Ruppert Landscape Appoints Kang President & COO
Jessica Schwartz
Fleet Management Feature: Keeping An Eye On Vehicle Usage
When landscape company and lawn maintenance work crews drive service vehicles from job to job throughout the day, how much can unauthorized long lunches, side trips, and other breaks cost their company? The answer can be surprisingly high. Improving driver accountability via GPS tracking devices can dramatically improve not only productivity but also profitability. Here is the story of one company’s implementation of GPS tracking technology for fleet management. The owner did an initial introduction 15 years ago, followed by a more recent addition. Greg Hamann is owner of Prime Landscape Services, a Dallas-Fort Worth, TX-based landscape contractor. He estimates that if unauthorized employee breaks went unchecked when he first discovered them at his firm years ago, it would cost over $150,000 annually just on the lawn maintenance side of his business today. “The crews were telling us they were taking 30-minute lunches, but were really taking hour-long lunches,” says Hamann, whose company provides landscape design, lawn maintenance, sprinkler systems, water features, pool, and concrete services. Currently, the landscape contractor has about 20 lawn maintenance crews serving north Texas, and a total of about 55 service vehicles company-wide. “We also had guys stopping by their homes in our trucks,” adds Hamann. “We had drivers going to stores, or hanging out at a buddy’s house after dropping off the laborers at a job.” Hamann has turned that around with the installation of GPS tracking devices on his service vehicles. “We have really great guys. However, I believe in trust but also ...
GPS Tracking Provides Owner View Into Vehicle Usage
When landscape company and lawn maintenance work crews drive service vehicles from job to job throughout the day, how much can unauthorized long lunches, side trips, and other breaks cost their company? The answer can be surprisingly high. Improving driver accountability via GPS tracking devices can dramatically improve not only productivity but also profitability. This article is contributed by Advanced Tracking Technologies (ATTI), a Houston, TX-based designer and manufacturer of GPS tracking products. Greg Hamann is owner of Prime Landscape Services, a Dallas-Fort Worth, TX-based landscape contractor. He estimates that if unauthorized employee breaks went unchecked when he first discovered them at his firm years ago, it would cost over $150,000 annually just on the lawn maintenance side of his business today. “The crews were telling us they were taking 30-minute lunches, but were really taking hour-long lunches,” says Hamann, whose company provides landscape design, lawn maintenance, sprinkler systems, water features, pool, and concrete services. Currently, the landscape contractor has about 20 lawn maintenance crews serving north Texas, and a total of about 55 service vehicles company-wide. “We also had guys stopping by their homes in our trucks,” adds Hamann. “We had drivers going to stores, or hanging out at a buddy’s house after dropping off the laborers at a job.” Hamann has turned that around with the installation of GPS tracking devices on his service vehicles. “We have really great guys. However, I believe in trust but also in verification,” he says. “Today, we’re probably realizing a net positive ...
