Can't we trust them?

The question came up today, "do you think so many people are untrustworthy that every fleet needs GPS tracking?".  This is a fair question, and I understand why people would think that GPS tracking is an expense that doesn't need to be made.  The problem is the facts.  

There are people wishing there was a different president elected - today and 8 years ago!  But, either way, there is reality and blind hope.  

The facts are simple.  We talk to employers daily who tell us stories of why they are adopting GPS tracking.  For instance, one customer we spoke to told us how his landscaping employees in North Carolina decided they deserved a 20 minute detour between landscaping jobs.  

Other customers have had their company vehicles stolen while other customers have had employees steal business by taking side jobs.  

How does GPS tracking fix this?  Well, knowing the location, speed, time on site, and idle times gives customers the knowledge they need to effectively manage their fleets.  Fleet tracking has saved these regular people thousands of dollars in a very short period of time.  

So, should we trust employees with our fleet vehicles when they are away from the office?  I wish we could.  

Every employer must accept the facts, especially in this difficult market, that their employees are fallible.  So, it only makes sense to use GPS tracking to mitigate your potential losses.  

Take care of your resources.

Steven Van Ooyen

CEO - Track What Matters

www.SchoolBusRoster.com

Palmetto Saves $7,500 on One Truck!

If your GPS tracking system isn't easy to use, you won't use it!  However, when your tracking system is easy to use, and can be customized to meet your needs, you will realize fantastic savings!

Consider Palmetto State Transportation.

Palmetto State Transportation, in Greenville, NC, wanted to be certain the GPS tracking system they purchased would meet all of their needs.  Partnering with Track What Matters, the team at Palmetto was able to determine their needs by testing with a single unit.   Track What Matters implemented their requested features to make certain the system would work for them. 

When Palmetto installed their first unit, they discovered that one of their trucks was idling for over 6 hours a day!  At the time, diesel was at $4.79 per gallon.  With an average consumption of 1 gallon per idling hour, that's a cost of $28.74 in wasted fuel every working day.  By simply talking to the driver and making him aware of the situation, Palmetto has been able to reduce the operation cost of that single vehicle by approximately $7,000 net per year.   Since then, they have equipped the rest of the fleet.

Steven Van Ooyen

Chief Technology Officer

** $28.74 * 22 working days * 12 months per year = $7,587.36

Tracking Employees in Your Vehicles

It was brought to my attention this week that I haven't talked much, if any, about the benefits of GPS tracking for fleets. Well, I can't argue with that. So, let me tell you a story we recently heard.

A local company installed a GPS tracking system and told their drivers about it. Of course, the drivers knew that completely disconnecting the device would send an alert to management. So, they did not dare to do that. Instead, this pair of less-than-highly-motivated employees purchased a large magnet and placed that magnet over the GPS antenna. Unfortunately for these 2 employees, their little scheme failed to disable the GPS unit and it was discovered that the pair was simply leaving the office daily and parking. I hope their card games (or whatever they did to occupy that time) were worth their pentions. Both were 4 years from getting a full retirement.

Anyone who has managed people, white collar or blue collar, knows that employees often look for ways to improve their own situation at the expense of the company. Whether it is employee theft, endless hours of solitaire on the PC, or taking a company vehicle somewhere it should not go, companies lose an unbelievable amount of money yearly do to lack of productivity and theft. One article I found states that employee theft of small businesses totals $40 billion yearly. The same article states that 30% or workers in America will steal at some time in their careers. Wow! Anyone have 3 or more employees?

I've had employees working for me consistently over the last 14 years. During that time, I have never had an employee that was free of the need for supervision. The great thing about GPS tracking is that, for the most part, it can be used for numerous legitimate reasons other than just ensuring your employees are where they say they are. With the added benefits of fuel cost reductions, route verification, mileage logging, and more, loss of morale that might arise from the installation of a GPS fleet tracking system can be completely avoided.

We would all like to think that our employees are upstanding citizens who would never steal or cheat us out of money. If that is true for you, you have beaten the odds. But, chances are, if you knew the whole truth, you might find otherwise. So, we can take our chances or take control.

Take care,


Steven Van Ooyen

CTO