#gps fleet monitoring

[vyncs-gps-tracker]

Overcoming Challenges for Utility Fleets in 2023

Fleet managers in utility industries have to face unique challenges, most of which concern efficiency and safety. Whenever a utility fleet c

[vyncs-gps-tracker]

4 Suggestions from Fleet Managers to Improve Fleet Management

Fleet managers don’t want anything more than to increase the productivity of their fleet and decrease business expenses. Investing in a fleet tracker device to enhance the aspects of fleet management is a highly effective way of achieving these goals.

The information provided below will give you a clearer picture of what fleets and fleet managers can achieve by using the right telematics system.

Insights from Fleet Managers

Fleet route optimization - A fleet management device provides multiple data points for dynamic route optimization, including mileage, vehicle stops, individual driving patterns, and other vital management data by monitoring every vehicle’s location continually. Effective route planning is mission-critical to the success of a fleet.

With fleet telematics, you can see a near real-time comprehensive map of all current vehicle locations and statuses.

Depending on the device or digital solution, you can locate the closest vehicle by specifying an address or some other function.

Direct vehicles to other jobs once they finish the tasks at hand.

Go through the vehicle location history.

Track mileage every week.

View mileage trend reports.

2. Additional fuel cost reduction strategies - Fleet management solutions allow you to stay atop operational aspects that dictate fuel consumption.

Speeding: Driving at the right speed can reduce fuel usage significantly. Check speeding events per drive and set up alerts triggered whenever a driver breaches a specific threshold.

Idling: Keep tabs on unnecessary, wasteful idling and get alerts whenever idling crosses a specific threshold you define.

Fuel monitoring: Use fuel cards with telematics devices and run reports to check the total fuel spent per vehicle and each fill-up location. Track mpg values, ascertain the causes of high fuel consumption, reduce fuel theft, and enforce fuel-saving habits.

3. Safety and Security - Checking how every driver operates the vehicle assigned to them and knowing each automobile’s condition before it sets out on a trip can be challenging. Vehicle tracking allows managers to pinpoint problems and what to do to improve and achieve safety and compliance standards. The following examples describe how telematics helps uplift safety and security.

Theft and unauthorized usage: You can use geofences to prevent pilferage and unauthorized vehicle usage. Geofences are virtual boundaries set up around designated geographical locations to track fleet automobiles as they move in and out of those locations. Tracking is always beneficial to law enforcement, as they can pinpoint stolen vehicles.

Regular maintenance: Know when your vehicles need maintenance. Apart from keeping company automobiles safe, telematics technology helps keep them on the road longer while reducing operational costs.

Speeding: Check vehicle speed and location, compare the values against established speed limits when planning routes, and track incidents of speeding.

Rapid acceleration and harsh braking: Both behaviors are risky and can cause vehicle damage. After sustaining damages, vehicles become less safe to operate. You need to have a clear picture of the engine and vehicle diagnostics by identifying when and where these events occur.

4. Review and Refine Vehicle Utilization - Knowing which vehicles are unused or less used is as crucial as knowing where active vehicles are and what your drivers do with them. Managers can receive detailed reporting data about distance covered, days utilized, number of trips conducted, and more with the right fleet tracking device. This information can aid in identifying underutilized vehicles or the ones that are of no use to the fleet. Fleet managers benefit profoundly from the features enumerated below.

Schedule field services: With entirely integrated, intelligent, and simple scheduling & dispatching, you can overcome all inefficiencies and improve worker productivity.

Planning routes: Drivers can complete more tasks in less time when they know the most efficient routes.

Asset usage and management: Hardware designed specifically for asset-tracking purposes allows you to monitor and track equipment.

Automobile usage data: Scrutinize annual vehicle utilization by model and year to determine whether older vehicles are inefficient and are suitable for elimination to reduce overall fleet size. Optimizing this aspect helps you build a leaner and more efficient fleet.

Work history: Know exactly where your vehicles have been, when they arrived, and how much time they spent there.

