Category: Blog

Guidelines For Implementing A Fleet Management Program

Posted on | by Devin Johnson

Fleet Management Program Implementation Guidelines

When you are ready to implement an effective fleet management program, it is important that you understand there is no one-size-fits-all solution that will work for every company. Understanding some basic guidelines will help you avoid wasting money and help you make a smooth transition to the new fleet management program.

Know What Your Needs Are

Before you look into GPS fleet tracking systems, you need to know what your needs are. You must also determine your budget and what you would like to accomplish with a fleet management program. Do you want to manage your drivers’ behavior, improve vehicle maintenance, improve routing, etc. In addition, you need to know if you are going to need the system to integrate with other back-office software programs that you are already using.

Communication

The best way to ensure your fleet management program’s success is to communicate with your entire staff about the fleet management program before it is implemented. This does not mean just sending a memorandum to all staff. Have an open discussion about the purpose and goals of the program. Open communication generates a company-wide buy-in that is essential for the program to succeed in the long-term.

Don’t Make Changes Too Quickly

Once you implement your new fleet management program, do not make too many changes too quickly. It is imperative that you collect your fleet data at a pace that is manageable and that your react to the new information in incremental steps, not widespread change. Some companies actually find that not changing anything for the first two months allows the fleet manager time to establish a baseline. After the baseline is established, the fleet manager can address issues with the facility design and the drivers’ behaviors one at a time.

Make Decisions With Data Not Emotions

If the GPS fleet tracking system reveals that a driver is underperforming, it is important you make decisions about your findings with the data not with your emotions. Do not be quick to fire an employee based on the fleet management program data, the underperformance may have a measurable solution. In addition, using the data instead of emotions can help mitigate the feeling of apprehension that many fleet managers feel.

GPS Fleet Tracking Systems: Moving Industry

Posted on | by Devin Johnson

The Moving Industry Finds Many Benefits in GPS Fleet Tracking Systems

GPS fleet tracking systems are going to great use in the moving industry. Moving companies are using these systems to provide the best service to their customers. Customers are truly appreciative of knowing exactly where their belongings are after the moving company picks up their stuff. Gone are the days a customer has so call a moving company frantically because the moving company lost communication with the truck. Also, customers do not have to worry about their belongings being sent to another state or location because routing is automatic.

When you are in the moving industry, the efficient routes you drive go straight to your bottom line. GoFleet’s GPS fleet tracking systems can help you gain control of your fleet of moving trucks and make your drivers more productive. If your drivers make unauthorized stops or drive out of the authorized area, it can take money out of your pocket because money could be made at another job. With GoFleet’s GPS fleet tracking systems, you can eliminate driver behaviors that affect productivity. GoFleet can send your fleet managers automatic alerts when your drivers speed, go off of the authorized route, idle excessively or make unauthorized stops.

Implementing one of GoFleet’s fleet tracking systems gives you the right tools to dramatically reduce fuel costs, labor and vehicle maintenance costs. Knowing where your fleet is positioned at all times can also help you make business decisions that can save your company time and money. With GoFleet, if a new customer calls with an emergency local moving job, you can send your closed driver to the job location to make sure your secure the customer.

When your moving company uses one of GoFleet’s GPS fleet tracking systems, you will be promoting quality and confidence in your company. Using the fleet management tools you can eliminate inefficiencies in order to gain more customers and ultimately grow your business. For more information about how GoFleet can help your moving company, Contact Us

Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems: Increase Safety and Save Money

Posted on | by Devin Johnson

Increase Safety and Save Money With Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems

Business owners are using tire pressure monitoring systems to increase vehicle safety and save money. Tire pressure monitoring systems measure both the tires’ temperature and tire pressure. They are used to increase fuel economy and prolong the life of the tires, while increasing vehicle safety with fewer tire failures on the road.

How Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems Work

Tire pressure monitoring systems from GoFleet are used to alert the driver and fleet manager when the tire pressure drops under the set threshold. The tire monitoring system communicates the changes in air pressure and temperature to the fleet manager through the GoFleet GPS fleet tracking system. Robust tire pressure sensors are mounted internally to constantly measure tire temperature and tire pressure every 4 seconds.

Fleet managers can proactively manage their fleet’s tires with automatic alerts for low or high tire pressure, leakage and high temperatures. Alerts can be automatically sent to the fleet manager via email, SMS text message or displayed on the fleet management software.

GoFleet’s tire pressure monitoring systems are fully integrated with GoFleet’s GPS fleet management systems, MyGeotab and Geotab G06.

GoFleet’s tire pressure monitoring systems ensure a fleet’s tires are properly inflated at all times. This extends the life of the tires, reduces maintenance costs, increases fuel efficiency and increases vehicle safety.

