A lot of successful businesses have their vehicle fleet. And its purpose may vary from servicing corporate events to the transportation of goods (the last point is especially typical for retailers).
But whatever the purpose, any company won't mind increasing the profitability of its fleet by making it as efficient as possible. The best way to achieve this without extra costs is to use fleet management software. Thanks to it, the entire system of vehicles you own would become more flexible, manageable, working at full power.
There is something to think about, right? A reliable GPS tracking system for vehicles would be of great help by enabling you to work many times more productive. And this is exactly what your business needs (and not only yours!).
So, if we made you interested in how to create a fleet management app, then keep reading. We’re going to explain to you what you should consider first.
What is a GPS vehicle tracking system?
Let's primarily answer the question: why did such commercial truck GPS apps appear on the market at all? The reason is the problems faced by fleet owners, including:
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lack of systematization. Paper logbooks, as well as unsystematic computer files, are a thing of the past: now it's time to store all the information in one place. And it is important that the data is available everywhere and at any time to everyone who has the appropriate access.
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high maintenance costs. Managing a corporate fleet is quite expensive, and far-sighted businessmen have long been trying to find the best way to reduce the cost of its maintenance.
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the inability of the proper control. Any owner of the fleet would like to be able to answer the following questions:
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Where is each vehicle located at a particular point in time?
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Does the driver follow the intended route?
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How much fuel has actually been spent on work?
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You'll be glad to hear that all of the above problems are a thing of the past. Fleet tracking technologies provide businesses with an excellent tool for managing logistics processes and increasing their efficiency.
Benefits a vehicle tracking app provides you with
Building fleet management software is an expensive undertaking. Is it really worth it? We think so. Moreover, we're happy to reason our case.
Okay, why should you develop an app for a trucking company?
#1. Permanent remote fleet control
The car tracking system means continuous access to information about your vehicles and the opportunity to get all the information you need about their location and condition at any moment. The advantage of such awareness is obvious: you can be constantly on the alert and respond to possible changes in a timely manner.
#2. Fuel consumption control
You must admit that an unreasonable increase in fuel costs adversely affects the overall performance of the company and reduces its profitability. Moreover, it's often not only the extra cost of gasoline, but also the tricks of drivers trying to hide the misuse of fuel.
The fuel consumption sensors coupled to the vehicle GPS tracking application and constantly exchanging information with it help solve the problem. This allows you to always be in the know and control the situation.
#3. Analysis of the fleet effectiveness
In order to increase the efficiency of the fleet and reduce the cost of transportation, the entire logistics scheme should be substantially changed. GPS fleet management software collecting data about each vehicle and optimizing the load distribution between all of them will help you to achieve the desired goal.
#4. Driving style control
Another expenditure item required to maintain the fleet is the need to repair vehicles from time to time. All these costs are inevitable, but, with proper driving, they won't exceed 3% of annual profit. And if the driver is a bit aggressive, then repair costs might reach even 6%.
To evaluate the driving style of each of your employees, you have to take advantage of a telemetry-based GPS vehicle tracking system. After analyzing the data obtained, you'll be able to draw the appropriate conclusions and make a strategic decision: which driver is a good choice, and which, alas, should be dismissed.
#5. Transshipment control
In recent years, carriers began to receive considerable fines for exceeding the permissible load on the vehicle. To avoid this, companies send part-load vehicles on the road, which means getting less revenue.
Therefore, it is best to stick to the middle ground with the help of truck GPS route software: in other words, you can optimize the loading of vehicles and predict possible fines.
#6. Regular reporting
Another reason to build a fleet management app for a trucking company is the opportunity to obtain regular, impersonal, objective reporting based on data provided by the application. Moreover, reports will be received constantly, at the appointed time, and contain all the information you need (which exactly, depends on your personal settings).
#7. Innovation
And last but not least: integration with the modern fleet tracking technologies will lead to your gaining a reputation as a visionary, innovative company keeping up to date.
Examples of vehicle tracking solutions
We suggest you take a closer look at some examples of the best fleet management software in the current market: to be precise, we're talking about complex digital systems consisting of GPS tracking devices for cars and apps coordinated with them.
GeoTab
GeoTab is a demanded GPS tracking system known for offering flexible customizable solutions helping to manage your fleet more productively. These solutions are not only convenient to use, but also allow businesses to save time and money. Among the company's indicators confirming its effectiveness, we can distinguish more than 2 million telematics gadgets in active use and at least 40 billion data points gathered on a day-to-day basis.
