Fleet vehicle tracking and asset management is a broad umbrella that covers a wide variety of services. The ultimate goals of any tracking solution should be to reduce costs while improving efficiency, lowering risks, and ensuring compliance.
Asset and vehicle tracking is more important today than ever before, especially in South Africa. According to TimesLIVE, cargo theft and truck hijacking is the most significant threat facing fleet operators today. Over 1,000 trucks were attacked, robbed, or destroyed in 2020 alone.
How can businesses fight this billion-dollar criminal venture?
With a robust vehicle tracking solution, you can help protect your vehicles, goods, and drivers. In this article, we’re going to cover a few of the key business benefits of having a vehicle and fleet tracking and management solution.
Real-Time Vehicle Tracking
Several asset management solutions send periodical updates or SMSs about your vehicles and drivers. However, these notifications might come too late. With a real-time tracking solution, you can keep a constant, vigilant eye on your assets.
You can monitor information such as:
- The current location of a vehicle.
- The vehicle’s current and historical speed.
- Private use of company vehicles by employees.
Being aware of the vehicle’s location means that you’ll immediately notice if a car or truck isn’t where it should be. You’ll also be able to train your drivers to follow strict safety rules, preventing accidents and keeping your property and employees safer on the roads.
Accident Prevention and Liability Management
As we mentioned above, a tracking solution can help you enforce safe driving rules while monitoring vehicles and drivers. If one of your drivers cause an accident, your business is liable for any medical and repair costs. However, by implementing a monitoring solution, drivers are more likely to comply with safety requirements.
By pulling historical reports, you can also evaluate your drivers and maintain company-wide compliance.
With the right solution, you’ll also be able to protect yourself against wrongful lawsuits. Since fleet vehicles are typically large and considered high-risk traffic, it’s common to blame it for an accident. If you track your vehicles, you’ll have data available to help you prove a driver’s innocence if they’re wrongfully accused.
Fuel Management
Fuel costs are one of the biggest overheads of any fleet, no matter the size. It’s become critical to maximise every single drop, and the best way to do that is to implement a vehicle tracking and fleet management solution. Such a solution can help you:
- Monitor fuel consumption.
- Plan more efficient routes.
- Control vehicle idling time.
By monitoring consumption, you can identify problem areas or inefficient routes. Smart routes can reduce travel times while reducing fuel usage at the same time. It’s also becoming more common to impose idling limits. By limiting how long drivers can idle their vehicles, you can further reduce fuel costs.
Lower Insurance Costs
One of the most significant benefits of a tracking solution is that you’ll always be aware of a vehicle’s location. Not only can you impose stricter safety rules on your drivers, but you also have a better chance of recovering a vehicle if it’s stolen or hijacked.
Insurance companies like these preventative measures. Why? Because it means there’s a lower chance that you’ll have to submit a claim, lowering the risk they have to take. Resultantly, insurance companies will typically drop monthly premiums if you have a fleet or vehicle tracking solution installed.
Camera Technology for Better Results
Sometimes it’s not good enough to just track a vehicle’s position or fuel consumption. You need to see and hear what’s going on inside or outside the car, cabin, or trailer. Dashcams are small, and they’re becoming increasingly common.
A camera, or dashcam, can help identify thieves, capture accidents for evidence or insurance purposes, and even help you keep an eye on drivers.
EKS Fleet Management and Tracking Capabilities
EKS Vehicle Tracking makes effective fleet management and GPS fleet tracking of any size fleet effortless. Our Fleet Management Solution is customisable to specific business and industry needs.
Our solutions include:
- Advanced tools to manage drivers & vehicles effectively.
- Enhanced driver behaviour monitoring.
- Live tracking gives regular position updates via an online portal.
- Location management with live & historical tracking.
- Enhanced automated reporting service with reports.
- 24/7 control room for queries and online support.
- Allocated client support contact.
- And more!
If you need a customised solution that’ll benefit your business and protect your fleet, speak to one of our expert team members to find the right package.
Fleet and Vehicle Tracking Solutions are Essential
There’s no denying that having a fleet management and vehicle tracking solution in place holds massive benefits for your business. You can protect your drivers, vehicles, and goods while reducing your fuel and insurance costs. However, it’s also critical to find a solution that offers all the services you need, along with support, recovery services, and innovative technology. Are you tracking your vehicles? If not, it’s time to consider implementing a system to protect you and your business.