Increase Fuel Efficiency

Making sure your tires are properly inflates results in the use of less fuel because there is less rolling resistance. When businesses increase fuel efficiency, they will immediately start saving money on costly fuel. With fuel costs constantly on the rise, increasing fuel efficiency in businesses with fleet operations is essential.

Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems Increase Vehicle Safety

When your tires are inflated properly, they do not generate as much heat which reducing the risk of catastrophic tire failure. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Statistical Investigation On Tire Pressure Maintenance, tires that are only a few psi off from recommendations from the manufactures can affect the vehicle’s stopping and handling distance. Businesses no longer have to rely on their drivers to perform manual tire pressure inspections “whenever they have time”. GoFleet’s real-time tire pressure monitoring systems provides immediate warnings of tire pressure and temperature issues. Taking care of the issue immediately can prevent dangerous tire issues when your drivers are on the road.

Top Fleet Management Trends of 2014

Posted on | by Devin Johnson

Top Fleet Management Trends

Fleet managers are faced with many challenges every day. The pressure is growing in to reduce costs while improving driver productivity. There is also pressure to make fleet practices more “green”. According to a panel of truck experts, the top fleet management trends in 2014 include:

Managing Fleets With Telematics

Advanced technology has opened so many doors in the fleet management industry. Businesses are finally able to properly manage their mobile assets from the comfort of their office computer and/or mobile device. Fleet managers can instantly monitor vehicle locations, driver behaviors, routing, arrival times and so much more using a GPS device installed in each vehicle, a GPS receiver and web-based software. As reliable GPS fleet management solutions become more affordable and fleet managers are becoming more aware of the limitless benefits, managing fleets with telematics is becoming a norm in most businesses with fleet operations. .

Predictive Vehicle Maintenance Instead of Just Preventative Maintenance

The newest vehicle maintenance trend emerging is practicing predictive maintenance instead of the traditional preventative approach. Forward-thinking fleet managers are leveraging vehicle maintenance reports to fully understand what exactly is failing in their vehicles and when it will fail in their other vehicles. Then they use the data that was uncovered to create and establish a policy to replace the vehicles’ critical components before they fail, ultimately reducing vehicle downtime.

Rightsize Fleets

Many businesses are “rightsizing” their fleets, when possible. For example, instead of using a 1-ton pickup, businesses are using a ¾ ton pickup. In addition to reducing the initial costs of a purchasing a new fleet vehicle, it also improves fuel efficiency over the vehicle’s life. Rightsizing means choosing the best vehicle for the specific job. Business owners should carefully compare the vehicle specs to the intended vehicle use to find the fleet vehicles that are best designed for their business.

Increasing Fleet Vehicle Replacement Cycle Times

Fleet managers are constantly faced with making the dollar stretch as far as possible. Experts say there is a current fleet management trend of businesses keeping their work trucks in services longer than the traditional replacement cycle. In general, experts do not recommend increasing the replacement cycle times too much because increasing the service time, increases the vehicles’ mileage, maintenance costs and the risk the vehicle will fail catastrophically. Business owners must carefully weigh the pros and cons before deciding to increase the cycle times. If they do decide to keep vehicles in service longer, it is extremely important to keep up with preventative maintenance.

Anti-Idling Policies

Many businesses are implementing anti-idling policies for their fleet drivers. As more and more states and municipalities are adopting anti-idling laws, businesses want to ensure that they are in compliance. Reducing excessive idling will also improve productivity, reduce fuel costs and reduce greenhouse emissions.

Guide To Increasing Driver Productivity

Posted on | by Devin Johnson

Increasing Driver Productivity Guide

A fleet manager’s job requires them to watch the bottom line, ensure vehicles are efficiently operating and manage drivers. As you can see, the drivers play a major role in this equation. The drivers can either help the manager succeed or drive productivity into the ground. Luckily, there are some great strategies managers can use to help boost driver productivity.

Maintain Vehicles

When vehicles are not properly maintained, it results in downtime for the vehicle and the driver. The key to an efficient fleet is to understand that preventative maintenance has many long-term benefits that greatly outweigh any short-term inconveniences. Many GPS fleet management companies offer valuable vehicle maintenance reminders that can help fleet managers stay on top of vehicle maintenance. This new technology is making it much easier for a fleet manager to take care of a large fleet of vehicles. Some fleet management systems even have tools that allow users to make appointments at the nearest service location or order vehicle parts.

Fleet Management Technology

Enhancing fleet efficiency and increasing driver productivity are easier than ever with new advanced fleet management technology options. Not only is it easier to manage fleets with GPS fleet tracking systems, using this solution also reduces a business’ costs. Fleet managers are able to monitor many non-productive behaviors such as excessive stop times, idling, downtime and route deviations. They are also able to see average delivery times, actual work hours and job times.

