It’s tough being in the trucking business. Operating margins are low, driver turnover is high and runaway fuel costs are a source of daily frustration. With more than 26 million trucks on the US market, experts estimate that idling vehicles consume a total of 960 million gallons of diesel fuel each year, translating to billions of dollars wasted. for the industry.
To do? Enter the world of telematics, vehicle tracking systems.
While the most common reason for getting a fleet vehicle tracking system is to improve driver productivity, it can also increase efficiency in other ways, such as giving vehicle dispatchers better driver location information and helping them to assign better routes. Together, this can help further reduce fleet costs.
Dude, where’s my truck?
Fleet control is a real-time information system that provides back office services and management of transport companies. A business can place a tracker on its vehicles, allowing staff to know if a vehicle is on time, running late, or traveling its assigned route.
Track Your Truck, which provides units of vehicle tracking service for $299 (plus a monthly cost of $19.99 per month), says that vehicle tracking not only helps accurately predict arrival times, but also helps retain profit by serving more customers quickly, using fewer vehicles per workload. , reducing fuel consumption and wear and tear on fleet vehicles and eliminating excessive downtime. It also helps eliminate the use of unauthorized vehicles on the clock or after hours.
GPS Trackit echoes these benefits, adding that tracking systems help reduce insurance rates by up to 35 percent because many insurance companies offer discounted premiums if a vehicle has real-time GPS. With accurate fleet vehicle data for profit and loss analysis, accountability, and budgeting, businesses can make quick decisions to achieve lower costs. GPS Trackit’s online ROI calculator helps reveal anticipated savings on fleet vehicle costs.
opportunity vehicles
In the US, there are more than 26 million fleet vehicles. The domestic commercial vehicle telematics market is expected to reach $2.13 billion by the end of 2010.
According to Truckinfo.net, the trucking industry accounts for 12.8 percent of all fuel purchased in the US. Additionally, industry data estimates the average operating ratio to be 95.2 percent. (For every dollar of revenue, the trucking company costs 95.2 cents, leaving a profit of just 4.8 cents!) According to the (ATRI) American Transportation Research Institute, the nonprofit 501 (c)(3) From the trucking industry research organization, the average cost per mile in 2008 was $41.73 per mile and $83.68 per hour.
If vehicle tracking saves customers an average hour per driver each day, that could cut fuel costs by 10 to 15 percent. In an industry with razor-thin margins, beset by a fragile economy and high fuel costs, getting the most out of every drop counts and helping trucking companies do so can be very lucrative.
Vehicle Tracking Solutions sees a bright future for the industry. The company strongly believes that technology increases profits, citing a fleet tracking industry report by The Aberdeen Group, companies with fleet tracking systems saved an average of 13.2% in fuel costs and 13 .4% in use of overtime. The company offers franchises and supports prospective franchisees with its own Government Contracting Department. As a proud member of VetFran, the Veterans Transition Franchise Initiative, Vehicle Tracking Solutions offers a 20% discount on its $24,900 franchise fee to qualified and honorably discharged veterans. (See: [http://www.franchise.org/Vehicle_Tracking_Solutions_franchise.aspx]
The width and breadth of the industry cannot be overstated. San Diego-based Vehiclepath has freight forwarding clients in St Joseph, QC; Burdett, New York; Crystal Lake, Ill.; Onalaska, WI; and Skowhegan, ME. The company was a subsidiary of DriveOK, Inc., a provider of GPS tracking equipment and services to growing small fleets, which in November merged with PROCON. David Meyer, executive vice president of marketing, confirmed that Vehiclepath offers resale deals throughout North America and continues to look for more.
Based in Plano, Texas, Remote Dynamics, Inc. also sees a tremendous opportunity in the vehicle tracking industry, so much so that it has taken its show down a different path: right on Wall Street. Remote Dynamics, Inc is listed on the over-the-counter bulletin board under the ticker symbol, RMTD.