This privately owned Manitoba-based AutoConnect GPS customer has offered duct and furnace cleaning services to the Winnipeg region for over 12 years. They chose to share their story on the condition of anonymity to avoid upsetting customers who may have experienced inconsistent pricing or service from a former employee.

CHALLENGES

As a business that offers home services, it is important for this company to be able to place significant trust in employees. Since employees work outside of headquarters and direct supervision, it is expected that they will be responsible for company vehicles and equipment, and represent the business well. During routine asset maintenance, it was noted that the vehicles were putting on higher-than-average kilometres. After looking through scheduled services over the course of a month, the owner noticed unexplained unit hours and a higher fuel bill than expected. The suspicion was that employees may be taking some off-the-books jobs. 

SOLUTION

After talking with a colleague, the business owner decided to implement a GPS tracking solution on the vehicles that seemed to be working additional hours. The main goal was to keep track of assets in real-time and be able to compare the location to scheduled jobs for that day. Without having someone constantly monitoring the system, it was important for this business to be able to access the event history 

RESULTS

Within just a week, the business owner noticed that vehicles would wrap a job up, but stay in the area for an extended period afterward – often just a few doors down from the previously scheduled job. Alerts were set up to monitor the truck’s PTO, and the owner began getting texts notifying him that the duct cleaning unit was in use again, long after the job should have been finished.

When confronted with the data taken from the AutoConnect GPS system, an employee admitted that they had been going door-to-door after finishing a job, offering discounted services to neighbours for cash under the table. This resulted in a direct impact on the business’s bottom line. Additional fuel was being used, and vehicles and equipment were experiencing wear-and-tear with no compensation coming back to the business to cover costs. Thankfully, no incidents occurred, but the risk to the business’ insurance and liability was a real eye-opener.

Immediately after sorting out the moonlighting employee, the business owner reached out to AutoConnect GPS and ordered the system for his entire fleet. After realizing what had happened, the owner admitted: “I was shocked – I never would have expected this from any of my guys. Putting GPS in my trucks has saved me a lot of money and minimized that risk to my business since Day 1.”

Since implementing a GPS tracking solution, all fleet asset hours and kilometres have been accounted for, and the business has even found new efficiencies for dispatching and organizing job scheduling.

This privately owned Manitoba-based AutoConnect GPS customer has offered duct and furnace cleaning services to the Winnipeg region for over 12 years. They chose to share their story on the condition of anonymity to avoid upsetting customers who may have experienced inconsistent pricing or service from a former employee.

CHALLENGES

As a business that offers home services, it is important for this company to be able to place significant trust in employees. Since employees work outside of headquarters and direct supervision, it is expected that they will be responsible for company vehicles and equipment, and represent the business well. During routine asset maintenance, it was noted that the vehicles were putting on higher-than-average distance. After looking through scheduled services over the course of a month, the owner noticed unexplained unit hours and a higher fuel bill than expected. The suspicion was that employees may be taking some off-the-books jobs. 

SOLUTION

After talking with a colleague, the business owner decided to implement a GPS tracking solution on the vehicles that seemed to be working additional hours. The main goal was to keep track of assets in real-time and be able to compare the location to scheduled jobs for that day. Without having someone constantly monitoring the system, it was important for this business to be able to access the event history 

RESULTS

Within just a week, the business owner noticed that vehicles would wrap a job up, but stay in the area for an extended period afterward – often just a few doors down from the previously scheduled job. Alerts were set up to monitor the truck’s PTO, and the owner began getting texts notifying him that the duct cleaning unit was in use again, long after the job should have been finished.

When confronted with the data taken from the AutoConnect GPS system, an employee admitted that they had been going door-to-door after finishing a job, offering discounted services to neighbours for cash under the table. This resulted in a direct impact on the business’s bottom line. Additional fuel was being used, and vehicles and equipment were experiencing wear-and-tear with no compensation coming back to the business to cover costs. Thankfully, no incidents occurred, but the risk to the business’ insurance and liability was a real eye-opener.

Immediately after sorting out the moonlighting employee, the business owner reached out to AutoConnect GPS and ordered the system for his entire fleet. After realizing what had happened, the owner admitted: “I was shocked – I never would have expected this from any of my guys. Putting GPS in my trucks has saved me a lot of money and minimized that risk to my business since Day 1.”

Since implementing a GPS tracking solution, all fleet asset hours and distance travelled have been accounted for, and the business has even found new efficiencies for dispatching and organizing job scheduling.