Fresh produce transport company: why geolocate vehicles?

Geolocation-assisted fleet management tools and embedded IT solutions, applied in the field of fresh produce transport, can be very useful for entities such as delivery and transport companies.

Our Silver, Gold and Platinum software packages provide many features of interest to fresh produce transport professionals, including temperature tracking and tracing to control the cold chain. The needs of these professionals, in terms of fleet management, lie in the following points:

• Locate drivers and vehicles in real time, and identify the vehicles closest to an address for rapid intervention: the fleet manager can know what a delivery person is doing in real time, if he is driving or on break and where, which empowers the delivery person and commits him to respect his working time. If a customer calls the switchboard for a pick-up, the fleet manager finds which vehicle is closest to him, he sends a mission notification to the driver and warns the customer of the distance at which he is, and possibly allow the vehicle to be tracked remotely until it arrives. Knowing that he is being watched, the driver also pays more attention to his journeys and makes fewer detours. The driver is more productive, the customer is served faster and will appreciate the freedom of service, the company uses less fuel and the vehicles travel fewer kilometres. The operator has visibility over the entire fleet and can organize trips more easily.
• Recovering a stolen vehicle: if a vehicle is stolen, the fleet manager will send a starter cut-off command which will immobilize the vehicle as soon as the thief stops, and give the location of the vehicle to the police who will pick it up.
• Organize the parking of vehicles: quickly find the location where the vehicle is parked, in which car park, which saves additional time for the fleet manager, and avoids looking for a vehicle where it is not.
• Know in real time the activity of a vehicle: the fleet manager knows if a vehicle is in use, whether it is on the road or at a standstill, as well as knowing the filling status of its fuel tank which helps to identify suspicious withdrawals and knows exactly which vehicle requires to refuel. The fleet manager can follow the movements of a vehicle and its deliverer in real time thanks to the delivery tracking tool, and will receive notifications by e-mail or SMS at each new stage of his route, which will make it possible to warn customers of the imminent arrival of the deliverer, to anticipate delays by warning the customer, and to ensure that each of the crossing points has been visited.
• Consult the trip histories: allows the fleet manager to find all the driver’s journeys on the platform or by receiving them automatically by e-mail, count the number of trips, driving time and distance traveled, note traffic violations such as speeding, knowing the time slot (day/night/holiday) of a transport, and possibly checking the honesty of a driver by detecting undeclared work. Some of the fleet manager’s tasks are therefore automated, for example he will no longer need to manually enter the mileage of the vehicles, which will save him time and make him more comfortable in the execution of his work.
• Produce statistics and calculate the vehicles using rate: to find out which vehicles are most used and the number of kilometers on the clock, in order to distribute vacant vehicles more evenly to drivers, which therefore makes it possible to better target vehicles requiring maintenance. To also know the time at which the driver of the vehicle started his day and at what time he finished, which has the rapid effect of making him responsible for his punctuality and respect for his working time.
• Securing drivers against attacks or accidents: thanks to an alert button that we provide, react more quickly and call the emergency services. Make road safety prevention by controlling the speed of the vehicle, enforce the rules of eco-driving and reduce the risk of falling asleep at the wheel with the loss of attention detection, release the driver’s responsibilities thanks to the geolocation tracker Type 4 CRASHBOX, and the connected video system which provide access to a large amount of information prior to a possible crash, which will help avoid conflicts with insurance companies.
• Build a database of the entire fleet of vehicles and drivers: simplify the administrative tasks of the fleet manager by centralizing information and allowing him to organize himself better. Access vehicle information such as date of last maintenance, type of fuel or registration number, know who is driving which vehicle at any given time through the use of Dallas keys.
• Be alerted by SMS or e-mail: the operator is notified in real time in the event of non-compliance with instructions, eco-driving or authorized speed; if a vehicle enters or leaves the garage, or at a specific location such as the address of a regular customer, a rest area or an area where parking is not permitted.
• Control the exit of pallets from trucks to avoid theft and disappearance of packages: if the fleet manager is informed of a customer’s complaint concerning an undelivered pallet, the latter can consult the history of door openings by installing a sensor that we provide or a smart padlock, to make sure that the driver did not stop and open doors anywhere other than the delivery sites.
• Respect hygiene measures and temperatures: the fleet manager can monitor the temperature levels in refrigerated trucks in real time by installing sensors. He then makes sure that the equipment is in good working order, checks that the cold chain is maintained and that the goods do not lose quality.
• Achieve fuel and maintenance savings: drivers trained in eco-driving adopt economical and more ecological driving, which has the effect of reducing fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. The company will thus be able to communicate on its responsible approach to sustainable development. Eco-driving also reduces vehicle wear thanks to smoother driving, taking better care of the engine, tires, etc.

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