Can Fleet Management Systems Reduce Theft In Fleet Business?

Theft In fleet business, be it of vehicles, heavy equipment, or cargo is a total nightmare. Discover in what ways fleet management systems help mitigate theft cases or recover stolen vehicles.

Imagine your fleet is a basket of jewels. In your mind, you know that carrying this basket with you late at night is nothing but an invitation for burglary. But while you might get away with keeping a basket of jewels in your house forever, the same cannot be said for fleet vehicles. 

Almost 800k vehicles were reported stolen in the US during the year 2020. 

But there has got to be a solution, right?

Yes, there most certainly is! Investing in fleet management software can help fleet businesses safeguard their automobiles from several types of theft attempts. Here is a list of thefts that this system protects against.

5 Common Types of Thefts in Fleet Business – Smart Ways to Beat Them!

What do you think are the kinds of thefts that threaten a fleet? Here are some that we can think of from the top of our heads:

1. Vehicle Theft

For a fleet business, the most obvious thing to be targeted is the vehicle itself, isn’t it?

Look at the example above, a thief’s first attempt would always be to steal the entire basket of jewels. Upon stealing a vehicle, the thief is not just hitting the business’ budget or resources, but their productivity as well. Whatever time it takes in purchasing a new vehicle, the fleet business will have one less medium to complete tasks. Ultimately this can affect their budget in more ways than just the cost of buying a new vehicle. 

So how can they prevent their business from falling prey to such acts? A fleet management system is the key to achieving full safety. Some features that can make this process easier are:

• • GPS Tracking: The primary function of a fleet management system is to track the real-time location of a vehicle. In case a vehicle is stolen under any circumstances, they can track it down and then retrieve it with ease.
  • Parking Mode: When are vehicles the most vulnerable? When they are parked out of the driver’s sight. This is because there is a chance that drivers might not be close by, opening a lot of opportunities for burglary. Thus parking mode detects any suspicious vehicle movement and alerts the managers. 
  • Battery Disconnect Alarm: Whenever a burglar tries to steal a vehicle’s battery, an alarm goes off. This not only alerts people surrounding the vehicle but also notifies managers. They can stop this activity and save the fleet business from loss, both monetary and productivity-wise.

2. Consignment Theft

A fleet business is responsible for more than just its vehicles and employees. Consignment entrusted under their care should be a primary concern of safety, especially in transit. But theft can be a huge hurdle to ensuring this safety. Imagine losing the very good you were supposed to transport!

Asset tracking solutions are the perfect match for fleets, especially ones that have the responsibility of transporting high-value consignments. It allows managers to stay aware of their consignment’s location at all times. Thus, eliminating the threat of their goods getting stolen, especially during intermodal transit. 

eLocks can be another integration that can help fleet businesses protect their consignments from theft. They alert managers every time the door is opened or tampered with, allowing them to investigate the situation. 

Sensors also play an essential part in safeguarding consignments from theft. With the help of load sensor alerts, managers can track if there is a sudden reduction in their consignment’s weight. Thus, no more losses because of stolen goods during transit.

3. Time & Productivity Theft

Employees are like the wheels of a business, it is they who have to work efficiently for any company to progress and grow. Ironically enough, in the case of a fleet, these ‘wheels’ are the drivers who execute transportation tasks.

However, ensuring that each driver is productive is a difficult task. Since physical supervision is not possible, businesses must cultivate ways to monitor their driver’s activities remotely. This is because the loss of working hours ultimately impacts the fleet business’ overall profitability.

As a result, businesses often end up paying wages for unproductive hours and start seeing revenue leakages. Plus, when the driver’s habits and actions on the road aren’t monitored, there are more perils of accidental risks involved. Thus, it’s important to watch over every driving event via fleet management solutions.

Best Ways to Prevent Time & Productivity Theft in Fleet Business

The features offered by the fleet management system that can help this process are: 

• • Live Tracking: Every time a vehicle is out, the system constantly tracks its activities with the help of a GPS tracker. Managers have access to their vehicle’s real-time location as we mentioned above. This data can help them deduce if a vehicle is stationary for too long. Thus, they can ask drivers for an explanation behind their halts. 
  • Route Planning System: A way that drivers might lose time is by not following their designated routes. Taking unnecessarily long routes is not just a waste of fuel, but can also harm the driver’s productivity. Route planning solutions help mitigate this issue. Route deviation alerts let managers know if a driver strays off the chosen path.

