In 2020, the global GPS tracking device market was worth $1.78 billion. It’s also projected to more than double in size by 2028. This projected growth makes sense as businesses begin to realize all the benefits associated with GPS tracking technology.
GPS trackers can save you money in various ways. In this guide, we’ll look at all of the ways you could potentially save money by investing in GPS technology. You have to consider that if you don’t look into using this technology, your competitors could gain the upper hand when they adopt the latest GPS tracking technology.
Read on to learn how you can change your business practices for the better with GPS tracking devices.
Table of Contents
Better Driver Efficiency
When your drivers use GPS tracking devices, they are able to select much more efficient routes. Gone will be the days of drivers spending precious time trying to find a particular location as they’ll have all the info they need right in front of them.
If the driver can’t quite figure out where to go, they can talk to someone in your office who will be able to guide them with the GPS info of the driver’s location to hand. That person in the office can also make route suggestions to the driver so that the driver can get on with their job without being distracted looking at a screen.
With GPS tracking technology, you’ll see real-time traffic alerts, accident alerts, and roadblock alerts. This means you’ll be able to divert your drivers to a better route to save time and money.
Improve Assignment Dispatching
If you are a company that has a fleet of vehicles that pick up assignments as they come, then GPS technology is a must. With GPS vehicle trackers, you’ll be able to allocate assignments in a way that you couldn’t do before.
The technology will let you see which drivers are almost finished with one assignment in a specific area and which ones won’t be available for some time. Before you might have only dispatched new assignments to drivers who were free, but much further away than a driver who was almost finished with another job. Thus, this information will make your assignment dispatching much more efficient, which can result in you saving on costs.
Plus, you’ll be able to visualize any obstacles that might prevent drivers that are free from getting to a dispatch location in good time. We’re talking about obstacles like accidents and road works, for example.
Reduce Idle Times
When your vehicles are idling, you’re losing money. GPS trackers for vehicles help to reduce idle times by large margins. They do this by helping you plan routes better and avoiding heavy traffic jams or other obstacles.
Plus, there’s nothing worse than your employees sitting and doing nothing while getting paid for it. It won’t be good for employees’ morale and you might develop a negative attitude towards your drivers for idling so much.
Also, when a vehicle is idling, it would contribute to putting more pollution into the atmosphere. Whether or not you believe in climate change, one thing is for sure is that the more exhaust fumes you pump out of your vehicles, the more polluted the breathable air is going to be, and the chances of smog increase.
More Efficient Scheduling
Fleet tracking with GPS trackers for cars or any other vehicles is the way forward if you want to enjoy more efficient scheduling. All the time you wasted before will be freed up for you to use in other ways to generate more income for the firm.
You’ll have loads of insightful data at your fingertips to analyze and act on. In a short space of time, you’ll see how easy it has become to schedule your fleet. Plus, using GPS tracking technology will allow you to quickly adapt your fleet scheduling at a moment’s notice.
Better Communication
Whenever a company communicates better, it puts itself in a position where it could save more money and become more successful. In general, this is because things can happen faster.
When you invest in GPS trackers, you improve the communication capabilities of your company in a huge way. Modern GPS tracking is not just about seeing where your fleet is, it also offers a whole range of other technological benefits that work in one package.
For instance, the platform you use will likely offer SMS messaging. This means drivers won’t have to look at their phones while on the job when they receive messages from you. Some options will also include voice communication in some form.
Lower Maintenance and Operation Costs
Modern fleet-managing GPS trackers come with technology built-in that can monitor your fleet in various ways. Many trackers now can monitor engine diagnostics and performance. This means you can reduce the chances of major breakdowns happening with your vehicles.
For example, the engine in one of your drivers’ cars might be overheating. With a GPS tracker that monitors engine diagnostics, you’d be able to see this problem and stop the driver to get the car looked at or fix it themself.
If you didn’t know about the issue, the driver may have continued driving and a major problem of cylinder warping might have occurred, for instance. That sort of issue would cost a lot more to fix than if you had caught the problem sooner. Also, the time wasted fixing serious issues on vehicles means less time making money.
Driver Behavior Will Improve
When a driver knows that you can see their every move in the vehicle they’re using, they will become more responsible drivers if they are not already. You’ll be able to track things like speeding, sudden lane changes, hard-breaking, and other risky or illegal behaviors.
When you can keep track of such behaviors and limit them from happening then you may get fewer customer complaints or costly accidents happening with your fleet.
