A landscaper can’t do much without their tools. If they’re stolen or lost, there could be many days—or even weeks or months—worth of pay at stake, not to mention the hassle of replacing things.
You may already be using telematics for your vehicles, but there are also great ways to track other assets, like expensive equipment, tools, and trailers. Asset-tracking telematics has a multitude of advantages, including improved efficiency and protection from theft—all of which can protect your bottom line.
Here’s how telematics is transforming the landscaping industry.
1. Team Tracking
Landscaping clients range from organizations to individuals waiting at home for their appointment. You’ll want to keep both groups happy with reliable, timely service. However, it’s especially important for the latter group, who may well be planning their day around you.
If the landscaper doesn’t show up for whatever reason—or even if they do, but they’re missing tools—that’s potentially someone’s entire day thrown off. An unhappy customer could mean losing that individual’s business, or worse—negative word of mouth, meaning you lose not just them, but future business.
Telematics can help fleet managers track their drivers, improving communication across the fleet. If a driver is stuck in traffic, the manager can see it in real-time and the customer can be notified in advance. The more communication, the better: few things are more frustrating than not knowing where someone is when you’re expecting them.
2. Asset Tracking
GPS tracking can help you track and manage every single asset—not only for inventory control, but also to prevent theft, misuse, and damage. In a worst-case scenario when a vehicle or asset is stolen, GPS tracking software makes recovery far more likely—not to mention faster.
You can also use the data to analyze what happened, assess why the event occurred, and take preventative measures to stop repeat incidents. For example, if you notice things are regularly stolen in a certain location, you can alert drivers and change routes.
GPS tracking software can also be used as a thief deterrent in itself:
“The more layers of protection on your vehicle, the more difficult it is to steal,” advises the US-based National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB). Locking the door, installing telematics, and letting potential thieves know there’s GPS tracking software on assets all provide additional layers.
3. Vehicle Maintenance
Broken vehicles mean delays to your landscapers getting to where they need to go. Preventative maintenance schedules can help you maintain equipment and minimize costs associated with reactive repairs. Catching issues before they turn into faults means equipment is less likely to break down while a landscaper is on the job.
4. Driver Motivation
Landscaping is a customer-facing job: keeping drivers happy is a way to keep them motivated, which, in turn, translates into better interaction with customers. It’s not an easy job, and as a manager, if you can spot and address driver pain points early, you’ll have a happier team—and your customers will notice. Employees want managers who care about their wellbeing. Here are some tips on keeping fleets smiling:
- Use Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs) to ensure drivers don’t exceed their Hours of Service (HOS) and drive too long. Extended hours on the road create fatigue, which is also dangerous.
- Use telematics to plan routes before drivers set off, minimizing their chances of getting lost or caught up in bad traffic or weather conditions.
- Telematics tracks things like gas usage and miles traveled. There’s no need for drivers to worry about small, yet time-consuming, admin tasks like keeping receipts.
- The data collected by fleet management software, as well as from GPS tracking and dashcams, can be used for training. It can also be used as a way to identify and reward good driving behaviour—one of several non-finance-related things proven to boost employee motivation.
5. Impressive Efficiencies
Telematics already helps many trades and services companies fine-tune their bottom line and eliminate inefficiencies—from poor equipment maintenance to vehicle and asset idling. It can provide you with an overview of key metrics relating to your drivers, vehicles, and the fleet as a whole over the course of days, weeks, months—and even years.
Over time, you can begin to compile a big-picture view of fuel consumption, inspection results, asset use, and more. You can then use this data to make key decisions that will help you run your fleet more effectively—and improve asset utilization. Also, if you see certain assets being underutilized, you can downsize and resell those at an auction.
Telematics brings a whole host of money and time-saving benefits to landscapers. However, it’s important to do your research and choose fleet management software that allows you to implement all the procedures you need—from full asset tracking to reports that allow you to review trends across the board. Fleet Complete offers all this and more.
If you want to find out more about how fleet management software can keep your vehicles, drivers, and assets safe, reach out to our team at Fleet Complete. We can discuss your goals to determine how our telematics solution can help protect your business.
