The Importance of GPS Fleet Tracking for your Waste Hauling Business

October 17, 2023
4 minute read

Every waste management and recycling business is driven by the objective of enhancing profitability and streamlining operations. As a hauling business, there are countless tasks to oversee, such as collecting and processing waste, optimizing routes, managing drivers, and billing customers in a timely manner. As your operation grows, it becomes increasingly difficult to manage every aspect of your business. Even the slightest disruption to your daily operations can create backlogs, delays, and errors – and this is why implementing GPS fleet tracking for your hauling operation is so crucial.

GPS fleet tracking enables you to monitor and manage your entire waste hauling business from a central location. With real-time data and insights, you can make informed decisions that can significantly impact your business’ profitability and efficiency. 

8 Benefits of GPS Fleet Tracking in Waste Management 

GPS fleet tracking solutions go beyond mere location tracking. These advanced systems equip fleet managers with a comprehensive suite of tools designed to optimize management and bolster the entire fleet’s performance. With robust GPS fleet tracking, your business will realize the following benefits:

1. Real-Time Notifications

For waste management businesses, backlogs reduce productivity and leave them playing catch-up for weeks. Incorporating real-time data is pivotal for sidestepping operational disruptions and keeping waste management tasks on track.

A GPS fleet tracking solution simplifies operational intricacies, slashes costs, and enhances field transparency. It serves as a conduit for seamless communication between dispatchers and drivers, equipping managers with actionable intelligence to refine operations. 

GPS fleet tracking solutions provide real-time information on vehicle routes, the duration of stops at each site, and detailed updates on fleet activities. This technology also provides customer data, which customer service teams can leverage to resolve disputes or promptly address complaints.

You can easily access this data, confirming that daily operations – like waste and recycling pickups – are executed on time and according to the schedule. Moreover, the tracking solution shines a light on any unauthorized stops or undue breaks, paving the way for more accurate payroll processing.

2. Route Optimization

Route optimization is a critical function within a comprehensive GPS fleet tracking solution that bolsters waste collection operations. Waste hauling employees typically navigate regular routes each day. However, unforeseen obstacles, such as construction or traffic jams, can significantly impede their work, which can ripple through to other areas of the business and affect the entire team’s productivity.

A sophisticated GPS tracking platform addresses this by analyzing all scheduled stops and finding the most efficient path possible. It monitors current traffic conditions and advises drivers of any incidents that could disrupt their established course, offering optimized detours. With this guidance, drivers can circumvent delays with minimal fuss, keeping their routes timely and direct.

Most top-notch fleet management systems integrate this directional intelligence in an employee’s in-vehicle navigation device, smartphone, or tablet. This integration ensures field employees retain vital links to their management teams, dynamically sharing status updates from the road.

Mobile applications within the tracking ecosystem empower workers to self-assign vehicles, flag maintenance quandaries instantly, and report on mileage with high accuracy. Further, these apps facilitate administrative accuracy as employees can log work start times, breaks, and end times, negating the need for unnecessary travel to the office to clock in or out.

3. Reducing Time & Resource Consumption

Saving time and resources is critical in the waste hauling industry, where every second and penny counts. Your business must complete waste collection and disposal on time to be profitable and mitigate the risk of delays. This can involve many manual and time-consuming processes, such as manual routing and data collection.

Fleet tracking GPS automates previously manual tasks and streamlines operations, speeding up processes significantly. Moreover, it takes the guesswork out of route planning by pinpointing the most direct paths for pickups and drop-offs. This saves time and reduces fuel consumption – a major operating expense.

Routing isn’t the only way that fleet tracking devices help businesses save on fuel. They can also offer comprehensive fuel reports, illuminating inefficient practices such as unnecessary idling and aggressive driving that can inflate fuel costs. Some systems also integrate fuel cards into the system, simplifying the tracking of fuel and maintenance expenditures.

4. Asset Tracking & Management

Asset tracking provides a number of solutions for waste hauling businesses. It eases resource allocation by letting you dispatch and manage multiple vehicles at a time. You can view where your assets are in real-time so that you can make better routing and dispatching decisions. 

Another benefit of GPS asset tracking is that it reduces risk in an industry where costly machinery is often left unattended after-hours. Lost or stolen equipment can negatively impact a business – costing money to replace and time lost during the disruption.

