Track more than just vehicles: benefits of asset tracking
Plant and vehicles are hugely important assets to every business and managing them effectively can reduce overheads, improve productivity and keep you ahead of the competition. Knowing where your vehicles are is essential, but it is also important to track other assets such as trailers, containers, plant and machinery.
If you’re running a transport business, it’s easy to understand why tracking vehicles is beneficial. However, there are also around 2.6 million trailers currently being used across Europe and a surprisingly large number of commercial fleets struggle to manage the location of assets such as these.
The ability to track your trailers can improve route planning, scheduling and provide better economy through fuel savings and vehicle maintenance. Fleet Managers can recall and deploy assets, keep them moving and earning revenue, rather than incurring idle costs.
However, haulage is not the only industry with assets that benefit from tracking. Farms and companies that own, use, or hire out plant and equipment have assets such as generators, excavators, loaders and compressors that require management.
Why monitor assets?
If you’re not already using a digital track system for your assets, you could be wondering why you should start? Here are 4 top reasons:
More information: the more accurate data you acquire, the more power you have to take effective action. Digital vehicle and asset tracking takes away any guess work, helping you plan effectively and take control of your fleet.
Reduced workload: Automation of asset tracking significantly reduces manual administration and planning, leaving you free to concentrate on core business tasks. It can also help with reporting to senior management and HMRC.
Cut costs and maintain value: Asset tracking solutions don’t just track location and mileage; they can also remind you when maintenance is due. Being able to schedule this in advance not only maintains productivity, but also extends the asset’s lifetime and maintains its value.
Maintain security: Having visibility of your assets helps protect them against theft or vandalism. A digital tracking system can alert you when an asset is moved and can even have the ability to continue transmitting when disconnected from power.
Solutions available
There are a number of different digital asset tracking systems on the market, and telematics companies are adding new functionalities to suit the demands of fleet managers. It is now possible to see the position of your assets in real-time alongside your vehicles, and if assets are not where you expect, they can be located quickly and easily.
These solutions help you to keep up to date and act proactively, setting up notifications to alert you when assets are moved to/from a specific area, or when they are coupled to a primary vehicle.
As well as maximising productivity there are obvious security benefits. Theft, loss and unauthorised use can cause delays, and added administration and stress in dealing with insurance claims. Transport operations who closely monitor assets can benefit from reduced premiums and better relationships with their insurance providers.
How can FLEETSense help?
We will help you to understand which asset tracking solution is right for your business, according to usage, cost and any telematics system that you are already running. As independent specialists we work closely with our carefully selected partners and long-standing Certified Partners of Webfleet Solutions. If you’d like to know how the latest Fleet Management technology could help take the strain, let’s talk about your business and how we can help.