4. Fuel/Diesel Theft

Do you know around 8% of the total diesel-filled trucks are stolen during transit?

Fuel conservation is the primary point of concern for several fleet businesses. Quite justified, observing the constant rise in fuel prices. Businesses are always looking for fuel theft prevention strategies for fleet managers. To add fuel to the fire (ironic, isn’t it?) pilferage further adds to their expenses.

Before learning ways to reduce pilferage, we must understand how it is executed in the first place. Most fuel pilferage happens in three ways, which include:

• • Manipulating the odometer
  • Faking receipts
  • Direct theft from the tank

How to Reduce Fuel Theft with a Fleet Management System?

But how can fuel pilferage be managed with the help of a fleet management system? Some features that help managers ensure that their fuel consumption are:

• • Refill/drainage Alerts: The system alerts managers every time their tank fills up rapidly. This means that they had proof of when the fuel was filled, eliminating any chances of fake receipts. Drainage alerts also help ensure that direct fuel 
  • Real-time Fuel Level: Managers have access to their vehicle’s fuel levels at all times. This means they do not have to worry about pilferage using fake receipts as they can see when the fuel was purchased to refill the tank. 
  • Travel History: The system allows managers to see the history of each trip their vehicle embarks on. This means that they can see the total distance they covered on the trip as well. Thus, any instance of odometer manipulation to increase fuel consumption is squashed.

5. Heavy Equipment or Asset Theft

Fleet management branches out to a lot more than vehicle tracking. Fleet businesses dealing with heavy-duty machines also have to worry about their safety. This is why a GPS tracking system can streamline the location tracking process, reducing the manager’s stress.

While any fleet business working with big machines can benefit from heavy-duty equipment tracking, here are some sectors widely known to use this system:

• • Agriculture: The vehicles that work on agricultural fields can either get subjected to theft or might stray from their field into some other field. This can be a problem for the fleet business not being able to keep physical supervision on their wide array of machinery. However, But having the real-time location of these vehicles can be a good aid.
  • Construction: Employing several kinds of off-road equipment in the construction industry opens several doors for theft in this industry. This is why businesses must invest in asset-tracking solutions to mitigate this issue. 
  • Mining: With low visibility and unplanned operations, theft going undetected is not uncommon in the mining sector. This can be the leading cause of losses for fleet businesses because the cost of replacing mining equipment can be too high. The period between this replacement can also be a hit to the business’ productivity.

💡Do you know? As per NER, the five most stolen machinery types in construction are – skid steer loaders, backhoe loaders, excavators, mini excavators, and dozers.

How to Prevent Theft of Heavy Equipment with Fleet Management Software?

We have discussed how GPS tracking systems can be the best way to ensure the safety of heavy-duty equipment. Some more features that can help this process include:

• • Geofences: Managers can mark a virtual boundary around equipment. Thus, they get notified every time the machine enters/exits this boundary. 
  • Video Telematics: With the help of cameras, managers can get access to the live stream of equipment’s surroundings at all times. Thus, managers can see if there is some suspicious activity going on around the machine even from remote locations.

Reduce Theft and Asset Misplacement With TrackoBit

Theft, be it of any kind, can be extremely harmful to a fleet business. This Is why it is necessary that fleet managers not only detect their cause but also find effective ways to stop such acts right at their roots. But this is impossible to do when they are busy managing the fleet manually. So how can technology intervene and help this process?

We have discussed in this blog that investing in a fleet management system can be beneficial not just to organise the fleet, but also to ensure theft reduction. This is why the integration of fleet management software with a business operation is more of a necessity than a luxury. TrackoBit, the leading vehicle tracking system, has all the right solutions and features to help you manage and optimise your fleet. 

You might have 99 issues, but theft will never be one of them! Request a demo and watch your fleet transform.

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FAQs on Types of Theft In Fleet Business

• What are the types of theft in fleet business?

  Your fleet business can be impacted by 4 types of theft:
  - Vehicle theft
  - Equipment or powered or unpowered asset theft
  - Cargo or consignment theft
  - Fuel theft
  - Time theft

• What is the best way to prevent theft In fleet business?

  The best way to prevent theft in fleet business is by using fleet management software. The software offers complete visibility of the assets live over a map, provides visual proof of drivers’ in-cabin and on-road performance, and lets you geofence areas and get alerted each time these defined zones are crossed. Plus, it offers the option to choose from alerts and notifications, go for remote immobilisation, and SOS alarm features too. Check what’s all in the suite of TrackoBit’s vehicle safety features.