Vehicle tracking systems have allowed businesses to actively manage the behaviour of their fleet vehicle drivers, improving productivity, accountability and limiting vehicle related accidents, reducing maintenance costs and traffic fines. But what does vehicle tracking mean? Here are a few points to consider.
Vehicle tracking has been around for a while and has constantly evolved alongside technology.
Today vehicle tracking relies largely on the use of GPS (Global Positioning System) and GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) modules attached to each vehicle offering drivers the ability to locate their own positions and to stay in constant communication with their supervisors/offices.
Information collected by the GPS and GSM systems can be seen and analysed by the supervisors in real time.
No fleet company uses the information of a tracking system in the same way, but Avis Fleet’s telematics product targets bad driving behaviour to ensure utmost safety. This particular vehicle tracking system assists in the goal of getting a driver to work, of performing their deliveries and pick ups, and ultimately of getting home safely.
By seeing how someone drives on a daily basis, vehicle tracking can identify good or bad driving behaviour, which can then be followed up with driver training to improve on specific areas.
Common driving behaviour pitfalls include speeding, minimal following distance, harsh braking, over-revving and bad clutch control. Furthermore, the tracking system ascertains how long a driver has been behind the wheel and if they are in need of rest. Fatigue and driving don’t go well together.
While the driver learns to be a better driver overall through tracking systems, some companies (like Avis Fleet) have chosen to use a scorecard to make sure the benefits of better driving behaviour stay with the driver over his/her career.
This will also help drivers to become used to the new national demerit system where bad driving behaviour can result in demerits. The accrual of these demerit points may result in the loss of a driver’s licence.
This is problematic not only for the driver, but for the company too – no driver means downtime and loss of productivity.
The benefits of vehicle tracking are many but the main advantages for a fleet company (and as Avis Fleet has experienced) are:
Choose Avis Fleet’s telematics product – where data becomes truly meaningful for fleet-operating customers.
Contact Avis Fleet to learn how to implement Telematics into your fleet today.