Housing developer Gentoo Group has launched a pioneering partnership with Telematics provider Teletrac, adding to its fleet Citroën vans that are pre-equipped with Teletrac’s comprehensive GPS software platform, Fleet Director. Their collaboration, the first of its kinds in the UK, may herald a new age in fleet telematics. Instead of installing black box systems in their vehicles after purchase, fleet managers and companies will be able to purchase vans pre-fitted with the technology, giving them instantaneous and constant access to key driver analytics.
Teletrac’s Fleet Director GPS platform tracks not only vehicle location but also provides important safety and diagnostics data about vehicles and their operators–including engine status data, idle time, driver safety, and fuel statistics. The GPS tracking system provides a continuous, real-time stream of data on each vehicle’s location, speed, and direction as well as information about traffic conditions, route calculations and estimated arrival times. This data is all accessible to managers through various map views and data segmentations. The system is also highly customisable: operators can create personalised points of reference on maps, including terminals, offices, and customer locations, and can also tune the system to provide instantaneous notifications on the software and mobile devices about various driving and performance metrics. The pre-installation of the system in vehicles was an important selling point for Gentoo, a Sunderland-based profit-for-pupose organisation that specialises in developing housing communities and in property maintenance and repair. Previously Gentoo used a telematics system from Minorplanet to provide vehicle tracking, but Teletrac’s offerings are more comprehensive.
“When considering the various telematics offerings for our fleet, The Gentoo Group really liked the idea of pre-installed hardware,” Colin Watson, Principle Procurement Officer at Gentoo, said.
The US-based Teletrac currently helps streamline service in more than 20,000 fleets across an array of industries, tracking over 200,000 vehicles in 87 countries. Customers have reported up to 30% lower fuel usage, an average of 15% less driver overtime, and 12% higher productivity, and significantly less unauthorised vehicle use with the company’s full package of tracking and diagnostics software. Gentoo Group will lease 337 light commercial vehicles through Citroën with Teletracs Fleet Director on-board vehicle diagnostic platform pre-installed in each and will hopefully notch its own savings with the software.
“Teletrac helps Gentoo’s vans reach their customers faster, safer and more efficiently with Fleet Director’s on-board diagnostics pre-installed in their Citroën vehicles,” Sarah Jackson, Automotive & National Account Manager at Teletrac, said.
