How GPS technology helps mobile workforces

Managing a mobile workforce can have its challenges. Business owners can’t be in multiple places at once to personally watch over different jobs. GPS fleet tracking systems help managers have visibility on their staff’s whereabouts, which benefits health and safety.

There are other bonuses to Teletrac Navman’s telematics, insights into vehicle maintenance and fuel consumption can reduce costs for businesses. From fleet management systems providing the tools to gain insights, improving health and safety, and reducing costs for Kiwi companies.

Here’s how two of Teletrac Navman’s customers have maximised the impact of this technology:

Professional Farm Services: smart management

Professional Farm Services install and maintain water systems, milking machines, electrical and effluent systems. With around 12 vehicles, director Dave McMillan uses this to charge accurate mileage, assign jobs to the nearest crew, navigate rural areas and keeping track of customer maintenance.

With the GPS system, the business has made savings in charged-out mileage of around $125 per vehicle per month. “Before the installation, the guys would leave the shop, go to a farm, go to another farm and back to the shop. They would guess the mileage at about 20km, but that was way under. Now we know the mileage exactly and can apportion it correctly to the right client,” says Dave.

Office staff use the software to locate vehicles, decide which is closest to the job, then route staff via the most efficient way. If material or equipment needs to be collected, the office staff can see who will be heading through that area next, to minimise unnecessary side trips. 

As well as tracking their own and vehicle maintenance through the system, Professional Farm Services also use it to better maintain client’s equipment. Using the inbuilt geo location tool, they keep accurate records of site visits. “We can go into the system to see how many times we have visited a particular pump to maintain and repair it. Being able to access this information also helps us cross reference with our invoicing,” says Dave.

BPS Plumbing: a 21st century business

BPS Plumbing in Northland do a range of work from irrigation and dam supply to pumps, water tanks and home plumbing. Owner Russ Louie uses his to streamline maintenance, improve invoicing accuracy, reduce paperwork and improve driver safety. “Now we are efficient, fast, and responsive,” says Russ.

A detailed overview of each vehicle’s use has vastly improved maintenance especially with Northland’s metal roads causing additional vehicle wear and tear. “The maintenance scheduling and reporting has been crucial for us,” says Russ.

Russ also integrated Teletrac Navman with his SmartTrade job management system to generate reports about where his plumbers drove, how far, how long they were there, then compare this with the timesheets. The integration has created a huge saving in time and paperwork, which in turn, has improved cashflow.

“If one of the boys travels from Kerikeri to Paihia, then to a merchant in Kerikeri, then to a side job, then back to the Paihia job, now I have all the information I need to correctly assign the travel charges to the right clients.”

Telematics help increase productivity for mobile businesses by connecting people on-the-go and providing valuable insights.