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Cutting costs with GPS asset tracking:
Canadian fleet managers tackle theft, speeding and safety
Kara Kuryllowicz
On a steamy July night in Newmarket, Ont., thieves made off with a lone dump truck—one of 14 vehicles operated by a franchised residential plumbing service company. The police still haven’t found that dump truck, but should the thief decide to try again, Mr. Rooter Plumbing (York and Durham Region) will be able to track the stolen vehicle with its new fleet tracking system.
Considering the inconvenience, the higher insurance premiums and the deductible, office manager Anne Millard seized the opportunity to hard sell her boss on the asset tracking systems she’d been researching, pricing and recommending for several years.
While the system’s tracking ability swayed her boss after the theft, Millard knew its many other capabilities could produce a three-year ROI, and yield safety, service and communications advantages.
Mr. Rooter’s two-way radio system involved Telus, whose rep suggested Millard consider their partner, Markham, Ont.-based Complete Innovations for the asset tracking system. Called Fleet Complete, the package collects and delivers vehicle information data to staff. It includes live query, event tracking, task assignment, historical playback and reporting functionality. When launching the Fleet Complete package, Millard told drivers the system was required to earn an insurance discount. Even so, the drivers were less than enthusiastic as they learned the system also tracked their vehicles’ precise location, the time spent at each call, the stops made to and from calls and even monitored their highway speeds.
Fewer traffic tickets
Pinpointing the vehicles’ exact locations in real-time ensures dispatch sends the closest vehicle to the next call, an important consideration since Mr. Rooter pays for the vehicle, insurance, maintenance and fuel.
After more than six months with the system, drivers are still surprised when Millard asks them to slow down after a Fleet Complete e-mail tells her a particular van has exceeded the company’s 120 km/hr limit.
“If you’re moving with traffic, you can easily exceed 120 without realizing it,” says Millard, who also knows public perception matters. Members of the public have called to report a speeding vehicle or a Mr. Rooter driver coming out of a bar or LCBO.
“We’ve cut down on speeding tickets, which helps contain insurance rates, reduced vehicle wear-and-tear and cut fuel consumption by 15 per cent—a real bonus in view of rising pump prices—and helped maintain a positive company image.”
The system tracks battery voltage to ensure batteries are fully charged and tells Millard whether a boost will put the vehicle back on the road or if further investigation is required. It also alerts Millard when a vehicle reaches the 10,000 km milestone, indicating it’s time for an oil change.
Personal experience has started to show drivers that the Fleet Complete system really does have many upsides. Should the customer call Mr. Rooter to claim the driver/plumber billed $350 but spent just 10 or 30 minutes on-site, both head office and the driver rely on the GPS for proof.
Knee-deep in water, the consumer wants immediate action, but once the crisis is resolved, the consumer thinks, “I was crazy to pay $350 for this!” In less extreme cases, the system simply shows the consumer’s perception of time is way off.
“This happens more often that you might think,” says Millard. “We’re extremely diplomatic and polite, but when customers hear that we have a tracking system, they usually back down pretty quickly.”
Back on track
Obviously, the system has helped reduced customer-sparked stress, but it’s also helped drivers better cope with weather and breakdowns. Last winter, one driver, stuck in a blinding blizzard, radioed Millard for help after getting hopelessly lost due to a detour.
Thanks to GPS tracking, she was able to tell him he was heading north, then give him instruction on when and where to turn in order to reach a major highway. On another occasion, a vehicle broke down between exits on the busy 401. Millard was able to pinpoint his exact location and send a tow truck.
Safety and peace of mind are important to Mr. Rooter, but they’re also top-of-mind at Calgary-based Pronghorn Controls, a supplier of high-quality instrumentation and electrical services and products to the oil and gas, pipeline and petrochemical industry in Western Canada.
Operating 140 pick-up trucks (light-duty, half- and ¾-ton), Pronghorn installed Rogers’ mFleet system to improve driver tracking and communications. The project was part of its Work Alone policy last fall.
Since on-site drivers must leave their cell phones in their vehicles, which have to be parked a certain distance from the wellheads and buildings, regular contact was an issue.
Using the mFleet system, drivers now select the interval at which they’ll log in, with a maximum of four hours allowed between log-ins. If they forget or are unable to check-in, a text message is sent to the manager, who after trying to contact the driver, uses the tracking system to locate the truck and dispatch help if required.
“Our field operators work around hazardous gases, so we need to know where they are and how long they’re on-site,” says Jim Brack, Pronghorn’s special projects and assistant safety officer. “Driver reaction to the mFleet is 70/30 with most in favour of it, although some view it as a tattletale.”
Pronghorn also uses it to monitor speed, which affects fuel and maintenance costs. Brack expects mFleet will save Pronghorn 10 per cent or $100,000 of its current fuel costs within the first 12 months, which he notes will certainly cover the cost of mFleet.
“Thanks to [the system], our drivers can now work alone which allows a far more cost-effective and efficient use of human resources,” says Brack. “We no longer need to send two people to a job that one person could do, which is a significant cost benefit, although improved safety was the primary goal.”
Kara Kuryllowicz is a Toronto-based fleet and business writer.
The latest technology
Rogers Communications Inc.’s mFleet solution is used by Pronghorn Controls. It’s a wireless, web-based asset tracking and logistics system, providing fleet managers and operators with real-time automated vehicle mapping, intelligent management reporting, and vehicle diagnostic (health) reports.
Using mFleet’s locator hardware with global positioning system (GPS) and engine diagnostic technology, messages from vehicles connect in real-time to mFleet Quadrant, a secure, web-based mapping and reporting software system.
WebTech Wireless Inc. (Burnaby, BC), is the exclusive application provider for mFleet. The solution offers automated driver timesheets, custom geofencing, odometer readings, maintenance scheduling and more.
mFleet targets the following markets: service fleets (gas-powered); transportation and logistics fleets (diesel powered); and trailer and asset tracking.
Telus
The Telus Fleet Tracking Bundle, is a real-time tracking solution using GPS modems installed in vehicles. It gives companies the ability to track their mobile assets, improve operations, productivity, service levels and safety using the TELUS 1X wireless data network across North America.
Components include a Telus wireless data plan, Fleet Complete GPS software from Complete Innovations (Markham, Ont.), GPS modem, professionally-installed by Best Buy Canada or certified Telus dealers.
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