The increasing competition by fleet operators to offer their customers higher standards of service efficiency is only likely to be ramped up in the coming few years of a so-called austerity Britain. Streamlining running costs will be balanced against driver resources and keeping a fully functioning fleet on the road.
Remote asset management has been totally transformed across the fleet industry by the take-up of GPS vehicle tracking technology by many companies and organisations operating in different sectors, yet all requiring to deliver ever finer time- based customer services.
Since the introduction of critical time slot home delivery services by major UK supermarkets, the bar has been raised and expectations of delivery service provision have altered accordingly. Telematics industry analysts now predict that by 2011, most of the major UK suppliers will be competing to offer the narrowest delivery slot.
Under these demands, the likelihood is that only those fleet operators who have readily bought into realtime vehicle tracking, or a similar customised fleet tracking module, providing key strategic benefits, can hope to maintain their competitive edge.
Even for a SME business with only a small number of vehicles and budget constraints, a basic vehicle tracker can provide the means to ‘locate and communicate’ with an efficiency that can radically improve time planning and appointments management.
Currently the majority of standard delivery times offered tend to be based on a half-day slot - either am or pm - which means for the residential sector, half a day has to be taken off work, waiting for goods delivery or a service engineer. The situation for some time critical commercial industries can often be found wanting.
The ability to enable businesses to schedule narrow delivery windows using the fewest vehicles at the lowest mileage means increased fuel efficiency, less CO2 emission and ultimately, lower running costs. Minimising delivery/ appointment times to within a one or two hour time frame should be the goal for a service delivery company.
Retaining customer loyalty during challenging economic times is going to become key to survival and thus, offering a customer their choice of delivery slot and being able to keep to the schedule will be where future contracts are won or lost.
Thursday, 22 July 2010
Sunday, 18 July 2010
Trailer Tracking - Containment All Areas.
Both large and SME companies, national and/or regional, which operate an integral fleet service will almost inevitably each require their own type of fleet tracking solution to best fit their daily requirements and the specific information they need to know.
The immediate benefit of GPS vehicle tracking can be realtime location updates but a trailer tracking system utilises motion sensors and door monitoring system for load security.
Logistics providers, who might range from a niche service specialising in the movement of certain types of goods to large scale shippers of manufactured goods, must be able to offer guaranteed security of shipments as well as requisite added value customer service.
Beneficial cargo recipients or owners are increasingly turning to vehicle tracking device consultant suppliers to provide a straightforward technology for the monitoring and locating of their trailer or container loads whilst in transit or at a port terminal, overnight parking bay, etc.
Company operations often simply require an easily applied vehicle tracker unit which can be simply be later removed. It is often the case that the container door will not be opened again after they have been sealed, so devices can be fitted to the outside of the container.
The security of container doors is paramount and an immediate alert of an unauthorised door opening can be transmitted and information be stored on the device itself for later analysis if a realtime data channel is not included.
In addition, a number of sensors can detect light entering, temperature monitoring and also an accelerometer to report if a container has been dropped.
A realtime vehicle tracking module allows data to be collected from the trailer several times within every minute for precise measurement of hours used and distances travelled. A further layer of location-based reporting is also available for selected interval times for when the trailer is not in service.
The immediate benefit of GPS vehicle tracking can be realtime location updates but a trailer tracking system utilises motion sensors and door monitoring system for load security.
Logistics providers, who might range from a niche service specialising in the movement of certain types of goods to large scale shippers of manufactured goods, must be able to offer guaranteed security of shipments as well as requisite added value customer service.
Beneficial cargo recipients or owners are increasingly turning to vehicle tracking device consultant suppliers to provide a straightforward technology for the monitoring and locating of their trailer or container loads whilst in transit or at a port terminal, overnight parking bay, etc.
Company operations often simply require an easily applied vehicle tracker unit which can be simply be later removed. It is often the case that the container door will not be opened again after they have been sealed, so devices can be fitted to the outside of the container.
The security of container doors is paramount and an immediate alert of an unauthorised door opening can be transmitted and information be stored on the device itself for later analysis if a realtime data channel is not included.
In addition, a number of sensors can detect light entering, temperature monitoring and also an accelerometer to report if a container has been dropped.
A realtime vehicle tracking module allows data to be collected from the trailer several times within every minute for precise measurement of hours used and distances travelled. A further layer of location-based reporting is also available for selected interval times for when the trailer is not in service.
Thursday, 8 July 2010
Fleet GPS Tracking – Know Your Way Around Satellites !
Intrinsic to any vehicle tracking system is the use of a mobile network which sends its position data to a central server, enabling real-time viewing of a trailer location. Often a GSM – a mobile phone network, is employed, which may not provide sufficient coverage in certain areas and costs of roaming when operating out of the UK can also present difficulties.
A recommended alternative to terrestrial networks (GSM) is GPS vehicle tracking or Satellite Communications, which generally offer a wider geographic operating area and come under two categories, ‘Geostationary’ and ‘Non Geostationary’.
Geostationary
Geostationary satellites are positioned at a fixed height of about 36,000 km above the earth, where they rotate around the earth at the same speed as the earth rotates around its axis.
This means they are seen as remaining stationary above a point on the earth - normally directly overhead of the equator and thus, can repeatedly scan the same points on the earth beneath them.
However, Fleet GPS tracking, utilising Geostationary satellites systems, almost always require a large amount of power because of the 'high-orbit' of the satellite.
