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GET MORE DONE FOR LESS WITH TRACKNET FLEET TRACKING SYSTEMS

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How toGET MORE DONE FOR LESS WITH A GPS FLEET TRACKING SYSTEMLabor Cost Management

Fleet managers are constantly seeking better ways to control costs and improve profitability. Many operational expenses, such as the price of fuel and replacement parts for vehicles, are beyond your control. But there’s one area where you can exert a significant degree of control – labor costs, especially those associated with your drivers. With today’s sophisticated fleet management systems to monitor and track vehicle location and performance, you can control labor costs while generating productivity gains that contribute to your bottom line.

Getting a handle on labor costs starts with focusing on two key areas – eliminating inefficient driving habits and improving driver productivity. A GPS vehicle tracking system gives you the power to do both by:• Monitoring driver and vehicle performance 24x7• Using speeding alerts, idle time reports, and other vehicle data to pinpoint problem areas and

create strategies for improvement• Optimizing routing and vehicle utilization to reduce overtime and other inefficient behaviors that

drive up labor costs• Using system data to enforce company policies and reward drivers for developing safer and more

efficient driving habits

A POSITIvE APPROACH TO IMPROvING PERFORMANCE

It’s human nature – people act more appropriately when they know they’re being watched. With a telematics fleet management solution, you can monitor driver behaviors from the moment they enter the cab and turn on the ignition until they shut it down at the end of the day.

However, it’s also true that most people don’t like it when their every move is under scrutiny. It’s therefore critical to use your fleet management system in a positive manner. You still need to hold drivers accountable when they violate company policies and drive up costs. But rewarding drivers for positive changes in their driving habits will almost always yield better results. Drivers can get more work done. You’ll gain more control over labor costs. And the positive changes can help control costs and improve productivity throughout your fleet.

SIx STEPS TO CONTROLLING LAbOR COSTS

1. ROuTE vEHICLES MORE EFFICIENTLY

Improved dispatching and routing minimizes time behind the wheel, reduces customer response times, and helps prevent costly overtime – all of which contribute to more cost-effective use of your labor force. A fleet tracking system lets you route more effectively by revealing the location of your vehicles and using sophisticated mapping technologies to determine the closest drivers and most efficient routes.

For example, a GPS fleet tracking system can automatically determine the closest vehicle to a given job site or any location on the map, and provide turn-by-turn directions to the selected destination. In addition, many systems offer Garmin® integration, which lets you communicate driving directions directly to the driver in the vehicle. Garmin also features jobs management and dispatch capabilities, allowing you to schedule and organize job assignments for maximum efficiency. With a wireless fleet management system, you can get your vehicles where they need to go faster and more efficiently.

With a fleet management system to track vehicle location, engine diagnostics and driver performance, fleet managers can gain greater control over labor costs.

Reining in labor costs starts with eliminating inefficient driving habits and improving driver productivity.

2. LIMIT uNNECESSARY DRIvING

Unnecessary driving uses more fuel, puts more wear and tear on fleet vehicles, and can lead to expensive overtime hours for your drivers. You can significantly reduce unnecessary driving by knowing the precise location of every vehicle in your fleet, monitoring off-hours usage, and using other system tools to manage driver activity. With a GPS fleet tracking system you can use reports that show:• The daily start and end location of every vehicle. With this data, you can confidently allow drivers

to take their vehicles home at night, knowing you can easily identify any unauthorized use.• Vehicle usage outside of normal business hours. Tracking odd-hours movement can help reduce

theft and unauthorized employee use.• Vehicles entering or exiting an “off-limits” area. Access to this information helps deter

unauthorized trips, such as going home for lunch or running personal errands.

3. REDuCE TOTAL MILES TRAvELED

With a fleet management system, you can reduce total miles traveled by:• Viewing a comprehensive, near real-time map of all vehicle locations and their status.• Routing the closest vehicles to the next job and providing point-to-point driving directions.