Some fleet managers are using GPS fleet management solutions to eliminate unnecessary paperwork for the drivers. The time spent on extra paperwork can be used to provide better service to your customers. Drivers no longer have to fill out mileage sheets, time cards, customer locations, times of stops, etc.

The best way to improve productivity is to incorporate fleet management technology in to your business’s fleet policies. Make sure your drivers know that your business has a culture of efficiency and high productivity.

Commercial Truck GPS Management: Roofing Industry

Posted on | by Devin Johnson

Roofing Industry: GoFleet’s Commercial Truck GPS

Delivering high quality roofing services in the fast passed world we live in can be challenging. GoFleet is uniquely suited to help with commercial truck GPS services for your fleet of roofing work trucks.

Implementing a commercial truck GPS system from GoFleet has many valuable benefits including:

Increase Roofing Service Without Increasing Your Costs

The GoFleet commercial truck GPS system lets you easily manage your drivers, time spent at job sites, on-time arrivals, and dispatching. This allows you to improve productivity and increase efficiency. Experts found that implementing a GPS fleet management system can add an extra 1.3 hours of service time each day per worker. That is time that would have been wasted by inefficiency.

Improve Safety

Improve driver safety and the risk of lawsuits when you manage your drivers with a commercial truck GPS system. When your drivers drive poorly, it can damage your reputation. Remember, their driving behavior is a reflection on your business. Even more importantly, they could be putting their lives and the lives of others at risk by driving in an unsafe manner. GoFleet’s commercial truck GPS system provides reports on drivers’ habits so you can identify problems and immediately fix them.

Managing Your Fleet Is Easy

When you install commercial truck GPS devices in your work trucks, you are providing your managers with all the tools necessary to properly manage their team of drivers. Managers can easily configure fleet management reports so they get all of the relevant information they need. Even when your manager is not online, automated SMS text message or email alerts can be set up to notify them of any driving issues. Alerts can be set up for driver speeding, excessive idling or route deviation. When your managers have the tools they need to succeed, your business will succeed. Running an efficient fleet can cut your operating costs, reduce labor, increase productivity and improve customer service.

Three Fuel Saving Practices To Lower Your Fuel Costs

Posted on | by Devin Johnson

Lower Your Fuel Costs With Fuel Saving Practices

Businesses with fleet operations have been feeling the strain of high fuel costs for the past few years. At first, these business owners assumed they just had to get past a tough couple of years and then the fuel costs would stabilize. It is now clear that high fuel costs are here to stay. The only way to lower your fuel costs is to implement fuel saving tips and use less fuel.

Decrease Idle Times

Each hour your vehicle is in idle equals approximately 25 driving miles in fuel. Unfortunately, many drivers are in the habit of sitting in their vehicle while it is idling as a form of climate control. This directly translates into costing your business more money. A quality GPS fleet management system can send notifications to you when your drivers are idling for excessive periods of time giving you the opportunity to have their behavior corrected immediately.

Reduce Driving Speeds

The United States Environmental Protections Agency states that every 5 miles driven above the speed limit costs your business approximately 20 cents more per gallon of fuel. If you have several drivers speeding regularly, the costs can add up quickly. A GPS fleet management system can provide reports on driving speeds and notifications when a driver exceeds the speed threshold you have set. This can help you manage your driver’s behavior better. Ensuring your drivers drive at fuel-efficient speeds will not only reduce fuel costs, it will improve safety.

Efficient Routing

Intelligently planning the routes your drivers take can save you money on fuel. A high quality GPS fleet management system can plan efficient routes for you automatically. These solutions can shave fuel costs by planning routes with the fewest miles and stops. Inefficient routing wastes both valuable time and fuel. With GPS fleet management software, your dispatchers are also able to send the closest driver to a job location.

Implement these fuel saving tips and start saving your money.

Are you struggling with fuel costs? Contact one of our Fleet Consultants to find out how GoFleet can help.

Improve Your Customers’ Experience

Posted on | by Devin Johnson

GPS Tracking Management Improves Your Customers’ Experience

It’s very likely you have heard the expression “Work smarter, not harder.” If you are like many small business owners, you probably have thought to yourself, “Is it really that easy?” If you manage a fleet of business vehicles, the answer is yes! If you implement a GPS tracking management system helps you to provide higher quality customer support.

We all know competitors that appear to have their business under complete control at all times. They provide high quality customer support, run efficiently and make everything seem easy. You too can have the same level of control in your business.

Even if your company’s service or product might be the superior choice, you can improve your customers’ experience when they do business with you. This can help you stand apart from your competitors and become your area’s leader. Stop wasting valuable talent, energy and time; take a step back and start working smarter.

