The vast majority of business owners and fleet managers think of the investment in GPS fleet tracking technology as an expense. If used as the technology is intended to be, this couldn’t be further from the truth. The mindset that it is an expense is the one thing that holds back more businesses than anything else and that is the biggest misconception (myth) out there.
If you were asked if you would install and utilize a GPS fleet tracking solution if it were 100 percent free, wouldn’t you say “yes?” What if you were told it would actually add money to your bottom line? No one in their right mind would say no to free money with no catch. What 99 percent of fleet managers and business executives don’t understand is that GPS fleet tracking is “free” and will improve your bottom line. The missing piece of the equation is the “proof” that, yes, your GPS fleet tracking system is “free!”
Every GPS tracking company will say that their platform will save fuel, labor, and maintenance costs, but what they are missing is “how” and “where” the money comes back to the bottom line. This is a deep subject, but for those enlightened with proof, it finalizes their decision. Make the GPS providers prove the ROI they are selling you on.
GPS tracking software is one of the best dollar-for-dollar ROI’s a business can receive. Depending on fleet size, thousands if not millions of dollars are returned to your bottom line. The ROI can come from many different parts of your fleet operations.
Over 100 percent return on your investment can be found from making small adjustments to the way your fleet operates such as reducing a few miles driven a day per truck, curbing idle time, and reducing a few labor hours a week per employee.
Imagine if you had an extra few thousand dollars or even as much as a million dollars a year. What could you do with that money? Surely, the answer is “a lot.”
Here is an example of the savings you can expect from a GPS tracking system:
On a fleet of 20 mid-sized vehicles averaging 10 MPG with an employee making $15.00 per hour, reducing each vehicle’s miles driven on a daily basis by just 2 miles (due to better routing/dispatch a GPS fleet tracking system will provide) looks roughly like this on the bottom line:
Maintenance
Vehicle wear and tear:
- 40 miles per day saved (20 trucks x 2 miles saved)
- 880 total miles saved per month (22 working days per month x 40 miles saved per day)
- $748 saved (880 miles x $0.85 vehicle cost/maintenance/etc. per mile driven)
Fuel
Reduced Mileage:
- $13 or 4 gal of fuel saved per day (20 trucks each saving .2 gal per day x $3.25 per gal)
- $286 saved per month in reduced mileage ($13 x 22 working days)
Reduced Idle Time:
- 15 minutes per truck per day (equivalent of three, 5 minute idle stops)
- 110 hours of reduced idling per month (15 mins x 20 trucks x 22 working days/60)
- 55 gal saved per month (.5 gal per hour fuel burned x 110 hours)
- $178 saved in reduced idle time per month (55 gal per month x $3.25 per gal)
Labor
- 5 Minutes of labor saved per day (25 minutes per week or 1.7 hours per month)
- $25.50 per employee/per month (1.7 hours x $15 per hour)
- $510.00 in reduced labor per month ($25.50 x 20 employees)
GPS Fleet Tracking: Total Savings
- Total Monthly Savings: $1,722.00
- GPS Tracking System Monthly Cost (subscription/rental): $800.00
- ROI in 1 month: 115 percent
In this example, we used conservative numbers to show you that small adjustments have a huge impact on your bottom line. We did not include quite a few other factors that drive even more ROI. These include:
Reduced accidents due to improved safety Improved customer billing accuracy Increased new/return business due to improved customer service Insurance discounts due to implementing GPS tracking vehicle theft recovery
Dismiss the myth that GPS fleet tracking technology is an expense.
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[This post originally appeared on the GPS Insight blog and is republished with permission.]