Have you ever wondered if your drivers are calling in to say they’re done for the day well after they’ve gone home? Do you get complaints about their driving and wonder if the accusations are true? Do you wish there were better ways to know where your drivers are and how their jobs are progressing so you could assign more work to the ones who have availability?
Since Del-Mar Door Service implemented Trimble Fleet Management with the FieldMaster Supervisor app, they no longer wonder. They know exactly where their drivers are at all times, have reduced speeding by 100% and can defend themselves against false complaints with ease. And they can manage all of it on the go from the supervisor’s cell phone.
Providing round the clock service 365 days a year
Del-Mar Door Service provides installation, preventative maintenance and emergency service for automatic and manual doors, hardware, latches, locks and closers, turnstiles, revolving doors and sliding entrances, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The company, based in Middletown, Del., is a division of Door Services Corp., and relies on Trimble Field Service Management solutions to help fulfill its commitment to quick, quality service.
Choosing Trimble Fleet Management
When Del-Mar’s previous fleet management system became outdated a few years ago, the company decided to replace it with Trimble Fleet Management, which Dave Rowan, division manager at Del-Mar Doors, says is more precise in its reports than the other solution.
Trimble Fleet Management is a cloud-based solution that provides visibility into daily field service operations to help organizations identify, manage and improve operational areas such as driver safety, customer service, back office administration, fuel use and vehicle efficiency. The solutionenables managers and supervisors to make intelligent decisions using the real-time location and status of their vehicles, which enhances fleet productivity by identifying where improvements can be made to cut costs and boost efficiencies.
To make further efficiency gains, Del-Marrecently deployed Trimble FieldMaster Supervisor, a mobile app that helps streamline workflows and enhance service delivery. The app remotely ensures workers are at the right place at the right time with the information they need to do their job correctly the first time.
Tracking job progress with a mobile app
Del-Mar uses Fleet Management for a number of reasons, including verifying when workers start and end their shifts, monitoring speeding and keeping tabs on the whereabouts of workers. Monitoring worker locations is a major focus, which is why the Supervisor app has become essential to Del-Mar’s operations.
When the company deployed Fleet Management, Rowan set up geofences for his drivers so he’d know where they are when on a job. “One of Trimble’s experts came to our office and helped me configure the geofences for our use. If my workers go outside their area, I get an alert and I’ll shoot the technician a text to find out why they are out of the geofence,” Rowan said.
With the Supervisor app, tracking worker locations is even easier. To find out where a tech is and check on job status, Rowan needs only tap his smartphone a couple of times to get the information. “I’m the service manager and I’m often meeting with customers or surveying a job, so it’s important for me to know where my workers are,” Rowan said. “Now I use the Supervisor app daily when I am out in the field or at a meeting and need to check on my crew. It’s a great app.”
Managing techs with Teams feature
Rowan especially likes the app’s Teams feature, which can show a specific tech’s location by tapping on his or her name. The Traveled Path feature tells him where techs have been, what road they are using, how long they’ve been at each location, and their speed over the course of the day. “I can see when they are speeding and immediately tell them to slow down,” he said.
The app also lets him know when jobs are at risk of going unfinished so he can take action. If a job appears in jeopardy, or something prevents a technician from responding immediately to a customer, Rowan can communicate with the technician through the app. “It’s improved my efficiency and also saves time. I can access information while in the field. Otherwise, I would have to call the dispatcher to get their locations. It’s an excellent, very useful tool,” he said.
Building on Fleet Management’s foundation
The FieldMaster Supervisor app is helping Del-Mar build on the groundwork laid with Trimble Fleet Management. The original intent was to get accurate records of when technicians clock in and out. “Before we implemented Fleet Management, some drivers would be halfway home and then call to say they were done for the day. That could add an hour a day to their timesheet,” Rowan said.
But there are other important uses, such as tackling speeding.“It’s easy to speed in Delaware because it’s a long, thin state where major roads are highways. For my workers to get from point A to point B, they need to be on the highway at least 80 percent of the time. We set limits so we can see if they are within those limits,” he said.
Speeding invites traffic tickets and potentially increases the company’s liability. With Fleet Management and the Supervisor app, Rowan says, it is no longer a problem. “Last year we hired two technicians and, using Fleet Management, we issued speeding alerts to them. We haven’t had any problems since. If you look at it that way, Fleet Management has reduced speeding by 100 percent.”
Rowan says both drivers and dispatchers have enjoyed the benefits of Fleet Management. Drivers like the GPS capabilities and the protection the solution gives them if someone complains about their driving. Rowan can check performance data to determine if complaints of erratic driving are legitimate.
For their part, dispatchers like that Fleet Management tells them which technician is close to a job when they have to assign it. This has contributed significantly to the company’s efficiency and productivity. Simply put, “Fleet Management, and now FieldMaster Supervisor app, make our lives so much easier,” Rowan said.