Fleet Management Does More Than Just Cut Fuel Costs

By Brian Albright, Field Technologies

This construction firm’s GPS solution has evolved to help the company redirect construction crews, reduce fuel consumption, and improve billing accuracy.

Finding a technology solution that can grow right along with your company provides long-term benefits and opportunities for business improvements. Dallas-based Gardner Telecommunications has been using GPS technology to track its vehicles for more than 15 years. While the system originally provided 15-minute location updates, the company now has near-real-time driver and vehicle reports, complete with operational data and map overlays that help the company dispatch crews around unexpected traffic and weather events.

Gardner is a utility contractor that provides telecommunications engineering, construction, technical, and installation services. The company originally deployed a tracking solution from Discrete Wireless (now NexTraq) in 1998 and uses it to track all 68 vehicles in its fleet. “We use it every day, and it’s a wonderful tool for finding out where our trucks are going and how fast they are going,” says Steve Gardner, president of Gardner Telecommunications. “We also get maintenance reminders, and we track mileage and fuel usage.”