Polar orbiting satellites have a much lower orbit, moving rapidly around the earth and scanning different areas at relatively infrequent periods.
In addition, these types of systems can suffer a “shadowing” effect from stationary objects, e.g. tall buildings, mountain ranges.
Currently, the whole earth is covered by 5 or 6 key satellites strategically positioned at regular intervals around the equator.
Non Geostationary
A non-geostationary satellite is one where its position relative to the Earth is not fixed. Vehicle tracking devices using Non Geostationary networks tend not to suffer from the ‘shadowing’ effect and require much far less power because they are in a Low Earth Orbit - around 500 – 2,000 km.
However, low power consumption can lead to a limited functionality.
A recommended alternative to terrestrial networks (GSM) is GPS vehicle tracking or Satellite Communications, which generally offer a wider geographic operating area and come under two categories, ‘Geostationary’ and ‘Non Geostationary’.
Geostationary
Geostationary satellites are positioned at a fixed height of about 36,000 km above the earth, where they rotate around the earth at the same speed as the earth rotates around its axis.
This means they are seen as remaining stationary above a point on the earth - normally directly overhead of the equator and thus, can repeatedly scan the same points on the earth beneath them.
However, Fleet GPS tracking, utilising Geostationary satellites systems, almost always require a large amount of power because of the 'high-orbit' of the satellite.
Polar orbiting satellites have a much lower orbit, moving rapidly around the earth and scanning different areas at relatively infrequent periods.
In addition, these types of systems can suffer a “shadowing” effect from stationary objects, e.g. tall buildings, mountain ranges.
Currently, the whole earth is covered by 5 or 6 key satellites strategically positioned at regular intervals around the equator.
Non Geostationary
A non-geostationary satellite is one where its position relative to the Earth is not fixed. Vehicle tracking devices using Non Geostationary networks tend not to suffer from the ‘shadowing’ effect and require much far less power because they are in a Low Earth Orbit - around 500 – 2,000 km.
However, low power consumption can lead to a limited functionality.
Thursday, 1 July 2010
GPS Vehicle Tracking For SMEs Can Beat Budget Rises!
In the aftermath of the coalition Government’s budget, where the change in VAT and capital allowances will impact most on those that both lease and buy their fleet vehicles outright, times look difficult, especially for SMEs running vehicle fleets. Installation of a vehicle tracking system can be an invaluable business lifeline.
Companies who lease their vehicles will only be able to recover 50% of the VAT on the finance element (not maintenance) of the contract, and fleets who buy vehicles outright are unable to recover this cost if the vehicles are also used for private use. Additional fleet costs are the increased insurance premium tax, which rises by 1% and the rises in fuel duty.
While Fleet costs continue to rise, the imperative to be more cost efficient becomes critical, especially with SMEs looking for even more ways to improve all round service and driver productivity, e.g. avoiding deliveries to the wrong address, drivers getting lost, billing disputes, locating drivers, etc.
Flexibility of choice with a customisable and modular fleet GPS tracking system can also provide a real solution to SMEs, as has been so successfully proven across larger fleet operations. They have seen significant cost savings, by as much as 15 per cent or more, and other security and safety benefits of installing mobile workforce tracking in their vehicles.
So often in the past, cost-cutting measures only result in a reduced service and lowered customer satisfaction, leading to loss of sales, or worse, long term contracts.
A straightforward, easy to understand and easy to use GPS vehicle tracking device which offers in-depth reporting and reliable connectivity can be a real solution to struggling SMEs.
In-depth reporting of speed, vehicle usage, idle times, and start up and shut down are vital information for SME owners to help make key decisions which will improve company performance, fuel-efficiency and driving habits.
For SMEs, a vehicle tracker can be specified for simple, daily usability and online system reliability, backed up with professional customer after sales technical advice and training by industry recognised UK telematics consultant suppliers like Cybit as a reassuring integral service.
Companies who lease their vehicles will only be able to recover 50% of the VAT on the finance element (not maintenance) of the contract, and fleets who buy vehicles outright are unable to recover this cost if the vehicles are also used for private use. Additional fleet costs are the increased insurance premium tax, which rises by 1% and the rises in fuel duty.
While Fleet costs continue to rise, the imperative to be more cost efficient becomes critical, especially with SMEs looking for even more ways to improve all round service and driver productivity, e.g. avoiding deliveries to the wrong address, drivers getting lost, billing disputes, locating drivers, etc.
Flexibility of choice with a customisable and modular fleet GPS tracking system can also provide a real solution to SMEs, as has been so successfully proven across larger fleet operations. They have seen significant cost savings, by as much as 15 per cent or more, and other security and safety benefits of installing mobile workforce tracking in their vehicles.
So often in the past, cost-cutting measures only result in a reduced service and lowered customer satisfaction, leading to loss of sales, or worse, long term contracts.
A straightforward, easy to understand and easy to use GPS vehicle tracking device which offers in-depth reporting and reliable connectivity can be a real solution to struggling SMEs.
In-depth reporting of speed, vehicle usage, idle times, and start up and shut down are vital information for SME owners to help make key decisions which will improve company performance, fuel-efficiency and driving habits.
For SMEs, a vehicle tracker can be specified for simple, daily usability and online system reliability, backed up with professional customer after sales technical advice and training by industry recognised UK telematics consultant suppliers like Cybit as a reassuring integral service.
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