PROVING actual time worked is the bane of many company Directors lives when their staff or contractors submit hand written timesheets, but for a roofing company based in Eastwood Nottinghamshire, switching over to a vehicle tracking system from Remote Asset Management - that provides the company with highly accurate e-timesheets, has delivered huge savings!
Ashgate Roofing fitted a fleet vehicle management system from www.remoteassetmanagement.co.uk (Remote Asset Management) to its fleet of seven vehicles. The results, after just a short period, showed a substantial amount of time was being over claimed by its employees.
“We suspected that our staff were booking on earlier and booking off later compared to their actual hours, but we had no way of proving it,” said Andy Fell, Managing Director at Ashgate Roofing Systems.
“We knew we needed a vehicle tracking system and were fortunate to see what the Remote Asset Management vehicle tracking system was able to provide. It was easy to use and could give us a very detailed report of how our van and vehicle fleet performed – including what hours they actually worked! We think that we may save up to £15,000 in fuel due to a reduction in wasted journeys, more accurate time reporting and the ability to charge clients more accurately for time expended”.
Tracking vehicle movements right down to street level, the Remote Asset Management vehicle tracking system provides a clear and concise report of vehicle activities, all accessible at the click of a mouse. As a web-based system, users can gain access outside the office, in any location globally where there is an available Internet connection.
“Aside from keeping track of time worked, the Remote Asset Management vehicle tracking system has allowed us to become more proactive in providing ETA’s to customers. This has helped our customer relations efforts no end,” continued Fell.
“We can also use the Remote Asset Management vehicle tracking system to log both work and private mileage of our vans, which has become a major concern since the change in the taxable benefits earlier this year. We can provide everything that the taxman needs in seconds thanks to a special report that is generated by the Remote Asset Management vehicle tracking system, leaving us free to get on with running our business.”
Many companies across the UK have become very concerned about the negative effects from the change to the van benefit charge. Drivers, who use company vehicles for personal reasons, could face a £3,500 van benefit charge, which represents a 600% increase over the previous year’s liabilities in addition to the NI contributions associated with company vehicle and van use. Employers can also land themselves in hot water with NI contributions and a penalty for any incorrect declarations made.
Recently, Remote Asset Management’s (providers of the Remote Asset Management vehicle tracking system) reported that over 50% of new business has had a reference to the changes in the van benefit charge.
“We’re covered,” added Fell. “By implementing the Remote Asset Management vehicle tracking system we have given ourselves peace of mind that we’re saving money and staying on the right side of the taxman at the same time!”
The Remote Asset Management vehicle tracking system is operational in thousands of vehicles, vans and cars; across hundreds of companies and is reportedly saving firms millions of pounds each year, quickly recovering the monthly cost of the vehicle tracking system – and much more!
CloseSLEEPY-head workers that were contracted by Roofsafe UK have had a sudden wake-up call as the firm has fitted a fleet management system from www.remoteassetmanagement.co.uk, a rapidly growing force in the vehicle tracking market, across it’s fleet of nine Ford Transit vans.
Hourly paid sub-contractors are being vehicle tracked to ensure that they are on site at agreed times, and that a fair day’s work is done for their client Roofsafe UK, a leading safety net and scaffolding company based in Wakefield.
“We wanted a vehicle tracking system that would give us an instant snapshot of where all of our drivers and vans are at any given time,” began Dave Powell, General Manager at Roofsafe UK.
“We knew that we were paying for hours that weren’t being worked, but had no way of proving it. When we saw the vehicle tracking system supplied by Remote Asset Management, the level of detail it provided greatly impressed us. I can check at the click of a button to see if all of the workers are on site at 8am and not still in bed! It has meant that we’ve had to change the teams a bit, but I’m now happier that we are getting around 300 hours work a week instead of 200. That could be a difference of around £10k per week!
“Having a vehicle tracking system also means I have to shout a lot less,” joked Powell.
