Vehicles and drivers form the two most critical elements of a fleet business. The advent of eCommerce and same-day delivery commitment has triggered the demand for heavy goods vehicle (HGV) drivers. Still, many are leaving the job due to a lack of improvement in wages and working conditions. The Road Haulage Association reported a shortage of around 70,000 drivers in the UK this year, and Brexit and the inability to retain them are the leading causes of the driver shortage.
To that response, the UK government is funding to train new drivers and encouraging current drivers to return to their jobs. It is challenging for fleet managers to ensure efficient operations and profitability with fewer resources, and they have to enforce retention strategies without affecting the business’s bottom line.
They can overcome these challenges with vehicle tracking. While vehicle tracking is a great tool to reduce costs and streamline operations, it also helps to increase driver productivity and enhance driver-related processes. Here’s how vehicle tracking benefits fleets and increases efficiency.
Optimised Routing
The less time drivers spend idling behind the wheel, the better their productivity and fleet managers can achieve so with efficient routes.
Our vehicle tracking solution allows you to look through the daily or frequently travelled routes so you can set optimised routes to alleviate traffic or roadblocks and give the shortest route to the destination.
It also helps re-route to alternative routes in real-time during emergencies, if any.
With real-time location tracking, fleet managers can dispatch the nearest driver to the job, saving time and costs.
This way, drivers can complete more trips during the same working hours without affecting their productivity.
Efficient routing also helps to reduce fuel consumption and costs and minimise the wear and tear of vehicles.
Monitor Illicit Driving Practices
Driving patterns and performance also affect their productivity. For example, reckless driving behaviour increases the chance of accidents by 50%.
RAM Tracking’s vehicle tracking provides insights on speeding, hard braking, cornering, etc., and alerts fleet managers in real-time.
Fleet managers can zero in on such drivers and provide extra training to improve their driving skills. Ensuring a safe fleet is one of the ways to retain drivers.
Our vehicle tracking productivity system also enlightens fleet managers about idle time, unauthorised routes, stops or vehicle usage, total time taken to complete a trip, etc. Fleet owners can detect discrepancies instantly and take steps accordingly to prevent unprofitable employee practices.
Regular Vehicle Maintenance
Besides driving patterns, vehicle conditions also hamper drivers’ productivity.
Poorly maintained vehicles result in breakdowns, wasting a lot of time on the road and causing delays.
Irregular vehicle maintenance can also lead to vehicle malfunction, which, if ignored, can be one of the causes of accidents and collisions, exposing drivers to severe risks.
One of the advantages of a vehicle tracking system is that it can help fleet managers to set preventive maintenance schedules and ensure that all well-maintained vehicles run on the road.
The software monitors vehicle health and alerts fleet managers of any potential malfunction, helping them to put vehicles in repair and mitigate risks.
Scheduling preventive maintenance not only helps fleet companies to save costs and prevent breakdowns but also enhances the safety of the overall fleet.
Automate Payroll Management
Fleet managers often spend a lot of time in admin procedures, including payroll management.
Thanks to its automated capabilities, our vehicle tracking software helps eliminate manual and time-consuming admin processes.
The advantages of a GPS vehicle tracking system also include automatically recording trip start and end, engine on and off, idle time, stops taken, and overtime, and fleet managers can access all reports through an intuitive dashboard.
Drivers no longer need to fill in lengthy time sheets and submit them to the backend office, saving time and fuel costs.
Fleet managers can view their real-time location, optimise fleet performance, and comply with the Department of Transportation Electronic Logging Device (DOT/ELD).
The geo-fence feature helps to set a digital boundary around a location, for example, fleet parking and notifies when drivers enter and exits the car park.
This way, drivers can focus on their performance without worrying about other admin processes and improve their productivity.
Better Communication
Fleet managers typically call drivers to ask for updates about the trip and delivery status, which can result in distracted driving.
Along with other fleet tracking benefits, vehicle tracking software helps to mitigate this risk with real-time location tracking features.
Fleet managers get all details regarding the trip through our software without needing to call drivers.
Drivers no longer need to ask people for directions or walk down the street to find the location, as our vehicle tracking software provides accurate location details and navigation.
Drivers and fleet managers can avoid spending time on unnecessary communication and get all updates through the tracking system, enhancing drivers’ productivity and letting them focus on driving.
Conclusion
Regardless of the fleet size, the benefits of a vehicle tracking system are plenty. It helps drivers stay focused on the job and give fleet managers the desired peace of mind. A simple yet cutting-edge tool like vehicle tracking software helps improve drivers’ productivity and streamline several operations. Productive drivers can positively influence your business’ bottom line.
