A Green Future With Vehicle Tracking Technology

Author: Navman Wireless

The benefits of vehicle tracking systems for businesses with a fleet of vehicles to co-ordinate are no secret these days. Real-time information on the exact position and driving speed of the whole fleet opens up a wealth of data on journey times, driving speeds and fuel consumption that all add up to a leaner, safer operation.
But while vehicle tracking technology can have a resoundingly positive effect on the bottom line, another less obvious advantage is that it can also play a major role in cutting carbon emissions and decreasing an organisation's environmental impact.

According to the Location and Timing Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN), a body set up by the government to share expertise on location and timing technologies - another term for satellite navigation and tracking - the technology also has huge potential to improve the environmental record of the aviation and rail industries.

A trial at Stockholm Airport in Sweden, which allowed aircraft to approach the runway for landing more efficiently, has found that the average A330 plane can save about 150kg of fuel, saving 470kg of CO2 emissions, on each landing. While in the rail industry, some companies are saving millions a years by using a sat-nav device that switches off the trains' diesel engines when they are going downhill and back on again in time at the bottom of the hill.

Even better news for companies running a fleet of vehicles on the roads though is that tracking technology can produce no less spectacular savings on fuel - typically around 15 per cent - as well as important knock-on reductions in carbon emissions.

According to Bob Cockshott, director of the Location & Timing KTN, the fuel-saving benefits from using location technology in logistics come partly from better use of assets and better routing, and partly from using GPS tracking. That's combined with data from the vehicle, which employers can then use to train drivers on their vehicle handling skills, avoiding things like harsh braking and over-revving. This can improve an HGV's fuel consumption from 7.5 to 8.5 mpg.

A business will save enough on fuel alone to pay for vehicle tracking technology and you can do this by cutting just four miles a day in avoidable mileage for a transit van, or one mile a day for an articulated lorry.

These days, the best vehicle tracking systems include highly effective fuel-cost-saving features including downloadable speed analysis reports, which demonstrate how a particular vehicle has been driven in comparison to the rest of the fleet. The ability to monitor and control how economically vehicles are being driven can have a significant impact on a company's bottom line.

A company operating a fleet of 25 vehicles using a vehicle tracking system in 2003 made an annual fuel saving of £60,000 in its first year of using it. At today's fuel prices, its savings amount to almost £100,000 a year.

Road haulage operators and other businesses using heavy good vehicles have been some of the first to exploit the benefits of vehicle tracking in order to stay ahead of their game. One such outfit is Shropshire-based Pendragon Haulage, which operates its fleet of lorries throughout the UK and internationally. In a glamorous twist on the pallets of goods transported by its competitors, Pendragon's client list includes several rock bands and the Rugby Football Union, for which it transported the Rugby World Cup during its 2007 UK tour.

Pendragon director, Hefin Rees, has explained how installing vehicle tracking technology in all the company's vehicles has simplified the task of navigating the country to tight deadlines but has also enabled it to cut its fuel costs.

With vehicle tracking he can identify where the company's wasting money on diesel, as well as boosting productivity by increasing the number of jobs its drivers can complete in a day. Having this information at their fingertips means they're constantly improving their bottom line.

Best estimates suggest that between 15 and 20 per cent of vehicle fleets now operate a vehicle tracking system, but with hard-pressed businesses looking for innovative ways to cut costs in the face of grim economic conditions, vehicle tracking looks set to become a mainstream, environmentally beneficial, option for many more companies.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/gps-articles/a-green-future-with-vehicle-tracking-technology-2702261.html
About the Author

Navman Wireless UK is the country's largest provider of vehicle tracking systems (based on customer numbers) supplying more than 8,500 businesses across eight countries. Its system allows users to track, message and monitor their fleet to maximise efficiency, profitability and customer service.