A Look At How Effective GPS Vehicle Trackers Are

The Example of X-Tra Delivers

All companies, just starting out, are equal in status. This applies to shipping companies as well. Whether or not they succeed is dependent on whether they can keep up with changing technologies and advancements. X-Tra Delivers is a company that utilized the changing technological advances to propel themselves to the top position amongst shipping companies.

What is X-Tra Delivers

In 1967 Extra Deliveries opened for business. They originally worked only in the medium of shipping packages for the USPS and shipping large luggage for local airports. Within just a few decades, they were forced to close because of larger companies like UPS. Today, however, they are considered to be one of the most prestigious of the delivery and shipping companies in New Mexico and Arizona.

Too Many Problems

As demand increased, a small fleet of only eight trucks like Extra had was not able to compete. This had never been a problem prior to the arrival of the larger, more efficient delivery services. When they arrived, their shipping times were faster and their costs were much lower. These were services that Extra could not provide if they wished to make a profit. Even without today’s advanced technologies, the larger fleets were much more successful than the smaller ones.

Large fleets became the thing of the day in 1983, about the same time that Extra Deliveries went out of business.
 
X-Tra Delivers came into being in 1992 when Jacob, the son of founder Thomas Dillon, decided to reopen his fathers business. He began with a small fleet of 16 trucks. Each of these trucks was given a dedicated route that included only one stretch of highway. None of the drivers traveled the same stretch of highway as another. His idea was that he would eliminate unnecessary fueling stops and hours on the road. Eliminating overlapping routes would also stop the drivers from traveling extra miles. Unfortunately, he did not fully realize the scope of the problem.

Because the paperwork process was still mainly manual, the drivers were allowed to keep track of their own time and their own fuel consumption. In time, though, Jacob began to notice some inaccuracies in the reports that seemed to repeat themselves regularly. These inaccuracies were creating unnecessary expenses for the business. He began to see that his customer service department was suffering and the number of efficiency complaints regarding his drivers was increasing.

Jacob’s business was failing and this was not the way that he had foreseen it. He quickly began to realize the reasons for his father going out of business.

Finally, Some Solutions

During the first six years, the company struggled to barely make a profit. They hired and fired drivers and fought the steadily increasing price of fuel. It was blatently obvious that the company needed to make some changes and do it quickly if they hoped to recover and stay in business. Jacob felt that the addition of GPS vehicle tracker systems in each of their trucks would allow them to increase their productivity and efficiency. The GPS units would facilitate the automated collection of data such as a driver or vehicle’s idle time, fuel consumption, stops and starts, and speed traveled.

Jacob had vehicle trackers installed in X-Tra’s trucks. These vehicle trackers did not require any type of driver involvement. They automatically sent all of the required information back to a computer in the office. The information that could be obtained included both historical information and real-time information. Route delivery times were cut down when dispatchers were able to see a drivers location on the computer and efficiently map a route to their next destination. This also cut back on fuel costs by eliminating unnecessary miles. Productivity increased by almost ten times what it was prior to the installation of the GPS units.

The Benefits and Cost Savings Realized by X-Tra Delivers


X-Tra Delivers began to see cost saving and benefits in many forms. Labor costs went down as the company was able to tell the difference between personal and company time and to track each accurately through the use of electronic time sheets. Fuel costs went down as consumption decreased due to more accurate mapping and dispatching. Customer were happier as they could now receive an accurate ETA on their packages. Security increased due to the installation of the GPS vehicle trackers.