Add Value To Your Customer Beyond Your Service Or Product

When you get to know the customers in your industry, you are able to determine what they are looking for and what would add value to the service or product you provide. They key is interacting with your customers and getting to know what affects their business or personal life the most. Adding value to your customers’ experience can give your company the edge it needs to make a lasting impression and gain repeat and referral business.

For example, if you are in the plumbing business, you would know that your customers do not want to be given a four hour service window. That means your customer will be stuck at their location for up to four hours just waiting for your plumber to arrive not including the time your plumber is providing the service. Your customers’ time is valuable and that could waste their entire day. Your competitor might not have plumbers as qualified, professional and experienced as yours, however, they might be able to tell the customer they will arrive within 30 to 40 minutes. It is very possible the customer will choose speed of service over reputation, experience and service quality because they simply don’t have 4 hours to sit around waiting.

Implementing a GPS tracking management system, can allow you to easily manage your drivers. The system provides automatic fleet routing and scheduling, vehicle locations, valuable alerts, fleet management reports and much more. When your customer calls to request service, you will be able to tell them, with confidence, an accurate estimated time of arrival. Your dispatchers can also send the closest driver to the customer’s location instead of having the customer wait for a driver who is in another county. Your customers will appreciate the short service window and efficient service.

Comprehensive Fleet Driver Monitoring Best Practices

Posted on | by Devin Johnson

Best Practices For Comprehensive Fleet Driver Monitoring

When you want to take an integrated approach to driver monitoring, you must consider driver’s license data, traffic violation information, Motor Vehicle Records and telematics information. However, alone this take gives an incomplete picture of a driver’s safety.

Today, business owners and fleet managers have access to an unbelievable amount of information about their drivers. The trick is you need to play connect the dots with all of the information and driving records to get a comprehensive view of your employee’s driving record.

The best practices for comprehensive fleet driver monitoring include:

Establish An Initial Baseline

Monitoring your drivers has to start with a clear, complete and accurate baseline. Get an official 3-year Motor Vehicle Report provided by the state. All of your future driver monitoring activities will then be compared to the initial baseline.

Frequently Monitor

At the absolute minimum, drivers need to be monitored monthly. In 30 days, many things can happen that could lead to potential problems and increased risk of negligent driver entrustment.

Take Action

Once you have insight into your driver’s habits and behavior, you now have the ability to take action. Corrective action includes enrolling employees in additional driver training or having them ride with another employee for a specific period of time.

Separate from the additional costs of an unsafe driver, understanding your driver’s performance is the best thing to do to improve safety. It creates a culture of safety with safer employees and promotes a safer community.

Comprehensive fleet driver monitoring best practices require commitment and diligence; however, it has never been as easy as it is today. There are so many advances in fleet management technology that are making it easy for you to manage your fleet and take corrective action if it is needed. It is unbelievable how much more efficient, productive and safer implementing these best practices can make your business

Gas Detection Systems: How Do They Work?

Posted on | by Devin Johnson

How Do GoFleet’s Gas Detection Systems Work?

Gas detection systems are offered by GoFleet as an add-on to their fleet management solution. They measure the concentration of gases in the air for worker safety purposes. The units signify high levels of gas through visible and audible indicators in addition to sending instant threat reports to the driver’s fleet manager.

While older gas detectors where originally designed to detect only one gas, GoFleet’s modern gas detection systems have four different gas sensors in one unit. Users can select the types of gases that are to be detected. There are over 120 different possibilities. In addition to improving workers’ safety, GoFleet’s gas detection systems are fully integrated with the fleet management solution to make managing a fleet more efficient and productive.

GoFleet offers two different types of gas detection systems: 1) Oil and gas and 2) Fire and HazMat. The oil and gas package helps fleet managers protect their oil and gas workers with a combination of gas senor solutions. The fire and hazmat package is used for to protect public safety employees who face toxic gas hazards every day.

Gas detection systems improve worker safety in confined spaces such as vehicles, bins, cargo trucks, storage containers, vessels and pits, as they do not have continuous occupancy by employees.

GoFleet’s gas detection systems are extremely reliable. The gas sensors can run off of internal rechargeable batteries or the vehicle’s power. Fleet managers receive continuous gas detector reports for safety including the signal strength of the radio and the level of the battery charge. These reports are sent directly to GoFleet’s Geotab GO device.

Workers using one of GoFleet’s gas detection systems can also send a panic alarm to fleet managers from within 300 feet of their vehicle. If external antennas are installed, they can use the panic button up to a mile away.

Adding a gas detection system on to a vehicle is essential when your workers’ safety is at risk. The workers will know the presence of gases even before they exit the vehicle.