How GPS cuts the risk of theft for rental companies by up to 50% and saves money

There are plenty of reasons for renting different types of vehicles and machinery: one person wants a car for a business trip or perhaps a caravan for a holiday, another needs a van for moving house or delivering goods, and someone else needs a piece of machinery (an excavator, for example) for a building site.

If you rent out vehicles or, say, construction machinery to customers, our Ecofleet application lets you use GPS to track their location, kilometres driven, machine operating hours and other important indicators. That way you can respond to situations in good time and cut unnecessary costs or adjust what you bill for your services. In this article we look at how GPS vehicle tracking can help you.

A GPS tracker – and not just for cars – is a must for every rental company

With a GPS tracker in the car you can respond quickly to situations as they arise and monitor the data associated with renting out vehicles. Below we set out the areas in which GPS vehicle tracking (also known as satellite tracking) is an invaluable aid that makes your life and your operations easier and saves you money.

1. Securing vehicles against theft and unauthorised movement

Monitoring your vehicles with GPS helps protect them from theft – and can cut the risk of theft by up to 50%. Knowing a car's current location proves its worth the moment the car starts to stray outside its so-called safe area (the zone in which the car is supposed to stay), or when it unexpectedly approaches, say, the border of another country. Of course, no car can be made 100% theft-proof, but knowing its current location, or being able to block the engine from starting via GPS, helps a great deal. It gives you a significantly better chance that the theft never happens – or that you get the vehicle back.

GPS tracking of vehicles and machinery can also alert you, for example, to unauthorised movement outside working hours.

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2. Speed monitoring

Fitting GPS monitoring in a car is also useful for keeping an eye on speed limits. You will know if a customer has exceeded the speed limit in your car. What's more, drivers who know their driving is being monitored are likely to drive more safely. Speed monitoring therefore also helps reduce the number of accidents, because keeping a check on driving style makes drivers safer, cutting the accident rate by up to 35%.

If an accident does happen, the GPS data in the application serves as evidence of the vehicle's route and speed, which comes in handy when dealing with insurers or in legal proceedings, for example – and that can bring your costs down.

3. Counting the kilometres a car has driven

Rental companies often let customers choose between price plans that set a maximum number of kilometres driven (the maximum permitted mileage). If a car exceeds that maximum, you can always see online exactly how many extra kilometres to charge the customer for. Or you can offer the customer a plan with a higher mileage allowance.

4. More thorough checks of the vehicle's condition

Monitoring driving style, vehicle impact detection and the car's location also come in useful when the vehicle is returned. If, for example, you know that the GPS application recorded an impact during the rental period, you can inspect certain parts of the car – the underbody, say – more carefully.

Tip: Read our tips for installing GPS in a car.

5. Planned vehicle maintenance

GPS lets you monitor the condition of a vehicle and plan preventive maintenance more precisely, based on the vehicles' actual mileage – which in turn cuts the cost of unplanned repairs by up to 10%. You can also prevent considerable damage by finding out through the GPS application about a vehicle fault that the driver might otherwise ignore until handing the vehicle back.

6. Cheaper insurance

If your cars are protected by GPS security, insurers may give you a discount on your premiums (of up to 25%), which can add up to a tidy saving.

GPS reduces paperwork through automated processes

For example, vehicle tracking sends a notification to the Ecofleet app on your phone whenever something unexpected happens – a car leaves its permitted area, exceeds the speed limit, an impact is recorded, and so on. That means there is no need to keep watching a vehicle just in case.

In the application you can also handle the paperwork with your customers – for example, create handover reports with photographs, record additional accessories, sign on a phone or tablet, send the report as a PDF by email, or pass invoicing data online to other systems (it can be generated automatically from the rental and vehicle tracking data). Everything is archived electronically, giving you easy access to all your documents.

GPS affects customer satisfaction

With a GPS tracker you will carry out maintenance on time and keep service intervals under control. As a result, customers can count on quality service and a perfectly prepared vehicle. That makes them more likely to come back to you – after all, up to 70% of customers respond positively to a higher level of safety.

The handover report as a way of preventing disputes with customers

The Ecofleet application makes it easy to create a handover report whose careful documentation helps you avoid disputes with customers when a vehicle is returned. The handover report can include photographs of the vehicle and technical information, as well as the current mileage and other details. You will then be able to prove, for instance, that damage to the car occurred only during the rental, which will help you when negotiating compensation.

Summary

GPS tracking can be used on all kinds of vehicles: a passenger car, a van, a caravan, a motorhome or even an excavator. By using GPS to monitor your vehicles you increase the protection of your fleet, save on servicing and unexpected repairs, and reduce the cost of insurance and any legal expenses. At the same time, digitising your handover reports saves time for your customers and your employees and increases satisfaction with your services. Can we help you with anything? Don't hesitate to get in touch with us.