Companies that rely on vehicle fleets often feel that high fuel costs
are simply beyond their control. After all, the price of petrol is set,
so the only way to reduce fuel bills is to reduce how much a vehicle
travels.
This creates a different problem: by reducing travel
distances, companies lose customers outside their ever diminishing
service area. And even with the tightest driving policies in place to
improve routing and reduce personal use of vehicles, there is no way to
guarantee that drivers will comply.
However, the FleetMatics GPS
Tracking System changed all that for Silverdome Electric.
According
to Finian Kilty, General Manager at Silverdome, FleetMatics GPS has not
only helped control the company's fuel bill, it has actually helped
improve customer service.
Choosing
FleetMatics GPSFor over 20 years, Silverdome Electric
has provided exceptional electrical contracting services to its clients
in Dublin. But with 51 vehicles on the road to make installations and
service calls, high fuels costs threatened the company's profits.
Mr.
Kilty realised that his company needed to gain tighter control of fuel
costs without sacrificing the high level of customer service his clients
expected. To achieve those goals, Silverdome Electric decided to
install GPS tracking on its fleet.
After talking with several GPS
providers, Silverdome chose to install the FleetMatics GPS Tracking
System. Mr. Kilty appreciated FleetMatics' respect and understanding of
his business needs, as well as their system's powerful capabilities.
The
results overwhelmingly impressed Mr. Kilty soon after the system was
installed and the company has recently renewed their contract, remaining
fully committed to FleetMatics GPS.
Controlling Fuel Costs Made EasyAccording to Mr.
Kilty, his company utilises the Live Fleet feature to know exactly where
their drivers are located and how long it will take them to get to the
next job site. This eliminates any routing discrepancies and ensures
that drivers use the quickest route possible to a job.
Dispatchers
now have the ability to locate the vehicles nearest to any job site,
thus further cutting fuel usage. The automated reports also allow Mr.
Kilty to recognise any excessive fuel usage and take the necessary
corrective actions.
In addition, the idling reports show which
drivers waste fuel by running their vehicles as climate control during
hot or cold days. Silverdome Electric can effectively use the
information from this report to significantly reduce idling times.
"We
monitor fuel usage very closely," said Mr. Kilty. "Average fuel use
should be 220 liters to 230 liters per month. I can quickly see if the
guys go above that and do something about it."
Improved Customer Service for Better BusinessAlong
with reducing fuel costs, FleetMatics GPS tracking has also helped
Silverdome improve their customer service.
The company makes a
large number of emergency service calls to domestic and commercial
clients. With FleetMatics GPS, Silverdome can easily schedule service
based on routes and improve emergency dispatching by locating the
vehicle nearest to any job site.
Additionally, FleetMatics GPS
provides absolute verification that employees arrived at a job site.
"Sometimes
I would get a call from a driver saying that the client didn't answer
their call," said Mr. Kilty. "Now I can look on the Route Replay to
verify if they were actually there or not."
Furthermore,
FleetMatics GPS tracking serves to defend Silverdome if a client claims
that the driver never showed up or worked less than charged.
"We
know when our drivers are at any site and can verify how long they were
there," said Mr. Kilty. "We can prove that a driver was there for an
hour when a client claims they were there only a few minutes. It has
helped us settle quite a number of customer disputes."
By
improving customer service and validating services rendered, Silverdome
Electric has increased business while also reducing fuels costs with
better routing.
"We are now in full control of our vehicles,"
said Mr. Kilty. "We are very impressed with FleetMatics and our results
in using the system."