A GPS device displaying a map is placed on a paper map, highlighting vehicle tracking and navigation.

We think that vehicle tracking systems are great for business, but maybe you - or your colleagues - need some more convincing. Well, GPS trackers are not only useful in terms of allowing you to plan workloads and (obviously!) track the movements of key workers, they do offer tangible benefits to businesses in terms of improving productivity. And what does improved productivity mean? It means you are more profitable. Here's how vehicle tracking can improve your staff productivity.

Precision

Remove the guesswork and instead use data which provides you with the exact locations of drivers. This means you can provide customers with ETAs (estimated times of arrival) in specific minutes and even seconds rather than hours - making them much happier with the service you provide. And you can plan workloads much, much more efficiently than pondering a map and hoping you are guessing the best routes and times required to travel across them. This doesn't just appeal to your customers; the workers being tracked themselves will appreciate being handed a realistic and manageable task list. And a happy workforce is proven to be a more productive one.

Detailed data

The reports and alerts which come packaged up with tracking systems are incredibly detailed. It's up to you how deeply you wish to delve, but even a quick glance can provide very useful insights into the day-to-day running of your business. The reports on the drivers' activity will show you which locations are most visited and identify hot spots and problem areas. You'll also be able to clearly see the busiest times of day for your business and use all this information to plan staffing levels and other resource requirements in an efficient way. If you're looking for the areas of your business which seem less profitable or aspects of the company with potential, then the data about the daily activities is a great place to start.

Engine idle time

And talking about user data, vehicle trackers don't just study movement; they tell you when vehicles are stationary. This is "dead time" as far as your potential profits are concerned, and so it is valuable information for anyone seeking business efficiencies. There are lots of causes for vehicles to be stationary; bad route planning, issues caused by clients and suppliers (keeping drivers waiting) and, of course, there is the possibility of individuals not working as hard as they could. Looking into the reasons for engines sitting idle can be a rewarding exercise.

Route planning and traffic reports

The live information being beamed down from space covers so much more than the movements of your workforce. The trackers monitor all the traffic in the areas you cover, and the value of this to your business is difficult to overstate. Forget the horror stories from the early days of GPS, when people were reportedly driving off unfinished bridges and the life - now drivers have immediate access to live travel information, so they can avoid gridlocks and plan alternative routes at the push of a button. And that is about as efficient as it can get!

Keeping an eye on business

Basically, these sophisticated systems offer you the ultimate gift - you get a 360-degree view of your business at all times. You're not dependent on gossip, hearsay, or biased reports. The facts, pinpoint accurate facts, are right there in front of you.