Mythbusters: Is Your Business Too Small For Vehicle Tracking?

Often, when we talk to small business owners about vehicle tracking, we’re being told that it isn’t for them as their business and fleet of 1-5 vehicles is too small to bother about.

But is this true or just a myth?

Does investing in GPS vehicle tracking come down to how many vehicle you are running in your fleet?

To review that statement, we recently spoke to one of our UK customers, E&P Catering Butchers. Based in Coventry, near Birmingham, they are one of the leading meat suppliers to pubs, hotels, restaurants, colleges, universities and schools around Coventry and nearby areas.

E&P Catering Butchers are running a fleet of five vans, each worth about GBP 25,000 (AU$ 50,000). This is an investment of GBP 125,000 (AU$ 250,000) in assets before considering mileage, insurance costs, maintenance or incidents.

Committed to providing high quality, fresh produce, E&P deliver their products six days a week, with each driver completing between 8 and 20 drops a day.

Let’s say E&P has a very busy day where all 5 vans are on the road with 20 drops each. The Logistics Coordinator has done his best to divide the drops into 5 regions with efficient routes for the drivers.

From here it’s up to the drivers to choose taking the route set by the logistics coordinator, or to take an alternate route based on traffic conditions or personal experience. Without GPS tracking,  E&P Catering Butcher’s head office has no control over the route the driver has chosen and has no visibility of where any of their drivers are, making it very difficult for them to advise a customer on the progress of their delivery.

As the saying goes; “if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it”, E&P Catering Butchers decide to invest in GPS vehicle tracking.

The implementation of GPS tracking enabled E&P to monitor and manage their drivers and fleet, gaining visibility into where their drivers are at any point in time, which routes they are taking and how many kilometres are being driven. They referred to the system as a driver assistant rather than a tracker, and explained to their drivers how the system can benefit them with accurate reporting of any incidents. Soon after optimising routes and managing driver behaviour, E&P saw a dramatic drop in operating costs and return on investment.

To E&P, GPS tracking is not about keeping an eye on their drivers, but all about customer service. If a customer rings up now and needs their order before 12pm, they can easily see where the driver is and find the most efficient route to get to that customer on time.

In summary, E&P discovered that the benefits of implementing GPS tracking into their business with a small fleet of vans, far outweighed the costs for every single vehicle. GPS vehicle tracking puts you in control of your fleet while reducing costs, increasing efficiency and keeping your drivers safe.

They now consider GPS tracking a no brainer as they simply couldn’t live without it.

So, too small for vehicle tracking? – Myth busted!

Download our ebook, “How To Manage Your SMB Fleet More Effectively”, to learn more about how GPS fleet tracking can help your business.