One of the main pressures on businesses that make use of fleets to accomplish their goals is the rising cost of fuel. They have no way of bypassing this expense because it is impossible to transport product X or person Y from point A to point B without utilizing some form of fossil fuel. Unless someone goes out and invents a teleporter, fuel based transportation is going to be here for some time.

Because of this businesses are working hard at finding ways to reduce the amount of money that they spend on fuel and other fleet related expenses. For small fleets this is the difference between turning a profit or ending up in the red yet again. For larger fleets this could be the difference between a business thriving and expanding or being held back by the size of the fleet. Rather than empowering the businessman to get the job done, fuel is increasingly becoming a liability and a necessary evil in doing business.

There are solutions to this problem. Smart driving techniques and regular maintenance have been proven time and again to help fleets of all sizes reduce costs and improve worker efficiency. Some of the most popular techniques include:

• Driving the speed limit
• Slowly accelerating and decelerating
• Reduce idling by shutting off the engine
• Keep tire pressure at recommended levels

These tips are extremely useful and do help you better manage a fleet's fuel consumption. They can all be done manually and do not necessarily require the use of GPS technology or GPS fleet tracking technology specifically, but having these devices does help.

Imagine being able to view the location and speed of any vehicle in your fleet. Don't you think that information might be useful? I can see this type of knowledge being useful in two ways:

1. It allows you to be able to make command decisions about your fleet
2. It serves as a deterrent to wasteful practices among your employees

Both of these can have an immediate and lasting impact on your fleet. Let's take a look at each of them in turn.

GPS fleet tracking helps you make command decisions. Knowing where each of the vehicles in your fleet are at any given moment will help you respond in times of crisis or need in an appropriate manner. If you know that vehicle D is closer than vehicle E to customer F then you are more likely to send vehicle D to handle that customer. Radioing back and forth to your fleet can be time consuming and lazy workers could remain "quiet" in order to avoid work. These problems are avoided completely with the tracking device and software.

Employees will also know that you can see them even when you aren't there with GPS fleet tracking. The power of this is remarkable. Small fleets that used some type of GPS device saw an uptick of work orders completed per day of 25% over a two year period, according to an Aberdeen research group study on the impact of the GPS technology in businesses. That is a phenomenal result. Apparently workers who know that they are being watched are more productive and impact the businesses bottom line.

The impact that a GPS device will have on your business when used in conjunction with regular fuel and cost cutting techniques can be impressive. GPS fleet tracking may not be for every business, but they are certainly worth the try if you think it could help.