GPS fleet tracking devices are now being used by Washington County to make huge improvements in county operations, monitor employee behavior, productivity and reduce unauthorized vehicle use. Washington County, located in the state of Tennessee, contains over 800 miles of rural highways. So tracking and managing its fleet over 24 pickup trucks 24/7 has been quite a challenge.
Why did Washington County install GPS tracking devices?
Because Washington County is so large and spread out, the County’s highway superintendent, John Deakins Jr., was struggling to manage all of the County’s mobile employees. He had received reports that employees were sometimes taking long lunches and using county vehicles after hours, which was not authorized usage of the County’s fleet vehicles. Before installing GPS tracking devices into the county’s vehicles, pinpointing the truck’s exact locations was nearly impossible. There were times when he needed to locate and dispatch the nearest vehicle and driver to a time-sensitive job. Also Deakins Jr. was concerned about speeding, optimizing routes and reducing fuel consumption due to budget constraints.
Deakins Jr. chose the best solution to solve these fleet management problems. He installed GPS fleet tracking devices into all of his vehicles. The results of installing the GPS system have been impressive. According to Deakins Jr., “We saw a lot of abuse and reports of county vehicle misuse. I went online one day and researched GPS tracking devices. When you have that much territory, it helps to have these devices.”
GPS fleet tracking devices produce a lot of data.
In 2008, Washington County purchased 24 web-based GPS fleet tracking devices, essentially equipping all of the County’s fleet pickup trucks with GPS tracking. According to Deakins Jr. the GPS tracking devices were easy to to install and recorded the vehicle’s exact location, idle time, speed, ignition start and stop, in addition to many other pieces of data. Now Deakins Jr. is able to monitor fleet vehicle activity, both in real-time and historical, via the web. He can then generate reports based on his chosen metrics. Data is updated consistently, every five minutes. These fleet reports have helped to constantly monitor fleet activity without needing to dedicate a full-time resource to the job. Deakins Jr. said ” We generate fleet tracking reports because we don’t have someone sitting in front of the computer screen watching all the time. Instead, I can get on my laptop wherever I am and see where my driver folks are.”
This article will be continued in GPS System Cuts Washington County Vehicle Misusage and Improves Productivity – Part Two….
Source: Government Fleet Magazine http://www.government-fleet.com/