As a professional contractor in the mechanical industry, you are probably well aware that using fleet tracking technology can save you money, but did you know that it can also help you generate revenue? Fleet tracking technology is more than just dots on a map; it drives revenue by increasing productivity and efficiency, expanding customer service, and more. Using an advanced fleet tracking platform to its full capability will allow your fleet to not only cut costs and reduce risk, but also drive revenue for your business.
Increase productivity
Simply put, if you increase your fleet’s productivity, you get more done and turn a larger profit. There are a number of ways to increase productivity by using a fleet tracking solution. Monitor and put an end to unauthorized vehicle usage and help maximize their workday to ensure your employees are being as productive as possible.
So how will preventing unauthorized usage, like side jobs? First of all, it is difficult enough to try and turn a profit with employees using your resources. You may think that this scenario could never happen at your company, but unfortunately, unauthorized usage is a more common problem than most would like to admit. If your contractors are completing a commercial plumbing or HVAC job over several days or weeks, it is important to make sure they are working on getting that job completed as quickly as possible and are not using your company vehicles and supplies for other activities.
You can identify unauthorized usage a few ways within a fleet tracking system. Setting up GPS alerts and reports will allow you to see where and when drivers are using company vehicles. One way alerts can be used to prevent side jobs by setting up landmark alerts. Designate landmarks around your customer sites to see when drivers arrive and leave, to make sure that they are working for you when they say they are.
Also, view reports and alerts for odd-hours usage to know if your vehicles are moving during none working hours. For example, 7:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. would be valuable to see if your vehicles are being used to complete jobs after hours or are being utilized for personal use.
Maximize work day
If you are paying employees for a full day of work, you expect to get a full day of work completed. So how do you maximize their productivity each workday with fleet tracking? Fleet tracking software provides insight into unnecessary trips that could be to a supply store, lunch at home, etc., that waste time, money and miles driven every day. You will also save valuable time by dispatching your drivers more efficiently. Getting your team from jobsite to jobsite in the most efficient manner will also save you time and money.
Long stop reports can help you to understand if your contractors are working in the most efficient way possible. If you know that it takes one hour and fifteen minutes to complete a job, and you see that your vehicle is still sitting at the same customer stop one hour and forty-five minutes later, there is an inconsistency that needs to be addressed.
What if you could have your drivers complete just one more job per day? This small change can have a large impact on your bottom line! For example, completing just one additional job per day, at an average of $100 per job, with a fleet of 15 trucks, is equal to $33,000 extra monthly revenue.
Making small changes to how productive your drivers are will not only save money – it will generate more revenue.
Expanding customer service
There is a direct correlation between customer service and revenue. If you have a reputation of being a great company to work with, more customers will want to work with you! It is pretty simple to understand, but what may not be so simple is figuring out exactly how to establish or keep that reputation. A few ways that fleet tracking can improve customer service is by helping you to serve more customers, improve estimated time of arrivals, and provide them with an easy way to understand where your drivers are.
The more customers you can serve per day, the more money you can make. Fleet tracking will help you quickly choose the best vehicle for the job to speed up response times. To choose the best vehicle for a job, top tier fleet tracking solutions allow you to setup categories and attributes, which provide details about the employee, equipment on board, or vehicle information, to quickly identify the most appropriate vehicle for that job. This ensures that you send the best vehicle with the right equipment to the jobsite every time.
Fleet tracking provides real-time vehicle location information. If you know that your contractor is stuck in traffic or running behind at the previous job, you can proactively contact your customers to let them know. Automated alerts can also be sent to customers to notify them when a contractor is on the way. This will make your customer happy because you are being respectful of their time which will set you apart from the competition.
You can easily show customers or partners where your vehicles are by adding a customer map to your website or by providing a location API to your partners. You can select which vehicles are shown and even display their routes over the past hour. Not only will having a customer map make your existing customers and partners happy, it will help attract new customers too.
Utilizing a fleet tracking solution is a win-win – it will help you to take control of your fleet and generate more revenue.
Jenny Malcolm is the marketing administrator for GPS Insight. She graduated from Arizona State University with a Bachelor's of Communication and is responsible for external marketing communication for all business segments that GPS Insight targets.