Vehicle tracking systems can really positively impact your bottom line. As a fleet maintenance company I have seen companies that have invested in them save tens of thousands of dollars per year. Its some of the best technology a medium to large fleet can spend money on.

Think about it. You have employees that are driving your company vehicles who have no vested interest in them. They do not have any monetary interest in maintaining them, driving them safely, or driving them economically. Its not their vehicle so why should they care. If they get into a car accident or forget to change the oil in them the company will pay for it. This is precisely where vehicle tracking systems come in.

GPS fleet tracking systems can give you a lot of information about your fleet vehicles that you never thought possible. At any given time during the day the GPS computer can identify every fleet vehicle you currently have in operation including their locations, the persons driving them, and how fast they are going. The fleet manager has a computer screen in his office that gives him certain pre-determined alerts like if any employee is driving over the speed limit, if a vehicle needs an oil change, or if the vehicle has diverged off course. There is no pertinent information the fleet vehicle tracking systems cannot provide now.

Recently the local waste management utility company installed these devices in their garbage trucks without the employees knowing. They found out several things. First, they found out that certain employees were speeding. Second, the found out that they were not following the proper route they were assigned. Third, and this is where the big money savings start, they found out that the employees stated they were working eight hour shifts but would actually get done in six hours and all go hang out at a restaurant or bar. The company was loosing 2 man hours per day! The typical employee working here is paid $13 an hour and they have 300 employees. Even if half the employees were cheating on their time clock then that's $78,000 saved in one month just off labor. Can you think of anything else that could equal that savings?

What if you have a company where there is an abnormal amount of accidents and your auto insurance is going through the roof. This fleet tracking software can easily tell you how your employees are driving and how fast they are going. Are they constantly switching lanes, driving recklessly, or going twenty miles an hour over the speed limit? If you have this system in place you can easily find out.

What about fuel economy. Doing many fleets around town I see employees totally being wasteful by leaving trucks on when they are not in use. I saw several semi trucks on for hours at this moving company for no apparent reason. They were just idling. A lot of companies tell the guys to turn the trucks off when they are not in use but now you can make sure its being done.

This particular fleet software is also designed to tell you when a truck needs an oil change. Its impossible to remember when a car was last serviced and the oil change stickers always fall off. You can program the computer to alert you when a truck gets to 3,000 miles and get the oil change. It takes all the guesswork out.

Its simple and easy to install them. Most of the fleet vehicle tracking equipment comes in a kit that can be installed in each vehicle. They are wired to the car or truck's circuits. All the data is then sent into your office to be analyzed by you or whoever is running that department. Its easy and takes no more than a day to install. They usually retail for $200 onward. depending on the brand and range desired. If you have certain vehicles that are traveling long distances and not just in the city you are going to need a higher model.

We live in a period of time when employee loyalty is at an all time low. Gone are the days of our grandfather when workers would treat company property like it was their own. No one cares anymore. If you run a fleet or own a fleet then you have to make it your business to care and invest in the technology to be able to do it effectively.