Fleet Tracking Boosts Small Business Fleets’ Efficiency, Safety, Service

For small business owners who use vehicles to do their work, GPS fleet tracking tells them more than just where their vehicles are. It also tells them whether the vehicles are being driven safely, whether they’re being properly maintained, and whether they’re being routed in a way that most efficiently serves customers.

“I think of it as more than just vehicle tracking; it’s also trying to help the small business’s customer,” Kenny Hawk, CEO of Mojio and general manager of Force by Mojio, told PYMNTS.

Force by Mojio offers GPS tracking that’s powered by a 4G LTE tracking device that plugs into a vehicle’s OBD-II port. This sends data to a platform that can be accessed on a desktop computer or mobile device and displays information about all the vehicles in the business’s fleet on one screen.

Keeping Drivers Accountable

One benefit of fleet tracking is that it keeps drivers accountable by monitoring the vehicle’s location, fuel consumption and speed. This discourages drivers from using the vehicles for personal travel, fueling their own vehicles on the company’s dime and driving recklessly.

As an example of behavior that can be discouraged, Hawk told of a company whose employee was seen regularly speeding through a school zone in a company truck — and the company sponsored the school’s football team.

“So, they’re sponsoring the team, and they’ve got an employee doing 60 through a 15-mile-an-hour zone,” Hawk said. “That does not bode well for the business.”

Improving Customer Service

Fleet tracking keeps customers accountable too. Hawk gave the example of a customer who said a pest control company’s employee hadn’t come by to do the work, when in fact the employee had gone to the home, sprayed the chemicals and left a door tag.

“Having an accurate, real-time, easy-to-share tracking link helps the end customer, the small business and the worker too — ‘Hey, I told you I’ve always done my jobs on time. Now I have proof.’”

Having all the vehicles on one screen helps businesses improve their customer service by routing vehicles to get to the customers’ homes more quickly. If a worker is just a mile away from a new customer who has just called, they can be sent there.

This also allows managers to let customers know not only that the driver is on the way, but where they are. In this age of Amazon, Uber and DoorDash, consumers don’t want to be told that a worker will be there sometime in the next six hours.

“If you say you’re going to be there, the consumer expects it within minutes, not a 12 to 6 p.m. window,” Hawk said. “They want a narrower slot of when to actually expect the repair person.”

Protecting Investments in Vehicles

Fleet tracking also helps owners protect the investment they have in the vehicles that they’ve purchased or leased and need to have running every day to do their work. The system helps managers keep up with maintenance, get alerts when the vehicle needs service and get small problems fixed before they turn into big ones.

“The vehicles are an expensive asset, but their employees sometimes drive them just like a rental car,” Hawk said. “So, if the check engine light is on, the person just keeps on driving because it’s not their car, but the owner sure would like to know if that’s something urgent.”

There are also features that help prevent accidents. The system can send alerts to managers when a driver is speeding and can assign each driver a score based on speeding, harsh acceleration and harsh braking.

“One of the top predictors of accidents is harsh braking,” Hawk said. “If you do enough harsh braking, it’s just a matter of time before your luck is going to run out and you’ll actually hit the thing that you’re trying to avoid.”

Gaining an Advantage

Hawk said small business owners tend to adopt a fleet tracking system for one of two reasons. One is that they want an advantage over their competitors. Fleet tracking enables them to better manage their workforce so they can get more jobs done in a day, and it helps them delight customers and get good reviews.

“That really separates the growing businesses from the non-growing,” Hawk said.

The second reason many customers get a fleet management system for the first time is that something bad has happened and they don’t want it to happen again. For example, a driver may have ignored a check engine light to the point that a full engine rebuild was required.

“If you get one of those $7,000 repairs, you’re pretty motivated,” Hawk said.

Hawk said he advises small business owners who are shopping for a fleet management system to look for one that doesn’t lock them into a contract and that provides them with the information that they need, but not so much information that it becomes difficult to use.

“The business owner wants to know, ‘Is the vehicle OK and safe to drive, are my drivers where they’re supposed to be and behaving, and can you help me get an edge with my end customers so I can get more business? You help me do those three things, it pays for itself in spades.’”