4 Ways Technology Will Help Gain Control Over Your Fleet Spend

The challenges of a global economy were creating pressure on many businesses long before the COVID-19 pandemic arrived. Eventually, the pandemic will come under control: however, the competitive challenges created in a global economy will remain an issue that businesses have to face for the long term. This translates to a laser-sharp focus on refining and tightening budgets and on being aware of where every dollar is being spent and how to manage and, in fact, optimize that spend.

The answer to this challenge lies in today’s technology that provides the data necessary to make business decisions that will help achieve that company’s goal. One area where data is essential to manage cost and increase customer satisfaction is transportation. Whether that entails shipping product to a warehouse or getting heavy equipment to a job site, fleets are a major expenditure so any technology that will reduce costs, increase efficiency, and ensure reliability should be utilized.

4 ways telematics helps optimize fleet management

At NexTraq, we are well aware that knowing where your vehicles and drivers are, at any time, and where they are going, is always vital information. COVID has made that even more important with the switch of many companies to a remote workforce, where fleet managers, logistics personnel, and other employees are working from home. At a time like this, fleet supervisors need to manage their fleets – and their employees – from wherever they are. Telematics has made this possible.

1. GPS Vehicle Tracking – Dependable, reliable, and on-time delivery is job #1 for shippers and GPS vehicle tracking is key to making that happen. This technology, which has been around for a long time, is, fortunately, seeing adoption by more and more fleets. They are employing this technology not just to promote driver accountability, but to increase productivity. This is accomplished by the ability to send drivers and deliveries to the right place at the right time. This optimized routing helps fleets get more done with less. Imagine being able to quickly find addresses so you can dispatch the closest vehicles. All of this decreases overtime and maximizes revenue.

• GPS Asset Tracking – Knowing where your power units are is essential; however, it’s also important to be able to track where your trailers, generators, forklifts, and more are located as well. In normal times, when facilities like offices, depots, and warehouses are fully staffed, this is a straightforward task. But since many of these facilities are observing COVID-19 protocols, many of the staff are working remotely. With that in mind, having visibility into where equipment is matters more than ever. Fleets have found that the ability to monitor mobile assets like trailers, generators, forklifts, pumps, and more is important to get the job done.

• Fuel Management – Fuel is the largest ongoing expense fleets face. You can’t control the market, but you can control your fleet spend by tracking, monitoring, and analyzing your fuel consumption. Right now, fuel costs are low but this is an ever-changing commodity and even with low prices, the potential for abuse and fraud by employees is always present. It’s not just tracking unauthorized fuel purchases; it’s also ensuring that employees don’t spend on food and other items on the company’s dime. The way to combat this is by issuing fuel cards which give you visibility into that spend and the ability to hold employees accountable. Integrating fuel cards from the major fuel card providers make fleet managers’ jobs easier while creating significant savings.

• Geofencing & Mapping – Controlling spend is all about knowing where assets and people are at any time. Geofencing enables fleet managers to get real-time alerts throughout the day in order to track where drivers and crews are and where they’ve been. You’ll be able to know when they arrive and depart from a delivery or job site through alerts that you will get throughout the day. It’s not just confirming that your teams are where they should be; it’s also letting you know if they are where they shouldn’t be…in a pre-defined unauthorized location. Mapping will let you know not only where your vehicles are, but also, what road conditions they may be facing.

See why, during a crisis, businesses should be re-evaluating every aspect of their business.

Written by Gregg Betcher – Guest Author