The Remote Asset Management vehicle tracking system allows companies to monitor vehicle activity down to street level, which can be used in many circumstances – such as locating the closest vehicle to a job, monitoring time on site and even recovering a stolen vehicle.
“There’s a lot of extremely useful information that I can get from the Remote Asset Management vehicle tracking system, and I’m sure we’re just scratching the surface at the moment, but the most used vehicle tracking report is known as the ‘Stop Report’.
“We use this to calculate how long a vehicle is stationary – something we do on a weekly basis now! It provides us with enough detail to use it as proof to a client that a vehicle was on site at an agreed time.
“We might get a client say that they were waiting on site for our worker, but we can show to the exact minute where the vehicle was, refuting that it was our fault in most situations. I can even fax or email the report over as confirmation!”
The Remote Asset Management vehicle tracking system is operational in thousands of vehicles; across hundreds of companies and is reportedly saving firms millions of pounds each year, quickly recovering the monthly cost of the system – and much more!
“Essentially, we know that we can have a highly productive workforce that runs in an efficient way by using the Remote Asset Management vehicle tracking system – which is simplicity itself,” concluded Powell.
CloseFOLLOWING the guiding principle that: ‘Good Service is of Paramount Importance’, SLK Interiors of Wakefield has taken proactive measures to implement a vehicle tracking system, from www.RemoteAssetManagement.co.uk, to keep all of its customers up to date with the location of its decorators at any given time.
SLK Interiors wanted to add another tier of service to its already impressive track record of satisfied customers. The addition of a vehicle tracking system gives SLK the clarity of its operations on a real-time basis.
“Our customer base is mostly made up of retailers,” said Steve Kittrick, Managing Director of SLK Interiors Limited.
“Having us decorate their shop or superstore can mean in some cases a certain amount of downtime for them, which is why we need to be as punctual as possible. We have garnered a reputation for our punctuality, but we wanted to go one step further to be able to provide real-time information about the location of our decorators – particularly in the case of unforeseen traffic problems.
“On the few occasions where traffic has slowed down one of our drivers, we could have vastly improved our customer service by reporting the live tracking location to the customer, rather than guessing how long it’ll take to arrive. The Remote Asset Management vehicle tracking system allows us to add that extra level of customer service into our business.”
SLK operates a vehicle fleet of 5 Renault Traffic vans, covering contracts in the UK and abroad. Employee wages are paid on a two-tier system. The first rate is paid for travelling and the second rate when they arrive on site and begin work.
“We’ve found that there is now less travel time and more work time,” laughs Kittrick. “At least we can now back up these times with the new vehicle tracking system. I’d say we’ve seen an extra 20% in productivity and saved a small fortune on the travel and work rates – by at least 10% extra in profits. The cost of the vehicle tracking system is recovered within the first 2 hours of work!
“Having direct control over the vans at any point in time has given us the opportunity to react immediately to a potential problem and maximise the efficiency of the fleet.”
The vehicle tracking system provides SLK Interiors with a valuable anti-theft device, which fortunately hasn’t had to be used yet. The insurers fully recognise the benefit of the Remote Asset Management vehicle tracking system and immediately discounted the SLK van policy by 5%.
“We may seem like a small company on the outside, but our operation is truly working on a huge scale with this vehicle tracking system at the core. The control and flexibility gives us a distinct advantage over all of our competitors,” concluded Kittrick.
The Remote Asset Management vehicle tracking system is reportedly saving UK industry many millions of pounds each year and has become a major player in the and and vehicle tracking telematics market since its inception just three years ago.
CloseAS vehicle fleet costs continue to rise rapidly across almost every sector, Applied Heating Services Limited - a Tyne and Wear-based heating maintenance company, has managed to shave hundreds of pounds off its mobile van overheads each month after fitting a vehicle tracking device from remoteassetmanagement.co.uk.
Keeping fuel and wage costs under control is already a mammoth task for many companies, but the recent change made by the Inland Revenue to the van benefit tax has alarmed employers and their mobile workers, as personal tax bills suddenly rose by nearly 600%!
