What You Need to Know about Equipment Tracking During Storms Rastrac Team | Aug 29, 2019 2:33:05 PM

If your fleet carries assets that could help communities prepare for or recover from a storm (such as a hurricane, tornado, snowstorm, hail storm, flood, etc.), equipment tracking can be an incredibly valuable fleet management solution.

Monitoring storm preparation and recovery equipment through GPS tracking devices can make relief efforts quicker and more efficient. Plus, it can keep your drivers and vehicles safe as they work in the aftermath. Here is what you need to know about leveraging equipment tracking during storms.

What is Equipment Tracking Software?

Equipment tracking software allows you to monitor the real-time location of your assets and equipment that have been tagged with GPS tracking devices. If you’re wondering how to improve fleet risk management and streamline fleet operations during a storm, equipment tracking can be a valuable solution.

Assets You Should be Monitoring with GPS Tracking Devices During Storms

Equipment and asset tracking systems are being used by businesses across a wide variety of industries to more efficiently and effectively monitor their valuable inventory. When preparing for a storm or dealing with its aftermath, equipment tracking software can be especially helpful while transporting emergency generators, medical supplies, clean-up equipment, rebuilding materials, and more. Let’s explore how!

How to Make Emergency Response Efforts More Efficient with Equipment Tracking Software

When a dangerous natural disaster such as a hurricane or snowstorm is expected to hit, there is no time to waste when it comes to preparing for the worst. After a storm has passed, public safety fleets and emergency responders are often racing against the clock to provide immediate relief and start rebuilding efforts. Equipment tracking software can help your fleet become more efficient during these times so that it can better serve your community. Here are a few major ways how:

Know the Exact Location of Your Assets and Equipment

Before, during, and after a storm, being able to track the locations of your vehicles, drivers, and the assets that they are carrying is vital for numerous reasons. First, if your drivers are traveling in potentially unsafe conditions, you need to ensure that everyone is safe and accounted for at all times. Secondly, you’ll want to guarantee that the assets you’re transporting to help communities prepare for or recover from a storm are arriving safely and on time.

With GPS tracking devices, you will have access to precise location data for the vehicles and assets in your fleet. Your equipment tracking software will provide you with a detailed, comprehensive report of each vehicle’s exact current location, where it has been, who has been driving it, and how long it has been running. You’ll also be able to determine if the GPS-tagged assets inside are sitting idle or moving. If they are moving, you’ll be able to follow their route in real-time to ensure they are arriving to the right location at the right time.

Plus, with RastracGo, our portable GPS tracking device, fleet management teams have access to location tracking data from anywhere that has cell phone service, GPS, or Wi-Fi. This way, if evacuation is necessary, fleet managers can still keep up with their drivers, vehicles, and assets remotely.

Build Optimized Routes and Make Real-Time Adjustments

When communities are counting on your equipment to stay safe in a storm or start rebuilding as soon as possible after the fact, your vehicles need to be able to get to them quickly. By leveraging GPS tracking devices and fleet management software, you’ll be able to build optimized routes that get your vehicles and the assets they are carrying from point A to point B faster.

Keep in mind that there will likely be numerous road closures before a storm and/or traffic jams in the event of an evacuation. After a storm has hit, there is also likely to be fallen debris in the road. In these cases, you need to be able to adjust the routes you’ve laid out for your drivers in real-time. This way, they can avoid sitting in traffic jams or running into road closures and get where they are going faster and safely. By using our mobile GPS tracking app PocketRastrac, you’ll be able to quickly communicate these changes to your drivers with secure two-way messaging!

How to Improve Fleet Risk Management in the Aftermath of a Storm with Equipment Tracking

Keeping your assets, vehicles, and drivers safe in the aftermath of a storm should be of the utmost concern for fleet managers. Here are a few suggestions on how to improve fleet risk management with equipment tracking software.

Prevent Theft

Unfortunately, theft and looting can be a serious problem in the aftermath of a storm. Luckily, equipment tracking software and GPS tracking devices can help you closely monitor your valuable vehicles and assets so you can quickly recover from theft if it occurs. With GPS tracking, you’ll always be able to quickly determine if your vehicles and assets are where they are supposed to be or if they have been moved.

This eliminates delays in reporting theft, greatly increasing your chances of recovering the stolen assets. Plus, you’ll be able to continue tracking the asset once you have determined that it has been stolen or gone missing and have verifiable, documented data that can be passed along to law enforcement. These theft prevention capabilities of equipment tracking can make all the difference when it comes to minimizing the impact of theft in your fleet.

Monitor Driving Behaviors

Driver safety should always be a top priority for fleet management—but this becomes even more important when they are driving before, during, or after a storm. Unsafe driving habits like hard braking, swerving, and distracted driving becomes even more dangerous if drivers are in a rush or operating vehicles in severe weather. When there is a greater possibility for traffic jams, road closures, flooding, and debris in the road, your drivers must be more focused than ever.

Our fleet management solutions make it possible to not only monitor the exact location of your vehicles and the assets they are carrying, but also monitor how your drivers are operating them. You’ll receive comprehensive reports that outline the speeds at which they are traveling and acceleration/deceleration rates as they move through intersections, and even be alerted in instances of harsh braking, hard turning, or rapid acceleration. Then, you can immediately reach out to ensure the driver is okay and correct the problem before it happens again and puts your driver and other travelers on the road at risk—and prevents your assets from reaching their destination safely.

If you’re ready to learn how Rastrac’s equipment tracking and fleet management solutions can help your fleet stay efficient and safe when transporting assets before, during, and after a storm, reach out to an expert today!