Most people know it as tracking but the system of knowing where your van is at any given time is really known as telematics.
There are a range of reasons as to why a firm or van owner would install a tracking device in their van but they boil down to just two:
- a) A business will know immediately where their van is should it get stolen
- b) Use the information from the tracking system to help improve fleet or van performance.
Van tracking can boost profitability
It’s this latter purpose that should really help the system pay for itself with improved fuel economy since how the driver runs his van can be analysed and help create better delivery routes that save time and distance (which obviously equates to £££’s!).
Ultimately too the installation of a good tracking system for a van will improve productivity and also help with health and safety – especially a firm’s duty of care to their employees.
A survey by DigiCore Vehicle Tracking estimates that of the van and truck fleets in the UK, every single local authority vehicle has a tracker fitted while for logistics firms the figure is 81%.
Penetration of tracker systems on vans
For utility firms it is 63% and construction firms have 48% of vehicles fitted with a tracker.
When Digicore asked the question: ‘What type of vehicles do you track?’ the answer was a resounding 70% for vans.
Around 41% commercial vehicles have a tracker and 26% of company cars have one fitted.
One of the most interesting issues to come out of the survey is that only 21% of respondents said they fitted a tracker to their vehicles for security reasons.
The most popular answer, by far, was a need to improve productivity at 41%.
Boost productivity by fitting a van tracker
This means that most of those firms who invest in trackers do so as a way to implement a more productive way of working and boosting profits.
The next popular reason for installing a tracker was for vehicle security and only 12% said they did so for fuel management.
However, the real benefits of installing trackers to vans become clear when the survey respondents declare that 77% of firms saved on fuel costs and 64% said productivity increased.
But there’s also another increasingly important aspect to trackers – and that’s the implementation of safer driving initiatives to ensure the employee is safe as are other road users.
Van tracking boosts safety and profits
By tracking driver hours and speed, an employee can instantly highlight a driver who is dangerous to themselves by working excessive hours or who speeds frequently.
Van tracking is becoming an increasingly popular and useful tool for anyone who owns a van – from just the one vehicle to a large fleet and the reasons or doing so are mainly as an investment to help improve productivity and customer service which is, let’s face it, a sound investment for any business.