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Tracking device puts fleet operators in driver’s seat
By Dennis Quick
Senior Staff Writer
Small business owners operating fleets of trucks or vans sometimes worry about their drivers loafing on the job.
Drivers taking unnecessarily long routes that waste time and drive up fuel costs are another concern. Or sometimes business owners just want to know where their drivers are during the course of the day.
With new wireless technology, Lowcountry fleet operators can now brush their concerns aside. Meanwhile, goldbricking drivers better beware: Big Brother is indeed watching.
Fuel Express, a Mount Pleasant company that helps businesses manage their vehicle fuel costs by issuing them credit cards that work only at the gasoline pump, now has a Web-based tracking system that pinpoints the location of each truck in a fleet and tracks each truck’s driving time, idling time, fuel consumption and much more.
“It’s about employee behavior modification,” explained Tom Wilkinson, Fuel Express’ special projects director.
Called Networkfleet, the high-tech tracking system is installed in each truck and communicates with a satellite. Wilkinson claims it is the only such vehicular tracking device in the Charleston area.
The system, which detects when the ignition is turned on or off, provides detailed information about a vehicle’s trip. From a computer monitor back at the office, a business owner can locate each vehicle, see how much time the vehicle spends on the road, how much time it spends at each stop, see where it stops, how long the vehicle idles, the distance between each stop, the total driving distance of the trip and the total duration of each trip.
Additionally, the system measures the alternator output, the amount of heat the engine generates and the vehicle’s mileage and fuel consumption.
It also checks the vehicle’s speed so that business owners can tell lead-footed drivers to slow down, Wilkinson said, adding that this helps increase driver safety.
The system allows employers to program a virtual geographic “fence” around places off limits to drivers. Whenever a driver goes to a “geo-fenced” area, that transgression appears on the computer.
The system practically eliminates the need for drivers to punch clocks and file mileage reports, Wilkinson said.
Also, the system lets the user know which vehicle is closest for making a particular call.
Networkfleet helps customers increase their efficiency, which in turn increases productivity, Wilkinson pointed out, adding the system helps reduce wasted time on the road and wasted fuel.
Fuel Express began selling the product in November to its 500 customers—landscaping services, delivery makers, pest control companies, trucking outfits and others—who have a combined total of more than 6,000 vehicles, Wilkinson said.
Although Wilkinson refrained from discussing the system’s cost, he did say Networkfleet could help customers save 20% in fuel savings each week.
Fuel Express has only recently begun its marketing campaign for Networkfleet, targeting its fuel-card customers and non-customers with fleets of vehicles.
Although the product is more profitable when sold to companies with multiple vehicles, Wilkinson said he “would be happy to sell it to parents” to help them track their teenage drivers.
Right now, however, businesses are the prime prospects.
Dennis Quick is senior staff writer at the Business Journal. E-mail him at dquick@charlestonbusiness.com.
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