Tracking Tractors with VeriLocation
The Milton Keynes based agricultural and industrial haulage company, the Fullers
Group, wanted to gain control over the company’s remote fleet of high capital cost
equipment of JCB Fastrac tractors and trailers.
Fullers purchased the VeriLocation GPS tracking solution. Accessed via the internet,
it requires no additional software and provides both real time and historical data
of asset movements. Any journey undertaken on any day in the last three months is
logged and the user can see information such as ignition on/off, direction and moving
or stationary.
Following the installation of VL-Fleet, Matthew Fuller, Head of Operations at Fullers
Group commented: “The VeriLocation GPS solution has given us so much more than visibility of our
workforce and control over our high value capital equipment. Whilst our initial
order was for ten units, as our fleet expands we’re committed to putting VeriLocation
GPS units into each new vehicle, not only because it makes sound business sense,
but also it gives us peace of mind and that’s worth its weight in gold.”
Fullers handle liquid and solid waste for such diverse clients as Anglian Water
and Faccenda Chickens to farmers and the general public. Matthew Fuller explains:
“We needed to have far greater control of our tractors’
whereabouts. With tractors costing £60 -70k and trailers at £20-40k our insurance
company was very keen on us knowing exactly where our equipment was at any time
and we needed to have more real time information to improve the efficiency of our business.”
“We asked VeriLocation if they could help us out with a comprehensive tracking system
at a reasonable price. They suggested we ran a four week trial of their GPS system
on a JCB Fastrac tractor we had bought to service our work in the South. Their service
was fantastic; we made our initial request on a Thursday and by that Saturday afternoon
the unit was installed on the tractor and up and running.
”After just two weeks of the trial we were totally convinced of the benefits the
system was bringing to our business and, as a consequence, committed to a total
of 10 units for our expanding fleet of tractors and trailers,” enthused Matthew.
“It did exactly what VeriLocation claimed it would do and much more,” Matthew expanded.
“A lot of our jobs are emergency work; this comes out of the blue and has to be
sorted immediately. Previously, it meant lots of phoning around to find out which
tractor was nearest to the emergency and could respond. That cost us time and money,
and we had to rely on the drivers giving us accurate information, which wasn’t always
the case.
“Now we just log on to the VeriLocation web site using our username and password,
and we can tell in minutes exactly where all our vehicles are at that moment. Then
we call the nearest driver and instruct him to go to the emergency, knowing that
we have selected the closest vehicle. We can then inform the customer immediately,
giving a very accurate time we will arrive to sort out the problem.”
“If a customer phones up to say our driver was late or left the site early we can
check on the internet and find out the facts before responding. That means there’s
no place to hide; it is great for our customers as it keeps our workforce on their
toes despite the fact that they are working remotely,” said Matthew.
Because access to the VeriLocation system is via the internet, there is no software
involved at the user’s end. This means not only can it be operated by relative computer
novices, but also the system can be accessed anywhere internet access is available
- at home, on the move or in the office.
On the financial side there are clear benefits too. ”With GPS tracking installed,
if a vehicle is stolen we know exactly where it has been taken, or is travelling,”
explained Kear Fuller, Matthew’s father and owner of the business. He went on, “This
was music to the ears of our insurance company who immediately reduced our premium
by 20%, which was very welcome news given our annual premium is around £40k.”
Fullers was also impressed by the charging structure, “The way some GPS companies
charge for their systems makes it impossible to budget future costs because you
never know what the charges are going to be until after the event. With VeriLocation
it is very simple, there are no ongoing costs,” concluded Kear.
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