Category: Safety

GPS Fleet Management Software Helps Prevent Dangerous Driving

Fleet managers, parents and business owners all have something in common, worrying about dangerous driving. It is not only important to ensure the utmost safety of your drivers at all times, but you also want to avoid any unnecessary costs associated with dangerous or careless driving. What can you do about the way your drivers behave on the road? GPS fleet management software, also known as telematics, is the answer.

With GPS fleet management software, you have immediate insight into all driving activities allowing you and your drivers to better identify dangerous driving behaviors. These behaviors can be anything from speeding, sharp cornering and engine revving to rapid acceleration and harsh braking. Furthermore, you have the ability to view past trips your drivers have made. This allows you to:

• Communicate proactively with your drivers using in-vehicle audible alerts.These alerts create a beeping sounds that informs your driver(s) when they have broken one of your custom safe driving rules, or when they are just about to break a rule. This gives the drivers an opportunity to realize and correct their driving mistakes and correct them on their own. Over time, these ‘beeps’ will improve driving habits and break the bad ones.
• View & re-create trips on a map at any time.You can hover your mouse over any points on the map, and also see the exact location a driver broke a rule, such as speeding.
• Review custom reports & set up new reports at your own convenience.These custom reports graphically illustrate the top speeding drivers, unauthorized after-hours usage, risk and safety scoring reports, and much more including personalized reports to fit your company’s specific needs.
• Create custom notifications in the GPS fleet management software to notify you when your drivers are breaking a rule.For example, you may want to set up email or text message alerts if your drivers are ever on the road without wearing his/her seatbelt, idling, speeding, etc.

Unfortunately, despite proactive management efforts, accidents can still happen. GPS fleet management software allows you to re-create the trip of an accident to identify what happened and who was responsible. This valuable information will allow you to act fast on the incident, and depending on the outcome, provide ‘no-fault’ evidence for insurance coverage purposes.

Each and every business is unique and requires a customized approach to developing a safety plan for your drivers. To learn more about the audible alerts our GPS trackers offer, connect with us today. Email [email protected] or call 1-888-998-1122. They can help you better understand how GPS fleet management software can be used to help prevent dangerous driving.

Also, check out this article on how our Fleet Tracking System helps lower fuel costs.

Airtel Kenya Uses Vehicle GPS Tracking Devices to Improve Road Safety

Airtel Kenya is working with police and Frotcom East Africa to implement a road safety initiative by rewarding responsible drivers from 2NK Matatu Saving and Credit Co-operative Society (SACCO) identified by Frotcom’s computerized vehicle GPS tracking devices.

The vehicle GPS tracking devices will help monitor driving behavior minute-by-minute regardless of where they are driving in the country. The same data generated by the system will also be used to identify drivers who need extra training so as to achieve a change of attitude as they handle passengers.

The rewarding program will go a long way to enforcing compliance to traffic rules rather than evasion. Through the initiative, the National Traffic Commandant, Samuel Kimaru, will identify and reward drivers from 2NK SACCO along a number of busy highways in Kenya.

Airtel and Frotcom have already fitted vehicle GPS tracking devices in more than 550 vehicles in the SACCO’s fleet, which relay messages of speed limit violation to the SACCO management.

The vehicle GPS tracking system also tracks fuel consumption and number of trips a vehicle makes and gives alerts when a vehicle diverts from its intended route, which will assist in managing misuse and any possible criminal cases such as incidents of carjacking or vehicle theft.

Estimated financial benefits show that the SACCO members could save up to KSh40 million (US$461,000) annually by sealing revenue leakage loopholes with the use of this product.

The savings will be made with reduced accident claims to the insurers significantly reducing the cost of risk management.

GPS Fleet Tracking Used to Track Use & Abuse of Vehicles

Reports of cars screaming up and down the highway at more than 100 mph. Others of employees doing private jobs while on the government dime. Then, there are those who steal time by parking their state Department of Transportation trucks in mall lots, on side streets, even near bowling alleys, and take leisurely breaks when they’re supposed to be filling potholes, fixing signs, or picking up dead deer on the highway.

Such practices have gotten more difficult since the DOT wrapped up a $22 million dollar contract to install radios with GPS fleet tracking systems in 3,000 vehicles that allow supervisors to monitor workers’ speeds, locations, and the length of time spent in any one place.

Officials are saying it is the most aggressive attempt the DOT has ever made to manage productivity among its workforce in the field, and it comes at a time when two New Jersey lawmakers—Assemblywoman Amy Handlin, and Sen. Jeff Van Drew have proposed extending it to thousands of state-owned vehicles. Under their program, the state would get a report on vehicle use by state workers, abuses and the feasibility of making the GPS fleet tracking permanent.

The use of GPS fleet tracking to track employees is a fledgling practice in both the public and private sectors, but it is gaining traction as organizations look for ways to prevent abuses and manage costs. UPS uses it, as does one Atlanta school district that outfitted its bus fleet with a GPS fleet tracking system after noticing overages in overtime.

Just last month, the state DOT employees were issued a “Use of State Vehicles” notice that warns that “all department vehicles are equipped with a GPS system to monitor the location of the vehicle,” and that “the GPS system also records the speed of the vehicle and registers alerts when the vehicle is driven at high speeds.”

Violating the rules of the road or tampering with the GPS system could result in disciplinary action, including being fired, the notice says.

A GPS fleet tracking system will save the state of New Jersey money—can it help save your business costs associated with owning a fleet? Are you seeing overages in overtime, fuel consumption, or billable labor hours? Contact GoFleet to talk about our options for GPS fleet tracking at 1.888.998.1122 or message our sales team here.