“We had many good reasons to use a vehicle tracking system, but the change in the van benefit charge made a vehicle tracking system an essential requirement,” said George Cossey, Director at Applied Heating Services Limited.
“The change in the benefit means that van drivers, who use company vehicles, vans and cars for personal reasons, could face a £3,500 van benefit charge in addition to the NI contributions associated with company vehicle use. As we were just as accountable as our drivers, we needed a vehicle tracking system that would accurately show us the mileage done per vehicle and that was accepted by the HMRC.
“We looked around the market and saw many vehicle tracking systems, but the Remote Asset Management vehicle tracking system clearly stood out from the crowd. It wasn’t wrapped up in reams of nonsense sales bumpf – it was just a straightforward vehicle tracking solution that instilled confidence in its capabilities.”
The Remote Asset Management vehicle tracking system was installed across Applied Heating’s fleet of 4 cars and 2 vans. The company also received version 3.2 of the Remote Asset Management vehicle tracking system, which was recently enhanced with extra functionality to work with the HMRC demands, providing clear data that is easy to process and use as a company declaration.
“Monitoring the vehicles with a vehicle tracking system from Remote Asset Management, to comply with the HMRC, has also allowed us to crack down on unnecessary miles, which has resulted in a saving of over £400 per month on our vehicle fuel bills. This pays for the vehicle tracking system in itself meaning that it has cost us nothing to put the vehicle tracking system from Remote Asset Management in!”
Companies across the UK are reporting considerable savings after installing and using the Remote Asset Management vehicle tracking system for their fleet of vehicles such as lorries, vans and cars.
“We’ve had so many benefits from the Remote Asset Management vehicle tracking system. We can identify where our engineers are at the click of a mouse button, assigning the closest employee jobs as they arise. Reporting time spent on site is also a major bonus for us as it provides proof of service and allows us to bill our clients with great accuracy.
“However we do get the odd job where a client will allege our engineer was only on site for ‘no more than 35 minutes’. In one case we were able to prove that the so-called 35 minutes was actually two hours and 10 minutes! Prior to the Remote Asset Management vehicle tracking system we would have been lucky to draw a compromise, loosing valuable billed time,” concluded Cossey.
The Remote Asset Management system provides businesses with an intensive, yet intuitive vehicle tracking system that requires no upfront costs, making it a great solution for SME’s.
CloseMANCHESTER-based Wright Build Limited, a highly respected building maintenance company, has potentially saved up to £200k in the first 24 months after installing a fleet management vehicle tracking system from the rapidly growing www.RemoteAssetManagement.co.uk.
The Remote Asset Management vehicle tracking system, which is fitted to 33 transit vans operated by the company, has reportedly saved over £1k per week in over-claimed overtime, 3 hours per day in unnecessary travel and has successfully pushed productivity through the roof.
“We’d looked at a few vehicle tracking systems and even had a vehicle tracking system installed for a short while, but that was a waste of time and proved to be worse than useless,” said Lee McKenzie, Director of Wright Build. “We reinvestigated the vehicle tracking systems available on the market and found that the Remote Asset Management vehicle tracking system was a world apart from the rest. It is intuitive, accurate and most importantly – it works!”
Wright Build works mainly with local authorities and housing associations and needs to be accountable for all of the work carried out by the 95 engineers it employs.
“We knew there was additional overtime being booked and that vehicles were being used for private mileage, which concerned us greatly as we couldn’t actually prove it. Following the installation of the Remote Asset Management vehicle tracking system we were able to pick up and correct these issues, but thanks to the vehicle tracking management reports produced by the vehicle tracking system, we also saw some inefficiencies in the way our van fleet operated – an aspect that would have been impossible to see if not for the clarity of the vehicle tracking system.
“We’ve managed to shave off around 3 hours per day of unnecessary travel, and as a result, our productivity has greatly increased.”
