Fleet Tracking
Additional Add-on Services
Jan 11, 2021
Fleetsmart can benefit your company in many ways, however one of the main advantages of using our fleet tracking products and services, is our ability to help save money for your business by giving you the tools to accurately monitor all aspects of every journey your vehicles make, through vehicle reports and journey replay.
The first way in which you can save money from fleet tracking is by putting an end to excess travel, unnecessary stops and poor driving. By monitoring your drivers’ activity through real-time vehicle reports and journey replay, you can pinpoint exactly where your vehicles have been, at which times the engine was turned on and off and which route was taken. Once you have used this data to improve efficiency, you could be making massive savings by cutting fuel costs and only paying for what you need.
According to Company Bug, business mileage is the largest single expense for businesses in the UK, with over 2 million employees making mileage claims for a total of 10 billion business miles every year. A 2019 study by Flexed revealed that over 89% of those claims are inaccurate, costing companies £1.6 billion every year.
A study by Shell in 2014 revealed that 93% of fleet managers believed some of their employees were committing fuel fraud and 41% of employees thought there was nothing wrong with over-inflating fuel expenses with 17% admitting to deliberately inflating expenses for their personal gain, even though this constitutes fraud.
By using vehicle tracking to calculate more accurate mileage (as opposed to just rounding up or estimating) and setting clear lines between private and work-related journeys, your business could be cutting fuel costs by up to 20% every month.
Driving style can have a big impact on the amount of fuel used. According to Confused.com, every minute spent idle burns between 1.077 to 2.13 ounces of fuel, adding up to around half a gallon to a gallon of fuel every hour. Another mistake drivers make is accelerating and braking too harshly and rapidly as this uses more fuel than those who drive smoothly.
Vehicle tracking can notify you when drivers are being heavy on the pedals through accelerometers. This information can be found in the detailed vehicle reports, which also show idle time, overspeeds, start and stops and much more.
With the driver information, you could take the initiative to give your drivers extra training, where needed, to reduce these mistakes, all of which make your vehicles less fuel efficient. According to the Energy Saving Trust, through higher productivity and increased vehicle utilisation, operating costs can fall by 10% every year and fuel use by 15%.
By making sure your drivers are recording their time accurately, taking the quickest routes and cutting out any inefficiencies such as making multiple unnecessary stops along the way, this way you can avoid overpaying wages and also raise any concerns with employees who may be clocking off early!
Vehicle tracking often acts as a deterrent to drivers who may be inclined to speed and therefore reduces the risk of accidents by making drivers more responsible. Journey replay can be used to identify when drivers aren't driving safely which can then lead to the required disciplinary measures or extra training to reduce the risk of accidents.
According to Boilerguide, a van is broken into every 23 minutes in the UK and 50% of tradespeople have been a victim of van crime on more than one occasion. Thankfully, a vehicle tracker tracker acts as a great theft prevention tool as a GPS Tracked sticker on the vehicle often deters many thieves from attempting to steal the vehicle. We also offer remote immobilisation as an optional add-on, allowing you to ensure your vehicle won’t start when the ignition is turned on by the wrong person.
Even if a daring thief takes their chances, geo-fence alerts can notify you if a vehicle exits or enters a location it shouldn’t. This can be handy for making sure your vehicles aren’t being stolen from your warehouse. If a thief does manage to take a vehicle, with such accurate GPS tracking software, you should be able to track them down in a matter of seconds and alert the police of the location.
Fleetsmart uses only the most sophisticated technology that is constantly being developed further in-house to ensure the tracking of your vehicles is as accurate as possible, including our European tracking feature which allows you to keep an eye on your vehicles even when they’re operating outside of the UK. Research by Farsight revealed that a vehicle is stolen every 9 minutes in the UK and nowadays, stolen cars are often shipped overseas and refurbished or repainted with all identification removed to reduce the chances of being traced, however, a vehicle tracking system will help to prevent this kind of theft. We also offer remote immobilisation as an optional add-on, allowing you to ensure your vehicle won’t start when the ignition is turned on by the wrong person.
With a Fleetsmart tracker on your vehicle, or with a fleet of tracked vehicles, you can relax knowing no thief will be able to outsmart our technology, which means you are always able to locate your vehicles. Not only does this protect you from losing your vehicles, but most insurance companies are willing to give you a discount if you have a vehicle tracker fitted.
Having fleet tracking can also reduce insurance and maintenance costs. Many insurance companies will offer a discount or insurance premiums to companies who use fleet management systems. With the reduction of accidents and increase of safer driving, this also helps reduce claims which keeps the cost of insurance and maintenance down.
Thanks to all of the incredible money saving tools that come with vehicle racking, we typically expect you to get a return on your investment within 90 days of installation, including initial payments and a full year’s subscription. Fleets with a more significant potential for improvement can expect a much quicker return on investment; typical savings experienced per vehicle are £1,000 - £2,000 per annum.
For more information, contact us or visit our blog for advice and helpful tips on vehicle tracking.