When people ask about my business, I tell them, “My company offers GPS vehicle tracking systems.” Your answer lets me know if you are employees or business owners.
The first words that come out of an employee’s mouth are: “It sounds like ‘Big Brother’ to me.” Oh no, no ‘Big Brother!’ Visions of mind-controlled drones slaving away quickly come to mind.
‘Eldest brother?’ What’s wrong with a company controlling your vehicles? Or make sure your employees are doing what they get paid for? Anyway, who owns these vehicles? Does the owner have the right to know how they are used?
Now don’t get me wrong. I believe that employees should be trusted and treated like adults. But, if you’ve ever driven a rental vehicle differently than the car you own, then you understand how an employee can mistreat a company vehicle.
Take the speeding clerk, for example. Employees who drive too fast waste their gas, wear out their vehicle prematurely, and sooner or later increase their insurance rates.
A GPS vehicle tracking system can alert you when someone exceeds your preset speed limit. It’s your vehicle, your fuel, and your insurance premium; a monitoring system helps you regain control of them.
Who uses their vehicles after hours and on weekends? Is an employee using his vehicle in the moonlight? Is he using your gas to move his brother-in-law to a new apartment? You will know if you install a GPS vehicle tracking device in your vehicles.
How do you verify overtime claims? Maybe you can verify that the work was done, but when? With a GPS tracking system, you can verify the location of a vehicle with the time of day it was there.
Have you ever been tempted to extend your lunch break? Do you think your employees might be tempted, especially if they are out of the boss’s sight? A GPS tracking system records how long each vehicle stays in one place; Use it to keep them honest.
Another benefit of GPS vehicle tracking systems: You will never make another phone call to find out where your employees are; you can only look at the map displayed on your computer screen. Plus, your GPS tracking system will remind you when it’s time to rotate tires, change oil, or perform other scheduled maintenance. And many insurance companies offer discounts of up to 30% for vehicles protected with GPS tracking systems.
The employee also benefits when his company vehicle is equipped with a GPS vehicle tracking system.
- Handwritten driver records are replaced with data from the tracking system.
- With the information from the GPS tracking system, the productivity of each employee can be quantified and compared; An employee’s performance can be measured more objectively.
- Your dispatcher can look at a computer screen and locate all of your vehicles immediately.
Customers also benefit from GPS vehicle tracking systems. Businesses can provide accurate arrival or delivery estimates, because the estimate is based on the actual location of the vehicle equipped with the tracking device at the time they call. If a customer asks when your employee arrived or left, prove it using data from your tracking system.
Do you still think that GPS tracking systems are ‘Big Brother’ tools? I guess it depends on your point of view.
The concept of ‘Big Brother’ never occurs to business owners. The business owner will say, “How will tracking my vehicles help my business make more money?” They want to know what GPS vehicle tracking can do for them.
Are GPS Vehicle Tracking Systems ‘Big Brother’? – You tell me.