This GPS fleet management platform works with such areas and markets as construction, medical care, delivery, first aid, and much, much more.
Onfleet
Onfleet promises users an improved customer experience through an effective fleet tracking app, a solution of the prime grade. The motto is simple: “we (that is, Onfleet) work, and you (the platform users) focus on more important tasks”.
Among the company's clients are such famous brands as The United Family, Imperfect Foods, Hungry Harvest, Leon & George, and others. And all of them speak very highly about Onfleet.
RTA Fleet Management
And finally, we cannot fail to mention an RTA app: another sought-after vehicle GPS tracking service. As company representatives claim, it has been projected by skilled and experienced specialists who know all the complexities related to managing one's fleet.
RTA cooperates with businesses in various fields of activity, including delivery of goods, school transportation, agriculture, management of government fleets, etc.
Main features of a vehicle tracking app
In order to justify the cost for developing fleet management software, you have to make sure you're creating an application that really meets your tasks. And you should start by listing key features of a vehicle tracking app.
How about these ones?
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GPS vehicle tracking in real-time. Of course, such systems are primarily focused on helping to track vehicles. The bottom line is to constantly determine the location and movement of the car (each one)
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And keep in mind that the location data of moving objects should be updated no less than every 10 seconds (naturally, it’s better to update the driver tracking information even more often!).
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Expenses control. It’s about the fuel consumption control other similar expenses; all these money costs are needed to support the proper functioning of vehicles.
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Rides' history. Among the features of fleet tracking systems, you definitely need to provide the opportunity to see the rides' history of any selected vehicle: the number of refueling and transfers made on a particular day (picked date).
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Managing a list of vehicles and drivers. It means you can add new drivers, assign cars to them, rename vehicles, and edit other parameters.
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Shipment plan. You can draw up, edit, and view the shipping plan for any selected day. Such a feature will greatly simplify fleet management.
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Repair expenditure records. Some companies have their own mechanics department, and in such a case, it'd be convenient if its work is also taken into account during fleet management software development. That is, the process of repairing vehicles and purchasing spare parts should be recorded by the program on a regular basis.
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Optimizing the routes. You can make better routes based on data on which of them turned out to be more profitable (say, which routes are shorter or more convenient: therefore, they require less fuel or cause less harm to the vehicle).
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Ride and vehicle report. As we've mentioned when describing the benefits of GPS solutions for tracking, such a program will allow you to receive a daily report on each vehicle and the fleet as a whole.
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Driver safety reporting. This is a very useful feature, needed to ensure driver safety. There are a few perfect examples:
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If a driver moves off an approved route, the system would send an emergency alert - just in case.
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Drivers may be warned if their driving style becomes unreliable.
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Advanced systems are even able to prevent some collisions.
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Driver training. The above feature (driver safety) logically leads to this one. You're invited not only to test the competence of drivers but also to train them, to instill in their safe driving skills. It can be done with the help of useful tips, which the vehicle tracking app would provide them with, and rewards (bonuses) for following the rules.
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Online chat. Definitely, an instant messaging feature would come in handy too.
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Help & Support. Our list of features of fleet tracking software ends with the Help & Support item. It can be found in many applications, and our case is no exception.
APIs to simplify fleet management software development
Now let's talk about building fleet management software. If you don't want to do everything from scratch and prefer to simplify the whole process (and reduce the GPS tracker cost), resort to the help of APIs. We'll give you some suitable examples.
Fleetio
The simplest solution is Fleetio, which has a lot of advantages (among others, it’s easy to implement in your project). Moreover, the company assures that all the fleet tracking services and applications it creates are based on its own API, which proves its effectiveness.
Fleetio API Use Areas:
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Alerts about possible malfunctions;
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Processing fuel status data;
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Integration with accounting services;
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Working with odometer readings.
SynX API
Another good solution to the problem is provided by Transpoco, which has developed its SynX API. You’re welcome to use it to increase your vehicle fleet efficiency.
SynX API Integration Methods:
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CRM system. Any self-respecting company has its own CRM system (of course, if the business is interested in effective customer relationship management). And it would be very convenient if the fleet is synchronized with such a CRM: in other words, everything happening with vehicles should be recorded in the system in question.
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Operator-oriented fleet management software. We're talking about operators who work with transport systems. Their duties suggest that they can determine the location of any vehicle at any given time. SynX API simplifies the task at times.
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Integration with applications and sites. Of course, the SynX solution can be embedded in your own website or application so that you manage your fleet in the most convenient way.
