Here’s a scenario for those of you in the transportation industry: it’s an ordinary Wednesday evening at the office, everything’s going smoothly, then you get a call from a customer. As it turns out, the vehicle that’s supposed to be delivering a few thousand dollars’ worth of product is over six hours late, and they want an ETA on the shipment.
You call the driver, but don’t get a response. Your fleet vehicles, and all of the cargo being carried, has disappeared. How fast can you find your missing fleet vehicle in such a situation? Could you locate it at all without the driver reporting in?
Not being able to locate a vehicle in the field, particularly one that is carrying valuable cargo, can be a fleet manager’s greatest fear. A missing truck could have been hijacked, or it could be a simple on the road breakdown. Until you locate the vehicle, you simply don’t know, and cannot give your clients an estimated time of arrival for their shipments.
Thankfully, there are ways to track your vehicles in the field at a moment’s notice.
Getting Peace of Mind with GPS Tracking
A semi-truck, trailer, and the cargo loaded onto it can represent a significant amount of money. Shouldering the cost of replacing everything, even with insurance, can be a massive burden to bear.
GPS vehicle fleet tracking systems help create ease of mind by allowing you to locate any of your GPS-tagged vehicles on a moment’s notice. This way, if a cargo shipment or vehicle is ever reported as being late, you can check the vehicle’s GPS tracking log to see where the vehicle is at a moment’s notice.
With this capability, you can have some peace of mind in the knowledge that you can locate an asset whenever needed.
More Than Just Location Tracking
Some GPS tracking devices and software can even go beyond simply tracking the location of a GPS-tagged vehicle. More advanced trackers can relay important engine performance statistics, or even monitor operating status for refrigeration units and other specialty equipment.
This can be helpful in a number of ways, such as providing you with advanced warning of a need for preventative maintenance, or spotting when a refrigerated trailer unit fails.
By monitoring the status of a vehicle or trailer in addition to tracking its current location, you can manage your assets in the field more effectively. For example, if a refrigeration unit indicates that it isn’t working, you can have the driver check the connection between the vehicle and the trailer to make sure it’s getting power, potentially saving the perishable cargo in the trailer.
Of course, not just any GPS tracking solution can monitor engine performance and other key stats. To do that, you need the right tracking devices and software.
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