You can also review a variety of fleet utilization reports to track weekly mileage, monitor overall fleet mileage trends, and analyze up to a full year of location history to optimize vehicle usage.

4. REDuCE vEHICLE bREAKDOWNS

Nothing wastes time and money like a driver sitting idly by the roadside because his vehicle broke down. Using a GPS vehicle tracking system with engine diagnostic capabilities can help prevent vehicle breakdowns in several different ways:• Diagnostic trouble codes. Get advance warning of engine trouble, allowing you to fix minor

problems before they become potentially larger ones.• Regular odometer alerts. Set proactive reminders for oil changes, tune-ups, and other preventive

maintenance activities to keep vehicles in top condition. • Continuous tracking of emission levels. Track excessive emissions – often a sign of undiagnosed

engine problems – on a regular basis to discover potential engine problems that might cause breakdowns.

A fleet tracking system will also provide comprehensive online service record reports. Analyzing the data can help extend the life of your vehicles and keep them operating efficiently.

5. MONITOR vEHICLE uTILIzATION PATTERNS

Among the greatest strengths of a telematics fleet management solution are its considerable reporting features. With the vast storehouse of data available, you can review short- and long-term vehicle usage and driving patterns to identify problem areas and take action for improvement.• Trip reporting. Fleet management systems offer a variety of detailed reports that track vehicle

activity. For example, some reports show the details of each trip a vehicle makes during a specified time period. This lets you determine how and where drivers are spending their time, andwhether they are making appropriate stops.

• Fleet utilization reporting. This provides a summary of fleet activity, indicating if trips areincreasing or decreasing over time. By simultaneously tracking trips and miles, you can makeinformed decisions about optimizing vehicle usage and driver time.

• Landmarks and geofences. Geofences are virtual boundaries or perimeters that indicate a definedarea on a map. Landmarks are user-defined objects or buildings – such as a customer’s house or an airport – that help to pinpoint a vehicle’s specific location. You can establish both to route vehicles more efficiently, monitor unauthorized vehicle usage during and after hours, and reduce total miles traveled.

6. bOOST DRIvER PRODuCTIvITY

The flip side to controlling labor costs is improving productivity. In other words, get more work out of your drivers in the same amount of time without increasing overhead. With a GPS vehicle tracking system, you can enhance productivity in many ways, using the following tactics:

3 VeRIzON eNTeRPRISe SOLUTIONS

Fleet management systems provide the data you need to analyze short- and long-term vehicle usage and driving patterns to identify problem areas and take action for improvement.

OPTIMIzING ROUTING AND VeHIcLe

UTILIzATION cAN HeLP TO ReDUce

OVeRTIMe AND OTHeR INeFFIcIeNT

BeHAVIORS THAT DRIVe UP LABOR

cOSTS.

• Track vehicle stop/start times. Unauthorized or excessively lengthy breaks are a hugetime-waster. Vehicle stop/start alerts and reports let you monitor driver behavior to ensure theycomply with company break policies.

• Improve on-time delivery rates. Up-to-date traffic and other real-time alerts help your vehiclesget there when you say they will. Staying on schedule lets your drivers make more deliveries in less time.

• Do more jobs without adding overhead. Improved dispatching and better routing let you take onmore jobs without adding vehicles or personnel.

THE TRACKNET VERIZON SOLUTIONcontrolling labor costs doesn’t have to lead to diminished service quality. In fact, with a GPS vehicle tracking solution provided by TrackNet, you can control labor costs and improve service quality at the same time by managing your entire fleet more efficiently and effectively.

combining the data from TrackNet with a disciplined approach that rewards drivers for efficient driving habits can enable your fleet to drive fewer miles, reduce overtime and other labor expenses, and get more jobs done in less time.

To learn more about how TrackNet can help bring your labor costs under control, visit Tracknetonline.com or contact us at 1.866.654.2226.

With a GPS vehicle tracking system, you can control labor costs and improve service quality by managing your entire fleet more efficiently and effectively.

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