Lee’s team encountered many situations where they needed to react quickly to a call, such as finding a specific part that is needed to complete a job. The engineer would return to base to pick up or order the part. Now, the company uses the Remote Asset Management vehicle tracking system to track it’s engineers and contacts those that are in close proximity to enquire if they are carrying the part and a quick exchange can be made.
“The vehicle tracking system is highly useful in proving that we’ve been in a location at an agreed time. There are times that a tenant will dispute that our engineer had been at a planned call, but they can’t argue against the Remote Asset Management vehicle tracking system ‘time at location’ report produced by the vehicle tracking system. We provide dates and times to our clients when this situation arises.”
“The Remote Asset Management vehicle tracking system is a common sense business tool that is saving us lots of money. It’s safe to say that it pays for itself many times over,” concluded Lee.
The Remote Asset Management vehicle tracking system is reportedly saving UK industry many millions of pounds each year and has become a major player in the telematics market since its inception just three years ago.
Martin Davies, Director of www.remoteassetmanagement.co.uk, said: “Our vehicle tracking system has been tried and tested by hundreds of businesses across the UK and – without fail – it has produced the results that we actively promote.”
CloseARGUS Security Systems Limited, a North West-based alarm installation and maintenance company, has installed a vehicle tracking system from Remote Asset Management, a leader in the vehicle tracking market and declared that it is costing them NOTHING!
The Remote Asset Management vehicle tracking system is operational in thousands of vehicles; across hundreds of companies and is reportedly saving firms millions of pounds each year, quickly recovering the monthly cost of the system – and much more!
Roger Wood, Director of Argus Security Systems Limited, said: “Installing the Remote Asset Management vehicle tracking system into our fleet of vans and a car just a couple of months ago has been one of the best business decisions we’ve made. It is already paying for itself, which means I’m essentially getting the vehicle tracking system for free!”
Argus Security installs and maintains alarm systems for residential homes and large commercial premises across the North West of England and operates a fleet of five vehicles, made up of four vans and one car.
“We wanted to check our engineer’s timesheets, as an auditable process to ensure that we were making correct payments for the time that was actually being worked. We’ve also had some issues in the past where a customer disputed the time we’d spent on site and needed to have a way of proving it in black and white and finally we were concerned about the major change in the Inland Revenue’s van benefit charge and how it would affect both us and our employees.”
Argus Security Systems actively searched the vehicle tracking market and evaluated vehicle tracking systems before choosing the vehicle tracking system from Remote Asset Management based on its crystal clear reports, accurate readings and easy to use software interface.
“Of all the systems we saw initially, the Remote Asset Management vehicle tracking system had the easiest and most intuitive user interface. We’re an SME and every penny does count, so the fact that we could use the system with no upfront costs and that it started to save us money from day one, helped our cash flow immensely.
“We’re now happy that the timesheets are accurate and thanks to the increased visibility that the vehicle tracking system gives us, we’re able to plan better routes and easily locate the closest engineer to a job within a matter of seconds. This has saved us money on wasted fuel and phone calls. We’re a safety conscious company too, so it helps that we’re not disturbing the drivers whilst they’re on the road,” said Wood.
Due to a change in the van benefit tax, drivers, who use company vehicles for personal reasons, could face a £3,500 van benefit charge, which represents a 600% increase over the previous year’s liabilities in addition to the NI contributions associated with company vehicle use. Employers can also land themselves in hot water with NI contributions and a penalty for any incorrect declarations made.
The new law does state that reasonable use may be accepted, such as a quick visit to the newsagents on the way to work, but shopping trips in either work time or out of hours is a taxable activity.
The HRMC expect employers to prove where their vehicles were at any given time and to confirm that it was being used for commercial reasons only.
“We were very concerned about the changes to the Van Benefit tax, in which we need to prove that a vehicle is not being used for private mileage in or outside of work time.
“To protect ourselves and our employees, we are now able to provide a declaration from the Remote Asset Management vehicle tracking system showing that the vehicles were not moved at the end of the day. We couldn’t have proven that conclusively in any other way without the Remote Asset Management vehicle tracking system,” said Wood.
