Countless businesses rely on the use of assets in the field to deliver quality products or services. If you’re managing a mobile service fleet, then you know it can be stressful to ensure everything is accounted for and that nothing is slipping through the cracks of human error or oversight.
However, GPS tracking solutions can greatly improve your workflow and help you manage your fleet of field service vehicles and assets. Keep reading to learn more about the benefits of GPS tracking!
Quick Links:
- What Is a Mobile Service Vehicle?
- Common Challenges for Mobile Service Fleet Managers
- Top 3 Benefits of GPS Tracking for Mobile Service Vehicles
What Is a Mobile Service Vehicle?
A mobile service vehicle carries assets into the field in order to deliver a service that would be otherwise unavailable without the assets. For example, a mobile service vehicle fleet might include:
- Mobile phone companies
- Cable providers
- Utility trucks
- Mobile mechanics
- Tow trucks
- Municipal vehicles, such as snowplows or firetrucks
What makes mobile service vehicles somewhat different from general fleet vehicles is that they have to manage both assets and the fleet vehicle. Mobile service providers or field technicians must account for a variety of assets in addition to maintaining their vehicle; this differs from general fleet vehicles that only have to manage the vehicle itself.
Common Challenges for Mobile Service Fleet Managers
Mobile service fleet managers have to keep track of drivers, vehicles, assets, and more! Some of the common challenges that mobile service fleet managers face include:
Driver Behaviors Go Unchecked
You can’t ride in the passenger seat of every driver in your fleet; nor can you be with them as they handle the tools and assets they need to get a job done. Are they speeding or braking harshly on their routes? Do they use the fleet vehicle to run personal errands?
So many unknown factors can affect your company’s reputation, maintenance schedules, and overall operations—all without you even knowing what’s going on. This is a major challenge for mobile service fleet managers to ensure that their employees are courteous on the road and take appropriate care of their assets.
Unknown Vehicle and Asset Locations
There are so many potential hazards on the road, from your fleet vehicle spinning out due to inclement weather or having a vehicle break down on the side of the road in some rural part of the country.
How would you be able to guide your driver to safety without knowing where they’re exactly located? Alternatively, what if your assets go missing?
Another huge challenge for mobile service fleet managers is not knowing where their drivers, vehicles, and assets are located at all times. You want to keep your employees safe while also delivering quality service and assets to customers.
Irregular Maintenance Schedules for Vehicles and Assets
Keeping track of maintenance schedules for both fleet vehicles and company assets is a significant challenge for mobile service fleet managers, yet is one of the most important aspects of managing your fleet.
Without regular servicings to check on the performance of your fleet vehicles and keep them running smoothly—or address potential problems before they become headaches for you later—then you risk unexpected breakdowns.
If your assets also need routine maintenance scheduled and you fall behind on it, then that can lead to your technicians showing up to a job with equipment that isn’t working properly. Preventative and routine maintenance is vital to the success of your fleet, but it can be overwhelming to track manually as a fleet manager.
Top 3 Benefits of GPS Tracking for Mobile Service Vehicles
If you’re a mobile service fleet manager and you found yourself nodding your head reading about the top challenges, then GPS tracking is here to be your most powerful resource.
Telematics solutions can prove invaluable to fleet managers who have to keep tabs on vehicles and assets in the following ways:
Monitor Driver Activity
With GPS tracking, you have incredible insight into driver behaviors and activity that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to know. By leveraging a telematics solution, you can monitor a variety of activity, including:
- Arrivals and departures
- Routes
- Speeding or harsh braking
- Engine idle times
- Turns
- And more!
GPS tracking takes the guesswork out of how well your drivers are operating your fleet’s vehicles. This helps ensure your company’s reputation isn’t being affected by reckless driving and that your drivers are handling the vehicle and assets well. After all, your mobile service fleet is only as safe as your drivers.
Know the Precise Location of Your Vehicles and Assets
In the event that you need to know exactly where your vehicle or assets are located in real-time—for whatever reason—you’re able to pinpoint it in just a few clicks with a GPS tracking system.
Upon implementing a system that utilizes GPS data, your fleet drivers, vehicles, and assets can never be lost or missing since you’ll always be able to know exactly where they are at all times.
Plus, with goefencing capabilities, you can get notified if your vehicle or asset leaves an established boundary. This increases accountability and accuracy for your customers too, since you can update them about the status of your driver or order.
Regular Maintenance Schedules
Forget about scanning receipts or updating massive spreadsheets to keep track of your fleet vehicle and asset maintenance schedules.
With GPS tracking systems, you can track a history of maintenance services, monitor vehicle or equipment performance, automate appointments, and pull records to see the overall performance of your fleet.
By automating this crucial component of fleet operations, risk managers can save time, money, and avoid headaches caused by unexpected downtime.
Streamline Your Mobile Service Fleet Management Workload with Rastrac’s GPS Tracking Solutions!
There’s a reason that Rastrac is entrusted with tracking more than $1.5 billion in assets worldwide: we’ve been a leading provider of GPS tracking solutions since 1993. Our team knows how important your mobile service fleet operations are and we’re here to help make your daily workload easier by optimizing your routes, ensuring driver safety, tracking maintenance schedules, and more!
Contact us today to learn more about how our GPS tracking solutions can make your work as a mobile service fleet manager easier, more efficient, and help you deliver effective results.
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