Fleet owners will tell you that managing a fleet is not an easy thing. There are so many factors involved. If there is a failure in any of these, the fleet could run into a loss. The competition is severe, and the margins are low. In such a situation proper management of the fleet is essential. Today fleet management apps are helping fleet owners properly manage their operations.
There are still some areas where improvement is necessary. Fleet management software alone is not enough to manage the fleet. You need to integrate different technologies with the software to make your operations more streamlined. We will see how GPS can help in maintaining the fleet in a better way.
1. What Is GPS?
Before we get into seeing how GPS can help to enhance the functioning of your fleet management software, we need to understand what GPS is. GPS expands as a Global Positioning System. It is used to find the exact position of an object on earth. GPS helps in tracking objects and finding the route to a particular place.
The GPS system consists of 24 satellites placed at 19,300 kilometers above the earth. All these satellites orbit around the earth once every 12 hours at 11,200 km per hour. At any point in time, there are four satellites in sight from earth.
Every satellite continuously broadcasts its position and time. Every GPS receiver takes the information from these satellites to calculate the exact location. This process is known as triangulation. It needs at least data from three satellites to get a correct positioning. But if there is information from four satellites, it will be more accurate.
Different GPS devices will give you the reading at different speeds. A car’s GPS device will provide the location faster than the one in a smartwatch. This depends on how powerful the receiver is. The speed depends on how quickly the receiver can establish a connection with the required number of satellites.
All GPS receivers require a direct path to the satellites to establish a connection. This is why GPS may not give the correct reading when you are inside a building. Smartphones and other mobile devices will also depend on wi-fi connections and cellular towers to provide the exact locations.
2. GPS Applications
There are many applications for GPS. As it is a method for locating and positioning it is useful for many purposes. A mobile app development company will find the use of GPS in many apps. We will see a few places where GPS is useful.
Tracking Vehicles
This is one of the common uses. You can track a vehicle fitted with a GPS device from anywhere.
Tracking Animals
This is another important use nowadays. Animals are fitted with GPS devices so that scientists can locate them easily for undertaking various studies.
Surveying
The technology is beneficial in surveying and redrawing maps. Any change of course of rivers or other land masses can be easily detected.
Law Enforcement
GPS helps law enforcement agencies to track criminals. They can track stolen vehicles using GPS.
Accident/Repair Support
When you are stuck on the road, you can call emergency numbers. Even if there is no internet or mobile connection, the emergency crew can find you using GPS on your smartphone.
Geo-Fencing
This application is very useful to know the entry or exit of a vehicle from a designated area. GPS helps to know the presence of a vehicle in that area.
Search
Of course, this is one of the most common uses. With your location, there are map applications which can find hotels, restaurants, hospitals or places of interest for you. This is very useful when traveling to new places.
Military
It was the US military which first developed the GPS. It is used by all armies across the world to know movements of troops and for navigation.
3. Fleet Management Systems
We started the article by saying we will see how GPS can influence fleet management. We have seen what GPS is and how it helps us in various ways. Before we look at the advantages of integrating GPS in fleet management software, let us see why we need fleet management systems.
With proper fleet management software, the fleet owners can manage the trucks in a better manner to give maximum productivity. With so many different entities to be handled, it needs good software to manage the fleet. It helps in the proper flow of information.
A good fleet management system helps in time management. This is very important as the trucks need to be in time to pick up the goods. Companies depend on the truck companies to deliver products on time to their customers.
Fuel management is vital for fleet owners. With so many trucks being on the road, even slight mismanagement can result in huge losses. Every cent saved on fuel is adding to the profit of the company. Proper recording and analysis are possible with good software. If there is any vehicle is not giving the required fuel efficiency it can be corrected immediately.
Having good fleet management systems will help the management to plan the regular maintenance of the vehicle. If the fleet owners can record all details of the vehicle and the parts, then it is easy to know when the vehicle should stop for maintenance. It will prevent breakdowns and subsequent losses.
A good app development company can create a mobile app. This makes it easy for customers to book their goods. It is also easy to make payments to the company. They can even know when the on-demand delivery of products will take place. This makes customers happy. When proper information is available to customers, they will stick with the company.
Fleet management helps in analyzing driver behavior. With the maintenance of proper records, the owners can know how each driver is handling his job. It will also help drivers to input their information about stops and loads transported. Good software will help to keep the drivers happy as there will be no delay in their payments.
A good fleet management software also helps in knowing the actual performance of each vehicle concerning fuel and spare parts. This helps in changing operation methods if needed.
- There are many elements in the truck industry, and so effective management is a must.
- Good software can help in bringing all entities together and giving you data to analyze.
- Fleet management software helps in better time management.
- Good software helps in better fuel management. It results in saving a lot of money.
- The company can plan timely maintenance of the vehicle.
- Customer service is much better when you have good software
- The software can help drivers maintain their records properly and get paid on time.
- A good fleet management system helps in knowing the performance of each vehicle.
4. Use Of GPS In Fleet Management
A fleet is always on the move. Your trucks are in places where you cannot see them. Once they have left on a trip, you have almost no control over them. There can be various drawbacks due to this. Even with a good fleet management software, unless you knew the details for sure, you can’t do much good.
Management of a fleet depends on knowing where your truck is, how much it traveled in a particular time slot, how many stops and starts it made and how well the driver drove the truck. If the information is not available, it is hardly possible to take any action. Depending on people to give this information is not practical anymore.
Integrating a GPS system into your fleet management software brings a lot of benefits. The information you get is enough to run your fleet in a much better manner. You don’t have to depend on human inputs. Let us see some of the benefits that GPS system can give you.
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