Vehicle tracking systems bring significant cost benefits

Effective use of technology and digital tracking systems offer benefits far beyond just safety, says Tony Austin, business development manager: government for Digicore Fleet Management. Speaking at the Transport Forum in Sandton recently, Austin said unlocking the true value of vehicle tracking and monitoring systems made all the difference to fleet managers and should be used to the optimum rather than just to see where the vehicle is at any given time. “Innovation in itself is not the key to success, but rather applying it in a variety of ways to get the optimum use out of your innovative system.” According to Austin, tracking systems, initially implemented in South Africa to ensure safety of vehicles, have come a long way in recent years. “They now play an important role in cost reduction, clearly affecting the rands and cents of a company. We believe the greatest operational utilisation of digital tracking systems is to have the system installed on your own computer system.” Austin said this meant a company was not just called when a vehicle was in danger or a safety breach had occurred, but they could literally track and manage their fleet on a daily basis in terms of driving, maintenance and productivity. “These systems are uploaded every two minutes, so it always ensures fresh information is available. There is no doubt that it is about much more than just safety. A manager can now see when a driver has stopped for too long, moves out of a specific area, or is not in the vehicle. Other aspects of the system include being able to determine how they drive, how much fuel they use and how long any particular job takes.” According to Austin, tracking and monitoring systems correctly implemented have seen reductions of 15% in maintenance costs, 15% in fuel consumption and 35% in accidents. A study, conducted by a large courier company over four months, found after using the system to its optimum that there was a 25% reduction in harsh braking, 61% reduction in the number of speed violations, 65% reduction in over-revving incidents and 80% reduction in duration of excess idling. “One can now monitor the abuse of the vehicle, but also time. We are seeing a major reduction in overtime costs as managers can now compare the reports to the overtime claims. The operational control is better, productivity is up, while the assets are being managed better.” He said for the system to work it was imperative that both managers and drivers were trained to understand and know how the system worked. “The use of tracking systems should not just be about letting you know when the vehicle is missing but rather be a business tool in a company.”