In our daily communication with clients we have encountered various myths about GPS tracking and fleet management solutions. Despite the fact that fleet management systems are on the rise and have already proven their operational benefits, there are still many misconceptions that distort the market. In this post we’ll go through 5 of the most popular mistruths and tackle them.
1. Fleet management systems are too expensive
No they’re not. Taking into account the fierce competition in practically all industries related to transportation – everyone is seeking for ways to increase productivity and reduce costs. You can’t control the fuel prices, but you can control fuel consumption (at least to some extent). Fleet management systems that include GPS tracking and fuel control devices can help a lot for this matter. The reality is that in the long term it is a lot more expensive not to have a fleet management system.
2. Small fleets don’t need management systems
The size doesn’t matter – everyone can benefit from implementing a fleet management system. Whether you have 5, 50, 500 or more vehicles the advantages stay the same: you can follow them on a map and calculate more effective routes, improve customer service, easily compile reports, receive warnings etc. It’s always good to know more and the size of your fleet doesn’t change that. Another misconception that goes along with this one is that fleet management systems are unnecessary as you can use your cell phones to stay updated about the location of drivers, job status etc. Well, first of all, in some cases it’s simply against the law, secondly – it’s as inefficient as it can get, with a fleet management solution you can view all your vehicles on a single map with a couple of clicks along with tens of other metrics than can help you to easily increase efficiency of company’s deliveries.
3. All fleet management services are the same
It’s true that there are a lot of options out there and many of them are similar, but they are not all the same. All of them might allow you to see where your vehicles are on a map (hopefully), but not all of them will grow with you, offer technical support after the product is purchased, or adjust their services to meet your needs. A reputable service provider will ensure you all these characteristics.
4. Fleet management systems invade privacy of employees
This is one of the most frequent concerns that many of our clients have. The thing is, fleet managers have to explain their drivers why such a system is implemented, and that the main goal is efficiency. Apart from that, fleet management systems also help to improve the safety of drivers as they no longer need to use a cell phone to inform managers of deliveries, stops etc. in addition to that their trucks are more protected from theft. Every fleet management system also serves as a verification of work performed.
5. Implementation and learning takes too much time
Even though the installation of the system takes some time it will be regained in a matter of weeks in form of quick reporting, a lot less phone calls and simple management as such. With regards to learning the system, it depends on the vendor and how complex their user interface is, however that also doesn’t consume a lot of time usually. Here at Mapon we always try to simplify our UI so that the system can be used by anyone without any problems. It is also important to check whether the vendor offers a mobile app, so that all the information is available when you’re not in the office. And generally speaking – all fleet management systems are meant to save you time, so you shouldn’t worry about this myth at all.
So here it is, we have went through the 5 most frequent myths about fleet management systems. Misconceptions shouldn’t affect the development of anything and it’s important to tackle them in order to boost positive changes. If you are interested in becoming a part of an industry that helps to improve the way transportation businesses operate – contact us to find out more about white label and partnership possibilities.