It May Be the Easiest Way to Fight Rising Fuel Costs, Improve Your Bottom Line - and Gain Peace of Mind

 
WELLESLEY, Mass., May 20-- It isn't easy being overwhelmed. From the moment you step into the office, you are transported to a not-so- magical world of chaos, confusion, customer complaints and soaring fuel costs. One potential catastrophe after another hits your plate -- a driver missing in action, a delivery to the wrong place, a vehicle breakdown, a driver who forgot to take his cell phone with him and got lost. On and on goes the list of headaches that mark the typical day of the owner of a fleet of vehicles.

Getting drivers from Point A to Point B can appear harder than herding cats -- and can generate more whines than Napa Valley. When you are trying to cram in several service calls, there just aren't enough hours in the day to get everything done. In many cases, there isn't even time for the wife and kids.

"Although I was working evenings and weekends, I couldn't seem to get the fleet under control," said Mike Pukanasis, manager of Tresca Brothers Sand & Gravel, Inc., a company based in Millis, MA, dealing in brick, stone and related construction materials. "Fuel costs were rising rapidly and productivity wasn't improving."

So busy is the average business owner, it turns out, that they typically start before anyone else and are left to turn out the lights well after everyone else has gone home. Pukanasis, for example, spent long hours chasing up the countless details involved in running a fleet of over 50 trucks.

"I didn't even have time to speak to the sales rep that eventually provided me with the solution," he said. "He must have called me a dozen times before I finally picked up to talk to him."

Pukanasis reluctantly granted the sales rep a few minutes to discuss how to manage his fleet better using a system by FleetMatics, a provider of GPS vehicle tracking systems based in Boston. Suddenly his standard objections to fleet management solutions began to melt away -- easy to implement, no technology to install in house, nominal initial cost and it would pay for its operating costs 10 times over in terms of fuel savings, route efficiency and customer satisfaction.

"Since installing the FleetMatics GPS vehicle tracking system, our fleet operations have improved tremendously," said Pukanasis. "I am now able to work manageable hours and spend weekends with my family because I know my vehicles are being monitored."

Substantial Fuel Savings

The FleetMatics GPS vehicle tracking system has helped thousands of fleet owners to drive down operating costs despite rising fuel prices and increase earnings. By using an internet-based system, fleet owners have experienced a dramatic rise in productivity, substantial fuel savings and greatly reduced operating expenses.

"Fleet tracking is an invaluable management tool that provides a noticeable competitive edge," said FleetMatics Group Executive Vice President John Goggin. "It enables users to respond to customer needs faster by deploying vehicles more efficiently."

Unlike other systems which were developed by techies and then shoehorned into operation in vehicle management, Goggin spent 20 years running a fleet of service vehicles in the HVAC industry. He used that experience to design a system that really parallels the needs of service industry fleet owners. It doesn't take a Masters degree in computer science to install and operate it. In fact, no installation is necessary. Once the devices are inside the vehicles, all the owner needs to do is open a web browser to monitor the vehicles.

"The only time customers will leave you is when you badly let them down due to negligent service," said Goggin. "It's not that owners are incompetent; it's that they often don't find out what was happening until it was too late."

With the FleetMatics GPS vehicle tracking system, if something goes awry, you don't have to pick up the phone or look out for returning drivers to interrogate. The system helps you to see clearly what transpired.

Instant Replay for Fleet Owners

Route Replay, for example, provides you with minute by minute route verification i.e. when you click on a specific vehicle, you can play back the entire route. This includes being able to see each journey your chosen vehicle took from the selected date right up to the current time, every stage of the selected journey, the exact time your vehicle was tracked at each location along the route and the speed it was traveling. This feature enables you to settle customer disputes, provide proof of service and ensure your fleet is not burning unnecessary gas.

In addition, fleet tracking reports provide verification of time sheets, leading to reduced overtime expenses. This makes it possible for you to compare hours worked by each vehicle thereby controlling productivity, and establishing exactly how much time your vehicles are spending at locations such as the supply house, customer sites, or unauthorized locations. These reports allow you to accurately validate the cost of each site visit. FleetMatics provides numerous reports suited to tight control and accurate measurements of your fleets activities.

"The whole point is to take the stress out of the business," said Goggin. "FleetMatics ultimately is all about peace of mind."

That peace of mind comes in the form of more control over your business, lower fuel bills, fewer disputes and greater profitability. Take the case of Tresca Brothers Sand & Gravel.

"Our company has become much more efficient in our dispatching procedures and we have seen significant savings in fuel costs and wages costs," said Pukanasis "Through FleetMatics Key Management Reports, employee overtime hours and timesheets are now calculated automatically. Over the past 3 years, we have consistently saved over $90,000 annually."

Web site: http://www.fleetmatics.com/