It is growing increasingly more difficult to believe that there was a time when truck drivers relied on paper maps in order to tell them where they were going and what turns to take. Nowadays, many vehicle fleets that are used for businesses are installed with a tracking device and GPS systems. While this may sound like something strange, having GPS fleet tracking could be the key to helping many truck drivers if they were to find themselves in dangerous situations will snow and rain, not to mention the regular routine benefits of using a GPS system for directions and figuring out where you’re supposed to be heading and if you’re going in the right directions. Here is a look at all of the benefits of GPS tracking solutions. Tracking equipment may seem invasive but in fact, it is only around to help.
The GPS was first brought to cars in 1996. Since then, nearly every person has a GPS right inside of their pockets on their cell phones. However, with the laws that have now strengthened in many of our states as well as other countries, these GPS applications within our cells phones are not enough. For someone who drives a big truck, many of these fleet GPS tracking systems can be a life saving as well as time saving device. It used to be that truck drivers needed to pull over on the side of the road to idle their vehicles in order to figure out where they were going. Idling for two hours per day in a large truck costs roughly $780 per truck! And that is if gas to put into the tuck only costs $3. Imagine the months that gas prices on the rise. That number climbs even further and costs a company a decent percentage of the profit.
Tracking equipment can also help in the event of an accident. If you are involved in a collision, your tracking equipment at times even has a fleet camera system that can show evidence that there was no wrong doing done by you. In many cases this may be the thing that allows you to keep your license and stay on the road with your truck. Being able to play back and measure your driving with this tracking system can be a very important step in your business and provide that your driving record is one to be maintained.
Vehicle GPS tracking could also be helpful in the event of a major emergency. If you or someone in your fleet finds themselves in an accident and they are missing for a longer than average period of time, it could be your GPS system that saves the day and locates the truck, ultimately saving the life of the driver who could be seriously injured inside. Take Canada for example with its large snowfalls, much of Canada has an average of 55 days per year when there is at least 2 millimeters of snow that fall. With slick roads and coats that blur vision, having a tracker within your fleet of cars and be the life saving piece that brings a driver home after an accident rather than the company having a somber story on their plates from a driver losing control and not being found in a blizzard.
While tracking equipment within trucks may sound like a silly or intrusive idea to you and your company, it is really quite beneficial to being sure that everyone in your fleet comes home safe at night and that these trucks are making their way to and from their destinations without errors and problems arising. If you live in an area where snow falls or other conditions ever prohibit the ability of good driving than a tracking system might be what you need to have great fleet management and to be sure that not only are your products being delivered from place to place in the right manner, but that all of your workers are coming home from their deliveries as well.
