In addition, there are many companies that choose to lease their vehicles rather than purchase them. Generally most vehicle leasing agreements have an annual mileage limit that is specified when negotiating the contract, for example 12000 miles per year. Should a vehicle exceed their annual mileage allowance most lease companies will charge usually around 4-6 pence per additional mile. Vehicles that substantially exceed their agreed mileage limits can result in significant costs being incurred by the company.

Fleet Insight is a software solution developed by Pregem. The fleet management module within Fleet Insight allows companies to enter their vehicles service intervals and annual mileage limits. Using the latest GPS tracking technology, Fleet Insight monitors a vehicles mileage and is able to provide email alerts to both drivers and managers to ensure that their vehicles are serviced on time and do not exceed their mileage limits.

Although it is anti theft tracking systems that are mainly associated with vehicle security and insurance discounts, fleet tracking systems are also helping companies to increase their vehicles security. In fact many insurance companies are offering discounts, by as much as thirty percent, to companies that install a fleet tracking system.

The main difference between the two systems is that anti theft tracking systems are solely focused on vehicle security, which is ideal if that is all that is required. Fleet tracking systems provide businesses with an extensive range of other features that can help them to reduce their operating costs and increase the productivity of their vehicles and drivers.

As a fleet tracking system continually monitors a vehicle’s activity it can also be used to help locate a vehicle when it is stolen. Businesses are able to refer to the tracking system and inform the Police of its location so that it is able to be quickly recovered.

The growth in mobile phone tracking systems can be attributed to the improved mobile phone handset technology that has continued to develop. When GPS (Global Positioning System) enabled mobile phone handsets, mainly PDAs, were first introduced many suffered from a poor battery life. This meant that individuals using their mobile phone for satellite navigation or tracking purposes would lose service if they were unable to recharge their phone at regular intervals.

However, due to the continuing progress of battery technology many handsets do not experience these battery life issues when using an inbuilt GPS antenna.

Mobile phone tracking systems range from a solution to monitor the time keeping and movements of employees to those that are able to significantly increase the safety of lone workers. Mobile phone tracking is available for handsets that are GPS enabled and the system requires only that a small software application is downloaded remotely to the mobile phone.

Companies can believe that their fleet size is too small to be able to achieve worthwhile cost reductions by installing a tracking system. The truth is that companies of all sizes are able to achieve cost savings, regardless of their fleet size or the industry sector they fit in. Fleet tracking systems have substantially come down in price over recent years, this means that the savings and return on investment have increased significantly. In fact if a business is able to save at least 1 litre of fuel per vehicle, per day the tracking system will pay for itself.

Fleet tracking systems generate a range of reports that help businesses to reduce costs. For example timesheet reports, which detail the hours worked by a driver and clearly identify their daily start and finish times. Many businesses that pay their drivers overtime have noticed a marked reduction in their monthly overtime bill since installing a fleet tracking system.

Many of these objections can be common misunderstandings that the right vehicle tracking provider can easily overcome.

A common concern is that installing a tracking system will cause too much disruption to a fleet’s operations. At Pregem Mobile we understand that businesses need to prevent disruption and keep downtime to a minimum as not doing so can significantly cost a business. It is for this reason that we do our best to ensure that we are accommodating of a customer’s install requirements as we can be. We are able to offer installations outside of working hours, including weekends. In addition, we also provide full software training to staff to ensure they are familiar with the system and know how to use it from day one.

Businesses that do not have the available cash to spend on a tracking system may feel that they are not able to purchase a tracking solution. Pregem Mobile offers many flexible payments options that break the cost of tracking system into smaller monthly payments.

SpotOn provides a range of both real time and historic functionality including live mapping and a range of reports. The live mapping within the application plots the real time locations of vehicles on a map. Users are able to place their cursor over any vehicle to access more details including address/location, speed and direction of travel. In addition live mapping is also able to instantly calculate the distance of vehicles from any user specified point or address on the map. This is ideal for instances when choosing the best placed vehicle to fulfil a customer’s needs.

SpotOn provides a wide range of comprehensive reports that are fast and easy to access. These reports include Daily Activity, Daily Visit & Out of Hours Driving. Managers are able to use these reports to quickly review and compare the performance of their drivers and spot any opportunities where productivity and fuel efficiency can be improved. These reports can be saved onto a computer in a number of formats including PDF, Excel and RTF (Rich Text Format).

If a driver is working hard and performing in their job role then they shouldn’t have an objection to a tracking system being installed as it will only serve to acknowledge their high performance. However, it is common for many drivers to feel intimidated by the installation of a tracking system as they believe it will be used by their employees to create a ‘big brother’ environment and to ‘catch them out’.

The majority of employers install these systems to provide benefits to their business such as increased productivity and fleet operating cost reductions. Employers that explain the business benefits of tracking systems to their employees normally find that vehicle tracking is met with less resistance. Vehicle tracking systems help businesses to ensure that all of their drivers are performing to their best levels.

The intention of taking action against non-genuine claims is all very well said but not so easily done. Businesses that are making every effort to reduce their expenses bill do not always achieve what they are aiming for. Businesses whose employees submit mileage/fuel expenses claims are particularly vulnerable as mileage claims inaccuracies be very difficult to detect and even harder to prove.

Pregem Mobile have a range of solutions that can help businesses to significantly reduce their monthly expenses bills, in some instances up to 12%. These include GPS vehicle tracking and GPS expenses management solutions. Vehicle tracking systems continually monitor the movements of vehicles and they are able to provide a range of reports that include journeys made and distance travelled. These reports can be used to cross reference an employee’s claim to ensure that no mistakes have been made.

Pregem’s Fleet Insight expenses solution not only accurately records each journey travelled by a vehicle but also acts as a platform for drivers to submit their claims, eliminating inaccuracies and employee abuse.

Many companies find that the biggest savings are achieved through improving the fuel efficiency of their fleet. Due to the increasing price of fuel more and more companies are seeking solutions that will help them reduce their monthly fuel bill. Vehicle tracking allows managers to monitor the movements of their vehicles and how they are being driven by employees. Any instances of harsh acceleration and braking will be detected and reported by the tracking system; this not only improves fuel consumption but reduces wear and tear on the vehicle. In addition, a tracking system also monitors the speed of travel and the time that a vehicle is parked with the engine running. Reducing speeding and engine idling can provide substantial saving for companies and businesses need only save 1 litre of fuel per vehicle, per day for the tracking system to pay for itself.

Using a vehicle tracking system to ensure that employees are only using the most efficient routes to reach their destinations will also ensure that fuel bills are kept to a minimum.

Recent amendments to legislation such as the Health & Safety and Corporate Manslaughter Act means that directors, managers and employees can be found personally accountable for failing to meet their health & safety obligations. This is why it is more important than ever before for companies to review their health and safety policy and ensure they are meeting their duty of care responsibilities.

Statistically, driving is the highest cause of occupational deaths in the UK, accounting for an estimated twenty fatalities a week and is responsible for a third of all road traffic accidents. GPS vehicle tracking systems allow fleet managers to closely monitor the movements of their drivers and ensure that employees are driving responsibly and meeting their health & safety obligations. A tracking system is able to immediately alert a fleet manager to an activity that is at risk of putting the safety of an employee and other road users in jeopardy, such as speeding and constant hard braking. In addition, a tracking system can provide an alert if an HGV driver has exceeded their authorised driving hours.