There are many different tasks involved in managing the fleet that are imperative to keep things running seamlessly. The most valuable advice I could give is to streamline these tasks by having a fleet tracking system in place that will break through the clutter and allow you to manage all of these tasks in one place. Keeping up with mileage, oil changes, tire rotations, general maintenance, fuel cards, accidents & registrations are a few of these tasks. There are also those unforeseen situations that we deal with from time to time.
We received one call that there was a reckless driver in one of our company trucks and another from a client stating that our employee rushed through a job and was only at their home for 5 minutes. We all have a client centric mindset; therefore, the customer is always right. However GPS tracking has given us the empowerment to improve the way we deal with these types of situations internally. We can better manage these complaints with peace of mind because we now have a clear visibility of what really happened. I was able to run a report proving that the tech was at this client’s home for a reasonable amount of time and that none of our drivers were in the area at the time of the reckless driving complaint. This prevents us from reprimanding and upsetting an excellent employee that has done a great job for us. These are just a few examples of many situations that we have been able to defuse without involving the employee at all.
Our fleet tracking system has been very useful in many other ways as well. Our company vehicle is a moving billboard and is a reflection of our business. It is extremely important that we are being represented positively at all times while continuing to run efficiently. Receiving real-time alerts that a driver is speeding, idling, starting work late, going home frequently or driving the company vehicle after hours gives us the leverage to take a proactive approach in these situations to ensure that these unnecessary added expenses do not continue. While it is impossible to calculate how much having these tools at our fingertips has saved American Pest Control to date, I would venture to say that it impossible to put a price on the management visibility this allows.
