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By Greg Bartlett

Many businesses that operate fleets of vehicles have found that there are many benefits to having GPS tracking devices installed in their vehicles. Some of the more progressive companies have found a way to make this a benefit to the driver and help the company out at the same time. Several companies have started to employ “driver service representatives” to aid drivers in avoiding problems associated with severe weather and traffic delays.

Drivers whose vehicles are equipped with a GPS vehicle tracking system can be rerouted from a central hub at the need of the company. This has long been a known benefit of having GPS in fleet vehicles. Today, several companies are adopting the policy of allowing drivers to call in when they are in a traffic jam and have a driver service rep help them get rerouted around it and out of the delay. This helps the driver and the company by assuring more deliveries are made on time.

Another facet of the driver service rep’s job is to monitor the weather ahead of any vehicles he/she is responsible for and to let drivers know when they may be heading into a trouble area. In winter, certain stretches of road, including interstates, have been known to become impassable during a snowstorm. When a driver service rep monitoring road conditions learns that a vehicle is headed toward a stretch of road that is closed or impassable, he/she can contact the driver and reroute him/her around the trouble spot before the shipment is delayed. The same principle can be applied in spring and summer in the event of severe storms or tornado activity that can cause transportation delays.

Many companies have long used GPS tracking devices to optimize their fleet routing for fuel efficiency and to monitor driver speeds. These methods work well for saving money. Today, many companies are finding that the ability to reroute fleet drivers can pay off and help the drivers as well by having employees monitor vehicles and aid drivers in avoiding traffic delays that could cause a shipment to arrive late and cause problems with a customer.

With this type of two way communication between drivers and the dispatchers, more drivers are likely to find that the benefits of having the GPS fleet tracking devices on board far outweigh any concerns they may have about the boss watching their every move.