A fleet tracking system with asset management enables immediate location tracking and facilitates swift recovery, minimizing downtime and loss. It also lets you monitor your equipment through motion sensors that alert you if your assets move outside a predetermined boundary.

5. Simplified Billing & Invoicing

One of the most time-consuming yet critical tasks for a waste hauling business is billing and invoicing. Inaccurate billing can result in lost revenue and unhappy customers. A fleet tracking system simplifies this process by providing accurate data on the time spent at each location, distance traveled, and services provided.

The system directly feeds this information into your billing software to automate the invoicing process, effectively eliminating the need for manual hours of invoicing work. This ensures that you bill customers correctly (and timeously), reducing disputes and streamlining the payment process. It also enhances the transparency of transactions.

With GPS data as a trusted reference, you can quickly resolve disputes over service charges. Consequently, your business will reap the benefits of improved cash flow and reduced administrative tasks, allowing you to allocate precious hours to core operational tasks instead of paperwork.

6. Optimized Vehicle Maintenance

Optimized vehicle maintenance is a critical consideration for waste management fleets. The heavy usage and demanding workloads of vehicles such as dump trucks and street cleaners make regular maintenance a non-negotiable aspect of operations.

Neglecting proper upkeep can lead to breakdowns, disrupting daily tasks and accruing high roadside repair costs. However, too much maintenance can also drain resources unnecessarily. Fortunately, advancements in GPS technology offer a solution.

Modern GPS systems can now integrate with a vehicle’s onboard diagnostic system, delivering vital data on engine performance and potential issues. You can use this data to proactively schedule maintenance, averting major mechanical failures before they happen. Such preventative measures can extend vehicle lifespans and are typically more cost-effective than emergency repairs.

7. Improved Driver Safety

Increased driver safety is a paramount concern for waste hauling businesses. Since municipal and commercial trash collection vehicles are quite large and have a higher center of gravity, their maneuverability is considerably less than that of smaller vehicles.

This design makes actions like stopping, accelerating, and navigating turns more challenging and potentially hazardous. While trust in drivers’ adherence to safety protocols is essential, it’s crucial for you to monitor your drivers’ on-road behaviors actively.

GPS tracking devices serve as the perfect tool for this level of oversight. These devices can log data on driving speed, patterns of acceleration, and turning habits. Fleet managers can then track and analyze how each driver handles their vehicle.

Reversing garbage trucks, for instance, poses a significant safety risk in waste collection operations, which is difficult to regulate without proper oversight. GPS tracking systems enable fleet managers to enforce safe practices by monitoring a truck’s reverse alert system’s Power Take-Off (PTO) signals.

With the insights gained from GPS tracking, you can quickly pinpoint and rectify any unsafe driving behaviors, reinforcing the fleet’s safety and reducing the risk of accidents. This protects the drivers and the public, upholds your company’s reputation, and reduces liability risks.

8. Reporting & Analytics

Monitoring your business’ performance is essential to the long-term success of your waste hauling business. Comprehensive operating reports and in-depth insights help you understand the performance and efficiency of your waste hauling business.

A GPS fleet tracking system provides thorough analytics that decodes patterns in fleet operations, from fuel consumption and service routes to driver idle times and on-the-job behaviors.

With this data at your fingertips, you can make informed decisions to streamline operations, cut unnecessary costs, and optimize service routes. This analytical approach isn’t just about tracking. It’s about translating data into actionable intelligence for continuous improvement and enhanced profitability.

Key Takeaways

It’s clear that investing in GPS tracking is investing in the future of waste hauling logistics. GPS fleet tracking is an invaluable tool for waste hauling businesses aiming to improve safety, enhance efficiency, and bolster profitability.

With fleet tracking GPS, you can get instant alerts of unsafe practices, in-depth analytics, and actionable data on fleet operations. This empowers businesses to make calculated decisions for operational optimization.

For businesses looking for an all-in-one waste management software solution with GPS fleet tracking capabilities – that also integrates with popular GPS fleet tracking systems – check out Basestation. Our cloud-based software specifically designed for waste haulers will allow you to streamline your operations by saving time, boosting profitability, and reducing administrative headaches.

WRITTEN BY
ALEX TUSHINSKI