Fleet tracking systems are all you need to improve your management efforts, streamline operations, and become more competitive.

[vyncs-gps-tracker]

Combating the Distractions of Technology while Driving

Just think for a moment that you are speeding down the highway at 65, 70, or 75 mph. If you’re a resident of Montana, the rural parts of Texas, or simply crossing through one of these two areas, you will probably hit 80 mph, even 85 mph. What will you do if your phone rings? Usually, professional drivers tap the Bluetooth device in their ears and start talking.

It has been eleven years since federal law outlawed the use of mobile phones while vehicles are on the road. Naturally, it has also become illegal for CDL holders to do anything more than that. However, the pressure on the drivers is increasing. They can’t even go that far. Instead, they just have to keep driving and return the call later after they pull off the road.

Distracted Driving and its Dangers

Distracted driving is the primary cause of traffic accidents and associated fatalities. According to the information gathered by the NHTSA, approximately 3,200 people lost their lives due to distracted driving just three years ago. This horrifying statistic showcases the urgency of addressing the problem and adopting safer driving habits.

Becoming distracted while driving has become a common phenomenon these days, and it doesn’t just arise from talking on handheld cell phones. Smartphones have made texting, emailing, posting something on Facebook, or Tweeting surprisingly quick and easy. However, doing any of these things while driving distracts drivers from their primary tasks.

For that matter, checking the route or entering an address in a GPS navigation system will do the same thing. Of course, using an OBD-II GPS fleet tracker system will curtail this issue. Otherwise, it won’t be any different if you fiddle with a fleet vehicle’s onboard technologies, such as system performance dashboards, CB radios, or even the radio or sound systems. Focusing, even for just a second or two, on something other than the road ahead is distracted driving. That’s why a fleet vehicle driver shouldn’t do anything more than drive when inside the cab.

How to Combat Technological Distractions

Technology distracts drivers in more ways than one. To that end, consider implementing these strategies.

Commitment: Before taking the wheel, decide consciously to prioritize driving and avoid engaging with any devices.

Set everything up beforehand: Prepare your smartphone or GPS device with your destination before starting the trip.

DND mode: Smartphones come with a DND or “Driving Mode” feature. Use it to silence incoming messages, calls, and notifications.

Be responsible: If you’re going to use voice-activated features, do so responsibly.

Keep them out of reach: Keeping technological devices out of reach may help minimize distractions.

[vyncs-gps-tracker]

Why are Truck Weigh Stations Important

Truck weighing stations are integral to all the roads and highways of the USA, but what is the point of having them? At first glance, they…

[vyncs-gps-tracker]

Driver Accountability Prevents Harsh Driving

Setting up a fleet safety program is crucial to the foundation of a company’s safety culture. Nonetheless, there should be a means to hold drivers accountable for it. It is achievable with a telematics device. With GPS fleet monitoring, vehicles may need significant repair. Business owners and fleet managers will also have to put up with liability claims and workers’ comp.

Technology for Safety

With every passing day, fleets keep adopting new technologies to improve safety, but it does not prevent drivers from becoming the most significant variable in avoiding road danger. According to the National Safety Council (NSC), poor driving behavior is the primary cause of high fatalities.

Early estimates from the NSC claim that deaths on the road in 2022 were down by 2% since the year before. Even then, the value was 9% higher than in 2020. Indeed, the national numbers were slightly down, but several states witnessed an increase in fatalities by at least 14%.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says that traffic fatalities in 2021 occurred at a rate higher than in the last 16 years. In 2020, the NHTSA reported nearly 36,000 vehicle crashes, as investigated by the police, resulting in fatalities. In the same year, there were almost 1.6 million instances of injuries and 3.6 million instances of property damage.

As drivers control the vehicles directly, they are at the forefront of keeping automobiles, roads, and people safe. Naturally, fleet safety policies must focus on driver behavior to reduce crashes.

