A GPS fleet tracking system can improve your fuel efficiency, vehicle maintenance, and work flow. But the information provided by such a system can also be used to protect human life, enhance the safety of your personnel, and defend the integrity of your business. Here’s how a GPS fleet tracking program can make a significant contribution to occupational safety and health and driver protection.
kupicoo / E+ / Getty Images
Detecting Risky Driving Behaviors
When you first implement a fleet tracking system, your drivers may resist it because it feels intrusive and punitive. While there are many benefits for both drivers and employers in a fleet tracking system, it is also true that such a system will help you detect and respond to risky driving behaviors. Some systems can even provide this information in real-time, giving you the chance to respond immediately when drivers take dangerous risks.
Your response does not have to be disciplinary, except perhaps in the worst cases. In most cases, additional training should help you deal with identified behaviors like:
- Excessive speed
- Aggressive acceleration and hard braking
- Harsh cornering
In training, rather than focusing exclusively on an accusatory message about safety and creating an adversarial relationship with your drivers, you can emphasize the ways in which a highly skilled driver becomes an asset to your company. Skillful drivers increase fuel efficiency, reduce the cost to the company of excessive wear and tear on equipment, contribute to lower insurance premiums, and enhance their own safety and the safety of their community.
Automatic Crash Reporting and Location Service
Many personal vehicles are equipped with automated crash reporting and location services as a safety feature. Your GPS fleet tracking system provides the same safety advantages to your drivers. An accident that is quickly reported to emergency responders means that if there are injuries, help is quickly on the way. If the crash causes only property damage, a rapid response will also help to minimize downtime and quickly get your driver back on the road.
The service can also identify and improve response times in the event of driver medical emergencies. For example, an elevator servicing company in Ontario, Canada, could not get in touch with one of its mechanics. According to the GPS fleet tracker, his truck was not moving. Because he was not responding, the employer sent emergency personnel to his location. The mechanic had suffered a heart attack; the GPS locator saved his life.
Additional Protections for Drivers and Employers
Fleet tracking systems offer additional protections to your drivers that are only loosely related to their physical safety—but that are closely related to your liability and their job security. For example, if your driver is involved in a crash, and the other party claims your driver was at fault because he was speeding or failed to brake, your GPS fleet tracker can disprove a false allegation. Or if a client complains that your employee never showed up, you may be able to show that the driver did, in fact, arrive at the promised time—and was present at the address for 20 minutes before leaving, supporting the driver’s assertion that no one was there to take delivery or provide access when he arrived.
When combined with the fuel-efficiency and work-planning advantages of GPS fleet tracking systems, the safety and liability protections should ensure a worthwhile return on your investment.