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What is Fleet Tracking?
A fleet tracking system is an electronic device that is placed inside a vehicle for the purpose of tracking the location and collating various other bits of information about the status of the vehicle. It can be used in just one vehicle or can be installed in multiple vehicles.
It is used most commonly by companies that use fleets of vehicles like couriers, delivery companies and breakdown recovery companies like the AA and RAC. It helps to increase a company's efficiency and productivity.
The kinds of things that can be monitored with fleet tracking are;
• the location of the vehicles
• the speed they are travelling
• if the engine is running
• licence renewal dates etc
Each fleet tracking device and system is linked to a separate base device (a PC or similar remote device) onto which special software is downloaded. The software and the devices themselves contain GPS technology that allows the vehicles to be tracked in real-time 24 hours a day theoretically anywhere in the world. The current vehicle tracking market is one of the fastest growing sectors in the communications industry and is currently worth around £2 billion a year world wide.
Advantages to Fleet Tracking
There are many advantages to vehicle tracking for businesses. The main advantage is the savings that can be made on fuel and wage costs. These are the two biggest expenditures for any business using fleets of vehicles. Driving too fast, taking overlong routes to destinations and leaving the engine running while stationary all waste fuel unnecessarily. All of these things can be eradicated with vehicle tracking.
You can also ensure that you don't make wage over-payments because you have an accurate record of exactly where your drivers have been at all times. You don't have to worry anymore about dishonestly completed time-sheets because your drivers' activities can be accurately tracked at all times.
For a large company like say FedEx or the AA this kind of streamlining can save potentially thousands of pounds a year. Customer service can also be greatly improved using fleet tracking because you are able to inform your customers much more quickly about things like delays to their deliveries and that kind of thing. This is important because the kinds of companies that use fleet tracking rely on a good customer reputation and also good word of mouth.
Costs of Installing Fleet Tracking
Most businesses that use vehicle tracking prefer to pay for it on short term monthly contracts because it works out cheaper and more cost effective. This is because if for whatever reason, you decide you want to change providers you're not locked into a long contract of say five years.
Similarly, if you buy systems outright and you want to change service providers you can't transfer your devices over to a new provider, as they are usually specific to the particular provider. Another reason for taking a short-term contract is, with technology improving all the time, you might find your devices become out-of-date and you want to upgrade.
Being on a short-term contract gives you the opportunity to do this. Generally speaking, a fleet vehicle tracking device for an averaged sized fleet (20 to 30 vehicles), will cost between £25-30 a month to hire on a 12 month minimum contract. If you choose to use the service on pay-as-you-go, you will have to pay an installation charge of around £60-70.
Choosing a Supplier & Comparing Your Options
For anyone thinking of buying a fleet tracker system, it can be quite a daunting task knowing which provider to use. There are so many suppliers and so many different deals available.
This is where the team at ExpertMarket.co.uk can help you reach a decision. Through helping you compare the best providers in the UK, we can provide trusted advice. All you have to do is enter your details in the form above (nature of business, no. of vehicles, location etc.) and we will get back to you shortly.