The Connection

There is a connection between technology and accountability, but before getting into it, here is something you need to consider. Fleet vehicle managers turn to technology, now more than ever, to improve driver safety and bring about improvements.

Before telematics arrived, it was difficult to hold drivers accountable for on-road actions or enforce the particulars of the fleet safety policy. Back then, fleet managers had little to no insight into driver behavior beyond what their drivers reported when they were on the road.

Today, technologically advanced solutions help fleets focus more on safety and create actionable plans based on accurate data specific to their operations. To be specific, telematics provides fleets with the accountability needed to keep drivers and the public safe and expenses low.

Investing in a high-quality telematics system is mission-critical in today’s day and age. The popularity of telematics solutions among fleets has been rising, and this trend is expected to continue. Mordor Intelligence predicts that commercial vehicle telematics will grow at a compounded rate of over 15% between 2022 and 2027.

Telematics solutions give feedback to drivers and inform fleet managers about inappropriate driving behavior. In a way, they put business owners and managers inside the fleet vehicles with drivers, facilitating performance monitoring and the ability to identify risky behaviors, such as rapid acceleration, harsh braking, and speeding, quickly. Armed with this data, fleet managers can educate drivers with coaching sessions.

A safety program is akin to a foundation for keeping drivers safe and the company profitable & productive. Then again, safety programs are only as effective as the drivers. Additionally, this effectiveness will be visible once the drivers become responsible. Telematics technology can give business owners and managers real-time insights regarding driver performance.

[vyncs-gps-tracker]

How to Prevent Cybersecurity Attacks on Fleet Businesses

Do not think that an internet-connected vehicle is futuristic. An automobile has to stay connected to the “World Wide Web” to run on today’s roads. This includes fleet vehicles, which use GPS fleet monitoring systems and telematics devices to improve productivity, reduce costs, and enhance navigation.

Then again, internet connectivity increases vulnerability. You will never know when you might become a victim of a cyber-attack. If you want to save your business from cybercriminals, you must evaluate security risks and create thoughtful plans proactively. It is the most effective strategy for protecting your network and vehicles.

To that end, consider the following aspects to improve connected fleet cybersecurity.

Threats can Come from Anywhere

Cybercriminals have several ways at their disposal they can use to attack you. They can find a hole in vehicle operations and vehicle systems, which share data with the back office networks and exploit it. One of the most common types of cyberattacks is a phishing attack that releases ransomware to your system.

Phishing attacks usually manifest in the form of an unwarranted email. One unintentional click or download can pave the way for hackers to waltz into your system. Sooner or later, you will be pestered by system outages that will halt your operations and cause costly downtime. It may even result in compromised or stolen data. These are problematic situations for connected fleets sharing a common protocol across every vehicle.

Apart from stealing data or using it as leverage, hackers can target the heart of vehicle operations. Hackers primarily aim to gain control of one car or truck, or the entire fleet, for reasons like stealing merchandise or harming drivers or others on the road. That is why approaching fleet cybersecurity proactively is mission-critical.

How to Protect your Fleet from Cyberattacks

How will you prevent a cybercriminal from mining sensitive data, such as load locations or financial information? Here are a couple of steps you should take initially.

Make sure that you purchase telematics devices and software programs from vendors, which incorporate security into their products right from inception to every update.

Replace outdated operating systems if it does not receive regular security updates and patches. Make sure all software updates are made punctually as soon as they are released.

Create company policies to monitor apps downloaded by drivers. Remember to outline the ones that may cause security risks and coach drivers to turn off apps they do not use.

Use multi-factor authentication, if possible, as an extra layer of security. You may also consider training your staff members to pinpoint suspicious phishing emails so that they never open them.

Do you need help with anything else associated with cybersecurity? Just switch to telematics, as it can support a secure foundation for your connected fleet.

[vyncs-gps-tracker]

[vyncs-gps-tracker]

Due to the expansion of state and federal laws, achieving fleet management sustainability is crucial, and GPS fleet monitoring can help.