Keeping track of trucks lands crooks in jail

When Merv Hooper, owner of Stratford-based truck rental firm Rigs N Things, had a Teletrac Navman GPS fleet tracking system installed in his trucks, he had no idea he'd end up using it to help Police track down a local drug ring.

One night before going to bed, Merv checked his GPS fleet tracking system on his phone and noticed a light moving that shouldn't have been. He rang 111 but the police didn't have a unit available to respond. So Merv and his wife set off to solve the mystery of the wayward truck.

"My wife drove the car while I tracked the truck on my phone. We found a police car parked on the side of the road and I asked the officer to call HQ and tell them where the missing truck was. He asked, 'Are you psychic?' I said, 'No, but my cell phone is.' And I showed him. Twenty seven minutes after I discovered that the truck was missing we were alongside it and the occupants were under arrest."

Using the GPS fleet tracking system, Merv was able to give the police a report of exactly where the truck had been driven in the time it was stolen. It turned out that it was more than a vehicle theft.

The people who had stolen the truck had taken it on a drug run. Over the next few days the police checked all the places they'd stopped off and the driver and passenger were convicted.

Merv has Teletrac Navman GPS tracking units installed in 17 of his 19 trucks and also uses Teletrac Navman GPS fleet tracking system software to monitor and manage his fleet.

But the system isn't just useful for catching crooks. With it, Merv can also keep an eye on how his trucks are being driven by rental customers, to head off potential problems before they escalate.

"If our customers are driving at excessive speed we can ring and talk to them. We fine our customers if they go over 105km, $50 per offence. It's in the contract.

Merv also monitors truck functions such as the battery.

"If we see customer using the tail lift without starting the engine, we know that's likely to run the battery down, so we call and warn the customer before they flatten the battery completely. It's a big time saver for us because we don't have to go out and rescue them, plus our customers aren't stuck without a working truck."

Keeping track goes the extra mile with customer service

The more he has used his Teletrac Navman system, the more unexpected benefits Merv has discovered. "We have been able to define a site around our own yard in the GPS tracking system, so that as soon as someone drives one of our trucks back into our yard, we know they've arrived. If I'm out the back I can head straight down to the office and greet the customer. It makes my life a lot easier and customers love the great service."

Businesses such as Merv's operate in a small economy and need to utilise technology to make expensive equipment work as hard as possible. Merv knows his Teletrac Navman allows him to manage and monitor the two most important parts of his business – staff and equipment.

You can read the full case study here.