CloseEtta Plumbing and Heating Services Limited
Etta Plumbing and Heating Services Limited is a leading Derby-based plumbing and heating company, providing a range of new installations and repairs to homes and businesses in the Derbyshire area.
They have a small fleet of seven vans, which are being tracked by the Remote Asset Management system, to provide a highly efficient auditable trail that proves the hours worked by their engineers and allows them to be more proactive when an emergency call comes in.
Their MD, Steve Jackson, told me: “We don’t need to call our engineers to find them now, we just take a quick look at the computer. This instant visibility is simply amazing, but coupled with the fact that the system operates over the Internet, means that I don’t even have to be in the office to find out who’s doing what!
“We can safely say that the system pays for itself and the gains in productivity are definitely noticeable, but one factor that does pay its dividends is the ability to invoice customers from the job reports that it produces. We can justify our chargeable rates and prove exactly how long an engineer was on site – it’s all there in black and white!
“Private mileage has always been a grey area in taxation, but the recent change in the way the tax is calculated will see many getting unfairly slapped with a £3,000 tax demand. Our engineers that don’t use the vehicles for private use are protected, as reports can be submitted to the Inland Revenue as proof.”
Close14th February 2007
TRACKING BIG SAVINGS FOR PROPERTY MAINTENANCE COMPANY WITH NEW VEHICLE TRACKING SYSTEM
WITH a 20% saving on fuel and communication costs and rising to become the number one service provider to their clients, DJ Taylor Contracts Ltd has not looked back since fitting a vehicle tracking system from the UK’s fastest growing Telematics provider, R.A.M - Remote Asset Management Limited.
DJ Taylor Contracts is a leading property maintenance company based in Liverpool. Running a fleet of 10 small commercial vans, they provide an on-demand service to housing trusts across the North West.
The company wanted a vehicle tracking system that could help them better manage their resources. Dave Taylor, Managing Director or DJ Taylor Contracts Ltd, said: “ We knew the best way forward would be to install a vehicle tracking system, but with so many available on the market we were unsure of which way to turn. “
It took DJ Taylor Contracts several years to evaluate the vehicle tracking market, but eventually they saw the system provided by R.A.M and were enthused about the potential of this tracking system within a matter of moments.
“After many hard sells, I was amazed by the fresh approach that Remote Asset Management took when demonstrating the vehicle tracking system. They understood my business, they knew our problems and most importantly, they were able to show me an immediate solution!”
The Remote Asset Management vehicle tracking system provides users with live GPRS access to the location – down to street level - of every vehicle, whether it’s a car, commercial van or lorry, within a fleet of any size; completely free of charge. The live tracking reporting facility gives a visual overview of where vehicles are at any time. It also provides instant alerts should a vehicle be within a set distance of a customer’s location. The historical reports replace the need for timesheets and provide an unquestionable proof of service.
“Since installation of the vehicle tracking system our KPI’s have improved to the point where we are the number one provider with many of our clients,” continued Taylor. “Our workforce is highly motivated and certainly less stressed as we can now assign the closest engineer to attend ad-hoc and urgent jobs, thanks to the ability to live-track a van.
“Client ‘no-access’ - where a customer fails to show up or access is barred - has always been a problem for us. This waste of time and fuel – let alone the inherent drop in productivity it causes - cost us dearly. Now with the Remote Asset Management vehicle tracking system, I can show that we were in a location at a pre-agreed time. This makes no-access provable, meaning that we can now get payment for them. This fact alone covers the cost of the system…the rest of the advantages is simply a value added bonus!”
The company has reported a 20% saving in van fuel and communication costs, all of which DJ Taylor has re-invested into the company in additional bonuses for the engineers.
“The Remote Asset Management vehicle tracking system is simplicity itself! In short, we love it. I just wish we’d installed it years ago when I think of all the money we could have saved to-date!”
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