As well, with real-time monitoring, you will be able to advise drivers on their behavior in seconds. This could help prevent accidents or customer complaints from occurring.
Save on Insurance
When you invest in a high-quality GPS tracking platform for your fleet, you’ll benefit from lower insurance premiums. The reason for this is that insurance companies acknowledge that GPS trackers help vehicles drive safer and have fewer accidents.
Insurance companies will see that you are being responsible and care about how your fleet conducts itself. Plus, if your vehicles have trackers, then if they get stolen then you’ll have a better chance of reclaiming them and catching the thief. This means there is less risk for the insurance companies, so they can offer you discounts.
Make Use of Digital Driver Logs
Digital driver logs are a very useful tool to have for your fleet. They record hours of service (HOS) which makes it clear what you owe a driver for their time on shift.
It may be the case that you need this sort of system in place by law. So why not have it integrated into one system, rather than having one or more systems running simultaneously to monitor different aspects of your fleet?
If a driver has to be compliant by doing paperwork for their hours, it wastes time that could be spent doing other things that are more productive for the firm. Plus, when they don’t have to do paperwork, they have more time to rest, which can mean they have better morale and drive safer.
Plus, it will be impossible for drivers to fake their on-shift hours. This is because you’ll have a digital record of when they started their shift, where they went, and when they finished. It’s, of course, in your drivers’ interests to clock in and clock out in a proper manner for them to receive their correct pay.
How to Choose a GPS Tracker
Now that we’ve looked at all the benefits associated with GPS trackers, it’s time to look at how you can choose one that will suit your specific needs best.
Here are some considerations:
Research GPS Trackers for Different Vehicle Types
The type of vehicle tracker you choose will depend on what vehicle you want to track. For instance, if you are wanting to track long-haul freight, the tracker will be different from the ones you need for small vehicles like taxis, delivery trucks, or rental cars.
Some GPS trackers will be able to monitor things like refrigerated trailers or construction equipment. This sort of monitoring will cost more but it will be worth the investment to have it integrated into one GPS platform.
If you are struggling with where to start researching different trackers, here is an excellent example of a company that deals with all sorts of GPS tracking options for you to check out.
Real-Time Tracking vs. Periodic Updates
Not everyone needs real-time tracking, and if you don’t, then you can save money by getting GPS trackers with periodic updates. These sorts of updates happen in time intervals. Rather than you being able to see a dot moving on a screen in real-time, you’ll see it jump in time intervals to indicate the location of your driver.
The advantage of real-time tracking is you can locate the precise location of any of your fleets at any time. So you gain a lot more insight with real-time tracking, and if any of your vehicles are stolen, you’ll be able to indicate to the authorities exactly where it’s going so they can catch the thief.
Proprietary or Non-Proprietary Options
You should know that some companies only offer proprietary GPS technology. If you are comfortable with the idea of working with this sort of company then the proprietary aspect may not be an issue for you.
However, if you wish to integrate or change parts of your GPS tech with another company’s tech then you might want to opt for non-proprietary options. The reason for this is that it could cost an absolute fortune to change all your GPS trackers and hardware if you needed to with proprietary options.
Look for an Intuitive and Easy to Use Application
If you want to get the most out of your GPS tracking, the application you use for tracking needs to be intuitive and easy to use. Thus, make sure to read reviews about different applications.
You should also find out if the company that is offering you the GPS tracking software has its own standalone app or not. If they do have a standalone app, it may be better integrated with all the hardware and function better.
Water Resistance and Durability
For many circumstances, it will be important to find out the durability and water resistance level of the trackers you are interested in. The last thing you want is to spend a fortune on trackers to find out they don’t cut it for your fleet of trucks.
In some instances, you may need trackers that can handle extreme heat or cold. For example, ice road truckers will want trackers that will be able to handle extreme cold.
Smart Alerts
Another thing to look for in GPS trackers is how they deliver smart alerts. Smart alerts are helpful when you are tracking fragile or potentially unstable goods.
If safety boundaries are crossed, smart alerts will let you know instantly so that the driver can resolve the issue fast. For instance, if a refrigerated truck stops cooling the cargo, a good GPS tracker will send you and the driver a smart alert. The driver can then quickly try to fix the problem before the cargo becomes spoiled.
Invest in the Right GPS Trackers for Your Company
As you now know, there are various benefits to GPS tracking and many things to consider when choosing GPS trackers. If you choose right, you can save a lot of money, make your company more competitive, and take more control over your fleet.
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