Landscape Insight September 2018 | Page 17

QUARTIX ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE non-agreed time, we will see that on the system,” says Julie Renshaw of John O’Conner Grounds Main- tenance, who uses the Quartix system to ensure all vehicle usage is efficient and legitimate. Helping a driver to improve their driving style can lower fuel costs signifi- cantly. Maintaining a good driving score has been shown to reduce fuel consumption by up to 25% (Frost and Sullivan 2015). REAL TIME STATUS : ALL VEHICLES PARKED ON SITE 15 VEHICLES (22%) STATIONARY (IGN ON) 4 VEHICLES (6%) What other fleet insights can help reduce costly overheads? Real-time vehicle utilisation reports, often extending to ride-on equipment, ensure fewer vehicles are out of action and reduce unnecessary costs. Keeping all your fleet on the road will help to increase your capacity to service and charge customers. Some tracking systems also allow you to set up vehicle MOT, service and maintenance reminders. A good tracking system will help you plan, react and validate. One of the reasons that Worces- tershire-based Whiting Landscape opted for Quartix vehicle tracking was to monitor staff remotely. With the majority of work com- pleted off-site, the company could be unknowingly losing a lot of money if staff were leaving early or arriving late. Another feature to look out for is the ability to identify your near- est vehicle to a postcode, so that you can best deal with requests in real-time. In one instance a John O’Conner driver had unintention- ally parked a company van in an unsafe place. With this feature of the system, staff were able to quickly identify the driver and contact him about the issue. How will a GPS tracking system support and help my drivers? Landscape contracting is com- petitive, and it’s critical to keep operational costs low and ensure quotes are competitive to help the MOVING 22 VEHICLES (33%) business grow. Share these motiva- tions with your workforce and encourage them to embrace GPS tr acking by introducing incentives for exemplary driving behaviour, e.g. most improved driving style or most jobs completed on time. John O’Conner runs a staff incentive scheme, whereby the two best scoring drivers receive cash prizes each month, provided all drivers meet a certain standard. With the safeguarding of a track- ing system, your drivers are also well covered when it comes to false claims about their driving or punctuality. “Quartix vehicle tracking actually works in our drivers’ defence, it’s their personal protection in case of unfair claims”, Matt O’Conner explains. Drivers can be given access to their own tracking data and driv- ing scores via the Quartix mobile app. This provides immediate feedback on their daily trips and PARKED OFF SITE 26 VEHICLES (39%) “Landscape contracting is competitive, and it’s critical to keep operational costs low and ensure quotes are competitive to help the business grow.” lets them take control of their own progress. How can I justify the investment in GPS track- ing? With Quartix, short-term and roll- ing contracts offer you optimum flexibility - should your number of vehicles change, you aren’t tied in for several years. If you have a fleet of 40 plus vehicles, special rates and longer-term contracts are optional. To put the potential savings into perspective, ask your- self this: “If a GPS system helped me take on one extra job per week, and if overtime payments could be reduced by a couple of hours per week, what would the return be per employee?” It’s not hard to see how a small monthly payment can lead to a large return per driver. If you then focused on their driving style and eliminated private usage to reduce fuel consumption by 70 litres per month. We’ll leave you to do the maths. INFO: www.quartix.net or [email protected] or 01686 806 663. September 2018 | Landscape Insight 17