The Savings You Are Missing

You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.

We all know this phrase and have heard it many times. Each week, we talk to a number of people who are considering GPS tracking for their fleets. Unfortunately, a number of these companies fail to "drink" from the GPS fleet tracking well. We can explain all of the benefits to these customers, but until they embrace the numbers for themselves, we cannot help them save the money that is there for the saving.

According to AAA, the national average price for regular unleaded is $3.962/gallon. That hurts! What hurts worse is the diesel price of $4.792/gallon. This seems to be all everyone is talking about. So, what does this have to do with GPS Fleet Tracking?

That's simple. Short of discontinuing your business, tracking your fleet with GPS is the quickest way to reduce fuel costs. GPS fleet tracking allows you to set rules for your fleet and enforce them! People simply drive differently when they know they are being tracked. Thus, fleet managers and owners are able to reduce their overall consumption with very little outlay of capital.

Consider these example calculations for a typical GPS fleet tracking scenario:

1 fleet of tractor/trailers with 20 trucks

• The trucks each travel an average of 3,333 miles per month


• The trucks average 8 miles per gallon

Thus, the trucks require approximately 417 gallons of diesel per month


At today's price, that's a fuel cost of $1,996.47 per month

The cost of a fleet GPS tracking unit, per vehicle, averaged out for a year, is $62.36/month for the first year. The second year, it is just $39.95/month.

Our customers frequently report decreased fuel costs of 15% monthly. In this scenario, that would mean that the fuel savings, which would be $299.47 per month, would exceed the first year GPS tracking cost by $237.11. For just the first year, that's a net savings of $2,845.33!!! Multiply that by 20 and you get a net annual savings for the entire fleet of $56,906.60. That would find a great Christmas party!

A year ago, this calculation for using GPS tracking on this fleet would have net a savings of $1,438.18 per truck and a total fleet savings of $28.736.60.

This further reiterates the importance of adding GPS tracking to your fleet.

One more example of how GPS tracking can decrease the fuel costs for your fleet. On a demonstration unit we recently had installed in a fleet, the driver of the truck involved was idling the vehicle for as much as 5 hours a day. Since a tractor burns a gallon of diesel per hour, that added up to a cost of $23.96 per day in unnecessary fuel consumption! Just by telling the driver that this was an issue and that it was being monitored, the driver cut his idling time to less than an hour each day. That is an instant savings of $19.17 per day by simply adding GPS tracking to the fleet. Oh, and for the year, that single truck with GPS tracking, will save $4.984.20. And that does not even include the potential savings with reduced mileage, reduced labor, and improved capitalization on opportunities!

The expense of operating any fleet has almost doubled in the last year do to fuel costs. GPS tracking of your fleet is the only real way to make immediate impacts. The comparative outlay of capital is peanuts compared to the savings your fleet can achieve. In the examples above, the ROI is achieved in the first month!

I cannot think of a better investment or a more clear investment that can have this kind of impact on your bottom line.

Take care and consider calling your congressman to get the government doing something other than taxing us!

Steven Van Ooyen

Chief Technology Officer

GPS School Bus Tracking

Imagine having responsibility for the lives of over 3,000 students every day.  That's what the transportation superintendants of major school districts deal with every day.  School buses are on our roads every day of the week.  Whether it is the day-to-day routes or field trips, superintendants carry that responsibility along with the drivers.  As a result of crashes, close calls, and fatalities, as well as simply overlooking a student left on a bus, a number of safety restrictions have been mandated by the states and federal government. 

One item that has yet to be mandated is what we believe to be the new future of bus safety.  That is school bus tracking using GPS.  While commercial fleets track vehicles on a regular basis, schools have been slower to adopt the technology.  Cost is the first, and obvious obstacle.  But, once you get beyond that, there are few reasons to not adapt this technology.  Take into consideration the following:

1. School buses are required to remain under 50 MPH at all times.  This is for the safety of the children.  Reducing speed has long been proven to less the opportunity and result of accidents.  GPS bus tracking gives instant feedback when speed limits are exceeded.


2. Since school buses carry our most precious cargo, it is imperative to  monitor the drivers of those buses to ensure the bus is going where it should be and when it should be going there.  When talking with school administrators, we repeatedly hear stories of drivers, whether fulltime or part time, taking unapproved trips or routes in the school buses.  This not only has the opportunity to endanger the lives of the children but also leaves the school district and administrators open to legal action.  GPS bus tracking with Track What Matters solves this problem by providing accountability to the drivers.  Though some might want to catch offenders, I'd rather inhibit the bad behavior so that it never happens.


3. The school bus fleets we have spoken with are required to maintain a tight schedule and be there when expected.  GPS Tracking of buses can solve at least two problems here.  First, if a driver has a habit of tardiness or even leaving stops early, GPS Tracking with TMW would allow you to see this.  On the other hand, if a driver is doing as they should and running as required, GPS  bus tracking allows supervisors to vindicate their drivers and reason with mistaken parents.


4. Safety is the most important thing in the transportation of children.  Tracking buses with GPS and letting the drivers know about it produces driver accountability and therefore is a deterrent to  bad driving.


5. The worst case scenario I can imagine, beyond a horrific crash, is a bus of children being taken off route in a malicious way.  I sincerely hope, if this ever happens, that a GPS bus tracking unit is present on the vehicle allowing for quick location of the vehicle by the authorities. 

I usually don't "advertise" in my blogging since it is really just my opinions and the stating of facts.  But, this time I think it is worth it.  The cause of bus tracking resonates with me very deeply.  Parents put their trust in the drivers of buses daily.  But, the fact is that not every driver will always do as they should.  Our device, network, and software is designed to mitigate these risks in an economical and unobtrusive manner.   GPS bus tracking offers a wide array of benefits (I didn't even talk about the benefits for dispatch and the like) and our cost is very reasonable, especially when compared to some other systems. 

If you are an administrator, I hope you consider tracking your buses using our GPS Tracking System.  If you are a parent, you might strongly consider a discussion with your school board regarding GPS bus tracking.  I don't think you will find a great amount of resistance from those administrators who have taken on this great responsibility.

Keep them safe and well

Steven Van Ooyen

CTO - Track What Matters