Telematics technology can make fleet management more efficient while helping improve customer service
There are many different facets to fleet management, but one of the most challenging is simply getting your vehicles and drivers where they need to be for service calls, to make deliveries, and to meet customer needs. In fact, the daily movement of vehicles from points A to B to C is your business in motion – and that motion is what drives revenue.
Maximizing revenue while minimizing costs is a priority you can’t afford to overlook. Fortunately, if you have the right telematics solution, you have the tools in your power to integrate routing and dispatch, and optimize vehicle utilization and efficiency, while also keeping an eye on the bottom line.
Let’s look at the various ways telematics can help make managing your fleet both easier and more profitable.
Prebuilding routes. One of the most valuable telematics features is the ability to pre-build routes for drivers, so they can make the maximum number of service calls or deliveries while also expanding the least amount of time, fuel, and vehicle wear. This tool can also adjust routes throughout the day to help drivers avoid heavy traffic, accidents, and other incidents that can result in costly delays.
In addition, this routing and dispatch feature can utilize your preferred mapping software, whether it’s Google Maps, Waze, or another GPS platform.
Dispatch drivers to where they need to be. As valuable as pre-planning each day’s routes can be, for some businesses this is more an ideal than a practical reality. For example, a company operating a fleet of service vehicles will need to be flexible to accommodate customer calls as they come in throughout the day and account for changes to customer appointment schedules.
For these fleets, the emphasis will be on getting the closest driver to a customer’s location as soon as possible. A telematics system can continually update and share with drivers these dynamic routes throughout the day to keep everyone moving and efficiently serving customers.
Sharing and communicating instantly with drivers. A telematics system app that drivers can access with their phones makes it easy to combine routing and dispatch. The app allows drivers to access updated routes and schedules in real time and facilitates voice communication and messaging with dispatchers. Additional app capabilities include the ability to check in at their assigned location with the touch of a button and capture photographs, customer signatures, and other information to document job completion and initiate the billing process.
Get the most out of every mile. In addition to enabling drivers to travel the quickest routes and stay in touch with dispatchers, telematics can help with monitoring driver behavior, and capturing engine status and inspection data to help manage needed and preventative maintenance to keep vehicles on the road and operating at their safest and most fuel efficient.
Taking Care of Your Customers
By integrating routing and dispatch and making it possible to maximize vehicle optimization, you can not only keep your business in motion, but also keep your vehicles on the road so your people can take care of your customers. Of all the many benefits of a telematics solution, it’s hard to name a more important one than that.