News
Case Study: GPS Insight
Challenge
Wright Tree Service’s initial interest in GPS tracking was to be in compliance with contractual obligations. It is common in larger contracts that utilities require GPS tracking. In addition, since Wright Tree Service is nationwide, many of their field supervisors work independently without direct supervisor oversight. The regional offices had no way of knowing what their fleet was doing at any given time and needed reassurance that their fleet was being fully utilized and efficient. They realized they needed GPS fleet tracking to ensure personal accountability of their field supervisors in order to accomplish this.
Wright Tree Service looked at other companies, from cell phone GPS tracking, to other systems that use a mounted tracking device. After extensive research, they found that what they needed was accurate location data, reliability of the devices, and widespread data network coverage. WTS found that GPS Insight would meet their requirements and provide the solution to their problems.
Results
Wright Tree Service’s initial testing phase consisted of 10 GPSI-4000 units installed into Ford F-150’s. It became quickly evident that there were behaviors that needed to be addressed. “We monitored the devices for two weeks collecting data on things like speeding, idle time and location. We used those two weeks to set a baseline for measurement moving forward. After collecting the data and creating some reports from GPS Insight’s preset reports, we presented this data to the personnel in those ten vehicles,” said Shawn Huff, Project Manager. The behavior change in their employees and supervisors was immediate. Idle time dropped, speeding alerts stopped, and Wright Tree Service’s employees were making strides to better driving behavior. “Our estimates concluded that with 100 F-150’s in our fleet, it equates to an estimated $80,000+ in fuel savings just in reduced idle time,” Huff added. This idling reduction alone equates to almost 200% return on investment in year one.
Another example of how WTS has seen significant fuel savings is when they recently implemented an idle time accountability project for their Central Illinois fleet. “Management reported that they are able to get 100 miles more out of a tank of gas just by reducing idle time. 100 miles / 15mpg * $3.89 per gallon = $25.93 savings per tank of gas. I have fourteen general foremen and they fill up at least twice a week. This is a total savings of $726 per week just in gas for our pickups. The ROI is there,” Huff stated.
Wright Tree Service was also able to address any time their supervisors were spending away from their responsibilities in the field, such as personal errands. “Providing this personal accountability of our supervisors, for us, is the most valuable aspect of having GPS Insight. We rely on our field supervisors to handle a lot of business without direct oversight. This means we have to trust them to do their job daily. Having GPS Insight means that the trust level increases because we know they are where they say they are. It leaves no doubt that the work is getting done and our supervisors are serving our customer needs most effectively,” Shawn Huff stated. This equates to increased fleet safety and more productive crews.
GPS Insight’s mapping has proven to be very powerful for WTS. “After looking at several other companies, it became clear that GPS Insight is a leader in the industry for their mapping capabilities” stated Huff. Wright Tree Service uses GPS Insight’s “Customer Sites”, which shows their customers where the WTS vehicles are in real time on a 2D map. “This is a very big selling point to our customers when the information they see is both accurate and easy to manipulate,” said Huff.
Shawn finished with, “My company chose GPS Insight because we knew they were striving to achieve greatness in all facets of their industry. After speaking with several people in their company we were sure that GPS Insight wanted to be the best and had plans in place to make this a reality. Technology is a constant evolutionary process and we felt GPS Insight was staying ahead of the curve. They react and change quickly to meet customer needs both in the present and the future. I felt their customizable Dashboards were better than anything else I looked at. The integration with Google Earth was seamless and caused no issues, unlike other products we tested. GPS Insight has a top notch customer service department that handled any questions and concerns in a timely manner. This is a major requirement for my company. If something needed to be addressed they need to show us that the issue would be handled immediately. This is where GPS Insight stood out amongst the crowd yet again.” GPS Insight currently tracks 900+ WTS vehicles and continues to roll out more.
How Wright Tree Service believes GPS Insight can help other companies like yours:
• Run a test program. It won’t take long after the devices are installed for you to realize just how much GPS Insight can
help you manage your fleet.
• The flexibility of their product line allows you to have all of your types of equipment monitored.
• Garmin integration allows faster responses to customer generated emergency calls and you know your crews are on
the way when you say they are.
• Safety is the priority in our industry and you will have safer, more productive crews if the data is managed properly.
To see the article where it was originally published, click here.