How GPS Fleet Management Can Help with 2018 Winter Weather Driving
3 Jan 2016
The year 2018 promises an “abundance of winter weather” in the northern half of the country, according to The Weather Network. For fleet managers, this can be a giant headache ready to happen. Especially if anyone remembers the ice storm that turned Interstate-75 in Atlanta into a parking lot in 2014. And this winter season is already wreaking its havoc, where Erie, PA received a whopping 53 inches during Christmas Day and the day after, making traveling on roads slow going.
That is why it is better to have a plan in place to help you manage your fleet when winter weather hits full force, before your drivers (and their precious cargo) are left stranded by circumstances. GPS fleet tracking can be instrumental in helping you avoid similar situations with your fleet as winter approaches. Here’s how.
Encourage Safer Driving Behaviors
Winter weather is no laughing matter. It can take even seasoned winter drivers by surprise – especially during the first few winter systems of the year. When you have drivers from all over the country traveling unfamiliar roads, it can cause more than a little chaos.
Use your GPS fleet tracking system to monitor driver behavior and notify you instantly if drivers are engaging in risky behaviors like driving at excessive speeds, braking hard, veering, swerving, etc. This allows you to act fast and address the issue before accidents happen rather than after.
Instantly Re-Routes Around Stalled Traffic
In the case of the storm that crippled Atlanta a few years back, part of the problem was that people kept coming rather than going around or avoiding the affected area – creating even more stranded drivers on overcrowded roadways.
GPS tracking allows you to monitor traffic situations and re-routes your drivers at the first signs of trouble so that some of the worst delays can be avoided.
Monitor Weather Forecasts When Routing
You can even use GPS in combination with weather forecast when planning your routes so that you aren’t steering your drivers into the worst of the winter weather that’s coming.
While you can’t avoid every possible contingency, you can effectively avoid areas that are supposed to receive the lion’s share of the winter weather and opt for sending your drivers along more favorable routes for the duration of upcoming storms.
The bottom line is that most of your customers understand the whims of Mother Nature and would rather have their items arrive safely rather than risk unnecessary delays or damage resulting from winter weather-related accidents and you don’t want to put your drivers in unnecessary risk.
GPS fleet tracking can help all parties stay happy and safe on the roads this winter. These are just a few ways it can help.
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