Here at commercialvehicle.com we have published a series of articles about the benefits of vehicle tracking for van owners, particularly those with fleets of vans.
However, one of the most important considerations when thinking of van tracking is the fleet management software that a business will use to utilise the full benefits of a vehicle tracking system, whether it’s in a van or a car or lorry.
The real beauty for vehicle tracking is that it can give real time location and driving behaviour information and this can be downloaded to either a desk top computer, mobile phone and laptop or tablet.
How to use a van tracker effectively
So, it’s one thing having accurate information about the van and its activities being relayed to the owner, but that information then needs to be utilised properly.
Effective fleet management software will look at the driving habits of the employee to see how effective and economically they can drive, and whether they observe speed limits.
The software will also flag up issues with vehicle maintenance and help the owner keep track of service dates, road tax and insurance renewals, MOT’s and the management of the driver’s license.
Obviously not every business will want so much information but the providers of fleet management software really have created effective and well-constructed products but will deliver what every business is looking for.
The UK’s telematics sector is growing
The market for such software systems in the UK is huge and it’s growing quickly: in 2009 there were around 1.5 million telematic units in service but that has grown to around 4 million in 2014. The figure will rocket to around 17million by 2018.
Vehicle tracking is a useful way of utilising the GPS (global positioning satellite) technology to accurately reflect the activities of a van and how that performance can be improved.
That’s why vehicle operators such as delivery companies, couriers and construction firms have invested heavily in these systems to boost productivity and ultimately profitability.
Vehicle telematics and fleet software
Vehicle telematics have moved on apace from the days when they were simply used to find a stolen vehicle and they can now, if necessary, disable a stolen van so the thief cannot use it.
In addition to a van tracking system using GPS technology, some will use mobile phone networks or RFID which is a radio wave system.
Some companies also use the system to send messages to the van via a terminal which will display the message to the driver.
Again, the fleet management software systems vary from provider to provider and should there be a need to find the street that the driver is on, the fleet manager can do so in ordinary mapping mode or use a 3-D street level system.
Essentially business owners will need to think carefully about the van tracking device they need and ensure that the software then utilises that information is accessible and helpful – the end result will be improved productivity and better van and man management.