If fleet operation is an integral part of your business operations, it is highly likely that you are constantly working to prevent the unauthorized use of your fleet vehicles. Examples of unauthorized fleet vehicle usage include engaging in side jobs, using vehicles to visit home during work, and running errands on company vehicle.
Interestingly, most fleet managers are aware of unauthorized vehicle usage across their fleets but have a hard time identifying and stopping it. However, with a small investment on vehicle GPS tracking device price, you can enrich your fleet management system and gain access to real-time data on your fleet’s operations. This data can equip you with the knowledge required to stop unauthorized use of your vehicles.
Impact of Unauthorized Fleet Usage
Unauthorized fleet vehicle usage can affect your business in different ways. Some of the areas that get the most impacted include:
- Unnecessary fuel wastage
- Increased labor costs
- Negative brand impression
- Increased liability
- Unnecessary decrease in customer service
With GPS tracking, it can become much simpler to create policies that prevent unplanned stops. Any unauthorized usage will cost your company in terms of money, time, and liability.
Controlling Unauthorized Usage
Unauthorized company truck usage can not only waste money but can also put your business at unnecessary risk. Some of the key features that help you gain control over fleet vehicle usage with GPS tracking include:
- Automatic alerts for weekend or off-hour usage
- Historical data on route and stoppage to keep track of any side trips
- Driver ID identification for every trip
Stopping Side Jobs
Drivers have been known to use company fleet vehicles and equipment to complete side jobs on their way home. Side jobs are among the most common challenges faced by delivery and service-based companies that operate fleets. However, GPS tracking can help overcome this problem using the following features:
- Accounting for every stop and start
- Monitoring vehicles after hours or any time drivers take them home
Preventing Unauthorized Stops
Fleet managers have been relying on reports to study all the stops made by their drivers. Another tactic they have been using is to monitor all the locations where excess idling is noticed. All these approaches can seem to be effective, but they are time consuming. With GPS, you can compare planned routes and actually followed routes.
Some of the features and approaches that can help can include:
- Identifying the stops that need to be completed in a day
- Entering all the identified locations into the GPS system if they are not there
- Using route optimization feature to find the most efficient order of stoppages
- Sending the optimized route to the vehicle’s GPS tracker, ensuring the driver follows directions
- Any time the driver has to divert due to any reason, they can receive inputs on a new optimized route
Using GPS tracking, you can monitor the driver’s route and compare it to the initially scheduled route. The system can provide you information on where and when the ignition is turned on/off, travel start and stop locations and times, and events such as hard braking and turns. All such information can make it easier to identify unplanned stops and take necessary action.
Conclusion
When you implement GPS tracking systems, you can expect most drivers to stop unauthorized vehicle usage. Such systems go beyond maintaining logs indicating unauthorized stops. They can raise alerts in real-time. You can instantly contact drivers and share logs to correct their behavior. All sizes of businesses can benefit from GPS tracking, both small and large. Since the cost of GPS systems integration is scalable, it depends on your fleet size. Thus, for an affordable vehicle GPS tracking device price, you can optimize your fleet operations, reduce costs, and enhance driver accountability.
