GPS tracking can boost the bottom line of your pest control service company. The key to using GPS pest control tracking to increase profitability is integrating GPS into all of your dispatch, maintenance, and accounting systems through GPS telematics.
GPS isn’t all about a red dot on a map anymore
We are all familiar with GPS location tracking. Your GPS unit tracks the location of your fleet vehicle to within 3 meters—that’s about 10 feet. There are GPS tracking units that can update the location of your vehicle on a 5 to 10 Hz frequency, 5 to 10 times a second.
GPS tracking can also tell you where your fleet vehicle has been, and report whether it stays within its geofence, the boundaries on a map you select for it.
We are all familiar with GPS navigation, too. Select a destination, and GPS plots the fastest route, giving the driver step by step directions along the way.
But not everyone is familiar with GPS telematics. This GPS technology integrates the control system of your fleet vehicles with GPS reporting, and GPS reporting with your scheduling, dispatch, billing, maintenance, and repair reminder software.
The Benefits of the Latest GPS Technology
The kinds of things pest control services can do with GPS telematics include:
Reducing drivetime. Telematic systems from GPS Technologies give your drivers the fastest route for their service calls, but they also give your dispatcher the ability to redirect vehicles in real time. This way, you can send the nearest technician to a call, freeing up time for everybody else. Telematic systems from GPS Technologies also record departures from planned routes and unauthorized personal use of your company vehicles.
Improving operator safety. Telematic systems from GPS technologies can inform your main office when your drivers break the speed limit. They can keep track of hard braking and sudden accelerations. They record the amount of time the engine is idling and where fleet vehicles are parked between calls. It is even possible to get a record of the amount of time your drivers spend on their phones while they are driving.
Increasing fuel efficiency. Telematic systems don’t just decrease fuel efficiency by making sure that your drivers stay within the speed limit, they don’t leave the engine idling when they don’t need to, and no one makes a habit of stomping the pedal to the metal for fast acceleration. Telematics can be wired into each vehicle’s engine diagnostics to give you a real-time record of fuel efficiency. Telematic systems can monitor tire pressure. They can alert you to the services you need before vehicles break down.
Increasing customer satisfaction. It costs a lot more to acquire a new customer than it does to keep an existing customer happy. The ability to keep your technicians on schedule along with the information they need on those (we hope) rare occasions they can’t make a service call on time helps you keep your customers happier.
How Much of a Difference Can GPS Telematics Make for Your Pest Control Company?
The best use of GPS technologies is to reward employees for doing the right thing. Our experience in the industry has been that introducing the full capabilities of GPS to manage a pest control fleet result in:
- Reduction of drive time of about 14 percent. This doesn’t mean that operators have to move faster. GPS helps everyone work more efficiently and keeps operators in control of their transportation schedules.
- Improvement of fuel economy by about 18 percent. A small part of this improvement is due to reining in bad driver behavior. Most of it comes from sending drivers on faster routes and reducing time idling and at stop lights.
- Reduction of windshield time by about 25 percent. Better communication between operators, dispatchers, and customers means technicians spend less time in their vans and more time on their service calls.
- Engine idling time is reduced by 70 percent. Usually. It just takes identifying problem situations.
- Hard braking is reduced by 81 percent. Every episode of harsh braking gets reported to dispatch. Some of them, of course, are unavoidable. But dispatch can always follow up.
The net benefits of GPS Technologies telematic services more than pay for the installation and operation of the system. Keeping just one vehicle from “falling off the radar” more than returns your investment in GPS. Preventing one injury or one crash with timely maintenance and timely intervention when operators are in trouble is of tremendous financial value. It also shows your employees and your customers that you care.
GPS Technologies Provides Complete Setup and Service
GPS Technologies can provide your pest control business with a turnkey GPS tracking system. We take care of the installation of the GPS units, as well as dash cam units for lowering your insurance costs, and we provide the software that gives your dispatchers and managers instant access to meaningful information about every vehicle in your fleet.
Then we stay on the job with you to make sure you can get the most from your investment in GPS tracking technologies, updating and expanding its capacities as needed and providing service and maintenance for your telematic tracking units.
At GPS Technologies, we are here to help you find the GPS tracking solution that best meets your needs. Contact us online or call us for a free quote at (847) 382-5107 8am-5pm, Mon-Fri CST.