Extra, Extra, Read All About It — GPS Tracking Saves Big

The Scotsman gets real-time tracking

Publisher tracks its papers from the presses to the shelves

Dave Friedlos, Computing 12 Jul 2006

Scotland’s oldest daily newspaper The Scotsman is using real-time satellite tracking to ensure more than 100,000 papers are delivered on time each day.

The publisher has also cut costs since the installation location-based technology in its fleet of delivery vehicles to track deliveries using GPS satellite positioning.

The technology is delivering measurable cost savings by reducing unauthorized use of company vehicles, enhanced vehicle service records and improved customer service.

‘By monitoring vehicle activity both during the working day and out of hours we have reduced our total mileage giving us an estimated saving of over £10,000 per annum,’ transport and distribution manager Rob Kelly said.

‘The vehicle based reports also enable us to schedule our vehicle servicing with increased intelligence reducing unplanned maintenance and vehicle down time.’… Full Article Here:

Not wanting to flog a dead horse here, but there are a lot of people out there sitting on the fence regarding GPS tracking. The newspaper industry is notoriously a low margin business. If a major newspaper can make a return on investment with GPS, it’s worth most anyone’s attention. I hear two major objections, almost like a broken record.

First: “I don’t want to upset my workers; it’s too much like Big Brother.” My standard response to that is, “Sir or Madam, you ARE big brother.” If you are a business owner or a manger being paid to supervise drivers working for your organization, it is your responsibility to keep them safe, help them do their work more efficiently, and make sure your stockholders or citizenry gets a fair return on investment. These three tips will eliminate the majority of the “Big brother” objections:

1. Involve your drivers from day one. Explain the need to save costs (with today’s $3.00 fuel this shouldn’t be too hard to do). It’s often best to form a management/driver selection team to put together your organizations plan.

2. Ask your drivers for input as to what part of their tasks they consider “OK” for monitoring and what activities they feel put their jobs at risk. You will learn a lot here, believe me. One common issue is speeding … do you have a company speeding policy now? 90% of the entities I contact don’t. It’s no wonder they are worried if they figure they have no standard today and with GPS 1 mile over is going to get them fired. Breaks, tolerance on start stop times and allowable time at stops are also common issues. You need to address these issues with your drivers regardless of your GPS decision.

3. Gain driver acceptance by offering a “freebie” period. This is especially important if you have a unionized work force. Since you aren’t monitoring effectively today, you have nothing to loose by putting a 3 month or 6 month disciplinary moratorium into your plan and then reviewing the results after both you and your workers gain experience.

The bottom line is when you treat your workers as partners in profit instead of serfs you’ll reap benefits, with or without GPS.

The second “whine” I hear almost continually is cost. Especially for a profit making business this is almost always a copout. You can find a way for GPS tracking to self-finance. The systems I sell will pay for themselves, no question about it. In fact, if there doesn’t seem to be a way to get you a return on investment, I wouldn’t sell to you. Many vendors offer free trials and other proof of savings programs. I find many decision makers are just a bit on the lazy side and crying poor mouth avoids digging into the tasks they should be doing. Also, it’s a sad fact that a majority of companies just do not know what they are spending. Before you even have to make a decision on GPS, get out the books and make sure you really know what your vehicles … and field force workers are costing.

Think the problem through, but don’t ignore it. As you can see from the article, the newspaper is saving at least 10,000 pounds per year, how much could you be saving?