Restoration companies have an essential role after accidents, disasters, and other incidents that cause property damage. With damage from water, fire, chemicals and other hazards being so unpredictable and far-reaching, the restoration process is often time-consuming.
It's also physically and emotionally taxing on those who have lost their homes or businesses. For this reason alone, it makes sense as a restoration company manager to optimize company operations to deliver services as efficiently and reliably as possible.
GPS tracking systems can be a game changer in this respect. They allow restoration companies to improve their internal processes (which improves their bottom lines) and ensure that other stakeholders — from customers to insurance providers — are kept abreast of project developments as they happen.
How do restoration companies benefit from GPS tracking systems?
Restoration companies deploying GPS tracking systems (sometimes referred to as ‘fleet tracking systems’) experience several benefits. These include:
1) Viewing real-time fleet location information
Dispatchers know that keeping tabs on a fleet of vehicles is much more complicated than it sounds. It’s not just about knowing which vehicle is with which driver on which route; it’s about monitoring real-time locations, planning for service changes across your field fleet, informing partners and clients of important status updates, and ensuring that drivers abide by all drive-time safety regulations (among other things).
Having high-quality GPS tracking systems in place makes these tasks easier. Indeed, good GPS can lead to significant route and process optimizations that improve service and delivery speeds, boost fuel efficiency, reduce driver stress, and eliminate haphazard decision-making.
2) Accessing driver behavior data to improve process and safety
Without GPS tracking systems in place, it is difficult (in fact, nearly impossible) to obtain and analyze data on how your drivers behave on the roads. Moreover, not having this information is risky, as it means you cannot assess compliance with safety regulations (such as hours of service restrictions), nor can you improve driver wellbeing and productivity through tailored training.
As a fleet manager, installing GPS tracking systems means you’ll be able to see how often your drivers take breaks, where they go, how long they spend at stops and even their speed throughout various route segments.
3) Preventing theft with movement alerts for designated times and locations
Whether it is one-of-a-kind artworks, bespoke building components, or sensitive digital information, restoration companies across all sectors usually deal with precious assets. Unfortunately, this means the risk of theft is ever-present.
Having alerts and detailed reporting sent to you in real-time is just one way dispatch or fleet managers mitigate the risk of theft. Whether you monitor specific drivers, groups, or the whole fleet, having precise tracking information on hand can make all the difference, especially if you need to call the police to intervene in a suspected theft. Likewise, if you lose any assets in a robbery, having this information makes any resulting insurance claims far easier to deal with and significantly increases the odds of obtaining a payout.
4) Avoid unexpected and unpleasant maintenance issues
Your service depends on the quality of your vehicles, so you must stick to a maintenance schedule and respond quickly to any mechanical problems in your fleet. Guilty of skipping routine oil changes here and there? That $75 "saving" in the short-term could cost you thousands in the long run if an engine seizes.
Stay on top of your vehicle maintenance needs with advanced GPS tracking systems that also detect engine faults (like check engine lights) and send automated reminders about routine maintenance. A relatively small investment can save thousands upon thousands yearly in vehicle repairs and missed jobs.
5) Generating proof of service for customers and claims
Regrettably, every business must deal with problematic customers from time to time, and restoration companies are no different. Indeed, given the high stress of restoration projects and the circumstances necessitating them, restoration companies may even have to deal with complaints and claims more than most companies.
GPS tracking systems can help in this respect, too. GPS gives you a record of where your drivers, vehicles, and assets have been and for how long. Being able to pinpoint dates, times, locations, and personnel in this manner not only gives you peace of mind that the job is getting done, but it also means you can prove it if customers claim someone didn’t show up or said they didn’t spend as long at the job site as they were billed for.
Where to get more help with GPS tracking systems
To find out more about how GPS tracking systems can improve your operations and your service as a restoration company, get in touch with the experts at Linxup today. Our experienced team can help with everything from fleet tracking to electronic logging. We even have helpful tools like this free ROI calculator to help you better understand the financial benefits of such installations.
Interested to explore more of our GPS trackers? Or check out our most popular GPS tracker here. Feel free to get in touch with our friendly sales team, click here on your phone or dial 1-877-907-0801.
