel cards from the major fuel card providers makes fleet managers’ jobs easier, while creating significant savings.
Geofencing & Mapping
To help companies assess where their team stands, from laggard to world-class, Corcentric’s webinar, “Addressing the Maturity Gaps in Procurement – Approaches to Improved Sourcing Efficiency and Effectiveness,” with The Hackett Group, shows that when it comes to procurement maturity, the numbers don’t lie. The Hackett Group’s 2020 Procurement Benchmark measured how best-in-class, mature procurement and sourcing organizations stood in contrast to their peers and the results are striking: Best-in-class organizations realized: