New cabs inducted at short notice without detailed background checks and GPS
Adhoc induction of cabs poses a serious safety risk as vehicles ply without GPS. This problem can be solved by – 1. Vendors need to be notified that Adhoc cabs should mandatorily carry a GPS device failing which billing for that vehicle will be void. 2. Vendors should be provided with a Smartphone or PlugnPlay GPS device to enable immediate vehicle tracking. The vehicle/driver details need to be entered into the transport management system and should be mapped with a GPS device for accurate tracking.
Rains, strikes, bandhs cause traffic chaos leading to delayed On-Time arrivals
A robust technology-driven operation can be the saviour as it helps companies communicate the right information to the employees, drivers and vendors and ensure minimal disruption to the business. Companies can immediately trigger SMS’s or App notifications to employees regarding potential delays. With GPS in vehicles, companies have visibility on all vehicles which can help in quickly rerouting drivers and enabling them to reach the office with minimal delays.
No Show from employees
Employees sometimes take transport operations for granted and do not provide prior information regarding No shows / Leaves. This hurts the transport operation as it not only results in completely avoidable back & forth calls, running Kms and time but also costs money. This can be avoided by providing periodic orientation to employees and by introducing policies such as More than Two No Shows, the employee will be automatically removed from Rostering. Subsequently, the employee will have to raise a request and receive approval from the manager to be rostered again.
Driver Phones run out of battery
To prevent Phones from running out of battery, Driver App installed on the phones should remind drivers about connecting to the charger when the battery falls below 40% and continue to remind for every 5% drop. If the phone reaches 10% battery and still not connected to the charger, the system will automatically not consider the vehicle for trip deployments. The potential loss of revenue will force drivers to always have their phones charged.
Defective RFID reader
If the RFID readers are defective, the employees can confirm boarding/deboarding thru the Employee app. In addition, an IVR call can be triggered to the employees in the cab to capture boarding/deboarding.
GPS does not send coordinates due to congestion in data traffic
This is mostly due to the telecom network. In such cases, the Safetrax GPS device will continue to track the vehicle and store location coordinates in the built-in memory. When network connectivity resumes, the locations are sent to the server so the route and KMs are accurately captured in reports.
Drivers disconnect GPS over weekends to stay out of tracking
Penalizing the drivers for turning off / tampering with the GPS wiring can prevent such incidents from happening.
Inaccurate billing – variation between Actual Odometer and GPS KMs
In our experience, we have observed a 2 – 10% variation between the GPS and Odometer readings. The variation could be due to various factors such as tyre conditions – size, pressure, alignment, etc and in the general overall condition of the vehicle. Hence, it is prudent to discuss with the vendor about potential variance and agree upon a GPS Kms + 2 – 5% extra KMs so vendors do not feel a huge pinch in their monthly revenues.
Distress to Employees
Distress to employees can vary from something minor as delayed drop to as major as harassment/misbehaviour from drivers. Therefore, it is important to equip all vehicles with physical panic buttons and in addition, employees should have the Employee app handy to report panic situations. An intelligent SOS panel in the Admin application will help transport supervisors to take quick control of the situation and deliver swift help.
Rash driving by Drivers
In addition to overspeeding, and idling, advanced GPS devices can record more data about the driving behaviour such as harsh braking, harsh cornering, sudden acceleration, etc. These metrics can be used to generate a driver scorecard which when shared with drivers will help them correct their driving patterns and behaviours.