Intelligent GPS Fleet Management with Argus Tracking

Argus Tracking provides customers with an intelligent GPS fleet management solution, and data collection and interpretation are at the heart of this telematics business. "It's critical," says co-founder Aaron Muir, "because it's what we promise to deliver: easy-to-analyse data that customers can use to improve their performance."

 

The company started up in 2007, and immediately took a forward-looking approach, setting up a "software as a service" platform at a time when the industry norm was an initial software installation followed by periodic CD updates. Many SME and government organisations were early adopters of this new technology, seeing the benefits and value this new data could provide to their fleet management and utilisation, as well as health and safety.

The Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (HSWA) helped to raise awareness of the value of telematics. In fact, the introduction of HSWA saw Argus Tracking's business increase by 38% and its client base broaden from mainly Government and SME to include more corporates.

Driver behaviour and safety is now an important part of the Argus solution, with organisations able to benchmark their drivers against the industry average. Argus Tracking's data interpretation has advanced to the point where it is now possible to predict a company's most at risk drivers, hopefully before they are involved in an accident where they are deemed to be at fault. This could be invaluable to a business, as it is estimated that managing the repercussions of a road traffic collision can be between five and 30 times the cost of replacing the vehicle. "In many cases those drivers may not even be aware that their habits are within the parameters of risk," says Aaron.

Whilst the information being collected has largely remained the same, the way in which it is presented has evolved. "11 years ago, there were piles of data that basically looked like a spreadsheet, and the GPS was a lot of dots on maps," recalls Aaron. "Now it's much easier to read; we've adopted a customisable 'dashboard' style’ as every business is different."

Argus now uses more “exception based” reporting, sending notifications when predetermined rules and requirements are broken, for example, in cases of excessive speed or driving time, or nonarrival at a designated destination. If jobs have to be carried out on challenging sites, the duration of these stops can be monitored and if they last longer than the agreed "safe limit" an alert will be triggered and support can be sent. This is important, especially for SMEs who may not have a dedicated health and safety or fleet manager, and need to grasp the facts quickly and simply to make change.

Ensuring your vehicles are compliant and to a safe standard is another important part of driver safety and the Argus Tracking Fleet Management portal has revolutionised the way fleet compliance is managed.  Synching with NZTA, each vehicles compliance is easy to visualise and manage, counting down in km and sending notifications when WOF, COF and RUCs are due. Servicing and extra compliance details are easy to schedule in the customisable compliance dash, and digital vehicle check sheets ensure safety checks are carried out at each vehicle and the appropriate people are notified when a vehicle fails a check.

For other clients, the system may not be primarily for driver safety, but for efficiency and optimisation. Route optimisation using real-time traffic data, ensures drivers take the most efficient route, saving time and fuel costs. Maintaining a compliant fleet minimises unforeseen repair downtime and costs, and infringements.

As a software company, Argus Tracking is agile and continuously developing. “The main aim now is to do even more with the billions of data points we collect”, says Aaron. “Over and above the benchmarking we already do, we are moving into the next phase of predictive modelling. Predicting when something may happen, if it did happen and potentially how to make change.” It is thus not only a means of identifying the problem but to help fix that problem too.

For more information on GPS tracking, car tracker, vehicle tracking and more, visit https://argustracking.co.nz/

Contact Argus Tracking: https://argustracking.co.nz/get-started