The benefits of GPS vehicle tracking systems such as Zonar and Synovia go beyond simply ensuring the safety of your precious passengers. These are powerful tools which can revolutionize your fleet management, helping you optimize your system in ways that simply aren't possible with hand-collected data.
By closely tracking the performance of your vehicles, a GPS system quickly pays for itself in various cost benefits!
Ten Great Ways GPS Vehicle Tracking Cuts Your Fleet Expenditures
1) Real-World Route Optimization
Even the best of mapping systems will never be fully up-to-date with what's going on in the real world. Roads that are theoretically 45 MPH on paper may slow to a crawl during busy times of day.
Full oversight of your routes allows you -and your drivers- to spot inefficient routes, or areas that should be avoided for speedier drives.
2) Spot Route Deviations
Since GPS is feeding you a minute-by-minute overview of your buses, you receive an instant warning if a driver deviates from his route. If he's not following the path determined by your routing software, he's likely wasting time and money.
3) Optimize Fuel Efficiency
Even fuel usage can be tracked to a high degree of precision, especially if your pumps are computer-controlled. Exact knowledge of your fuel situation brings exact calculations of fuel efficiency, which can be optimized to bring quick savings.
4) Reduce Legal Liabilities
When you can see your buses at every minute they're on the road, you get a lot more insight into the behaviors of your drivers. You will be able to see, for example, who's truly coming to a full stop at railroad crossings, and who's cheating. Likewise, drivers with a tendency to speed will be quickly spotted.
5) Reward Good Driving
On the other side of the coin, these same systems can be used to create incentives for your drivers! Even small prizes can inspire them to be on their best driving behavior, or to focus on matters like fuel-efficiency to reduce your transportation costs.
6) Early Maintenance Warnings
There are a lot of minor details that can suggest maintenance problems long before they become significant issues. These are the details that can often be overlooked by staff.
A driver, for example, probably would not notice a sudden 10% decrease in his fuel efficiency - but the GPS system would spot it. That's a clear early warning of engine problems, but one that's easy for a person to miss.
7) Testing Bus Modifications
Is your school considering a change to its bus configuration, like changing the number of seats or perhaps what brand of wheels you're using? Run a test route for a few days! Monitor the performance of the modified bus, versus the others, and you'll be able to quickly see whether the modifications are actually helpful.
8) Better State Reporting
Given the expenses associated with transportation, you need every nickel in state reimbursement you can get. GPS vehicle tracking systems immediately create a far more reliable data source for your state reporting, ensuring that you can get everything you're entitled to.
9) Faster Emergency Response
No matter how well-managed a bus system is, contingencies can develop once the bus is on the road that require immediate attention. From actual accidents, to sudden health emergencies, to simple flat tires, GPS vehicle tracking means you are alerted sooner, and response services have exact coordinates for the bus.
10) Fewer Routes
Depending on how well you can optimize your systems, you may find that you can truly do more with less. Optimized routes, combined with cost-saving measures, often create situations where one or more buses can be cut entirely without affecting your transportation service.
GPS Vehicle Tracking Opens Up New Cost-Saving Opportunities
You get plenty of options for optimization when your school district implements GPS, which frequently pays for the system. If you'd like to learn more about the cost savings and integrating TRIPpatrol with GPS tracking data, just contact us with your questions!
What are your thoughts? Has GPS vehicle tracking been implemented in your district? What are the pros and cons? Let us know in the comments below!