The day Travis Seeger knew he needed a fleet management solution with GPS cameras happened three years ago.
One of his techs at Chesterfield Service had been in an accident in one of its trucks. Thankfully, the tech wasn’t seriously injured. But Seeger, the co-owner of the residential and commercial plumbing, HVAC and electrical shop, wanted to know what happened.
“The tech said, ‘This gal was pulling onto the roadway and she didn't look my way. She just went.’ Our tech tried to avoid the car and wound up catching the back end of his truck with the front end of hers,” Seeger said.
“And it spun the truck around and wound up rolling over.”
The woman told the same story and took responsibility for what happened.
But what if she hadn’t? What if she lied and said it was all the tech’s fault? Then what would’ve happened?
Seeger couldn’t shake that thought.
“Thankfully there was a corroborating story. But that could have gone completely the other way had that person said, ‘No, he just hit me and then rolled his truck.’”
That day, Seeger knew he needed a better GPS solution. He found one two years later: Fleet Pro.
Protect Against Liabilities: Fleet Pro’s video event capture aids in timely insurance claims and reduces liability, while real-time alerts notify you of route deviation and risky driving behaviors via email, text, or in-app notifications.
That’s just one of many features that sold Seeger on Fleet Pro.
Critical fleet data
Chesterfield Service started using a GPS system to track its trucks roughly 10 years ago.
“The very first (GPS) that we put in the trucks, we found that a tech had a favorite QuikTrip, which is cool and all. But it was like 20 minutes outside of his actual call route,” Seeger said.
“(And when he) came back he was like, ‘I just went to QuikTrip.’ And we’re like, ‘Dude, you went 40 minutes (out of the way)! What the heck?’"
Fleet Pro has the same feature.
Eliminate Side Jobs: Fleet Pro’s GPS tracking allows you to detect unauthorized vehicle use, while geofencing alerts you if trucks are being used outside of working hours or at locations unrelated to assigned jobs.
But there are other features related to GPS and maximizing efficiency that integrate within ServiceTitan. Things like…
Ensure Payroll Accuracy: Fleet Pro’s proprietary Automated GPS Timesheets Integration intelligently updates technician timesheets according to GPS data, saving you time and protecting you from excess wages or wage theft claims.
Maximize Billable Hours: Unexpected breakdowns due to lack of maintenance hurt productivity and your bottom line. With Fleet Pro, your technicians can stay on top of regular maintenance by receiving notifications when it’s time for service.
‘More information, the better’
Seeger’s favorite feature is the cameras.
With AI-enabled cameras, Fleet Pro offers immediate smart detection of problematic behavior, such as distracted driving, smoking, and phone use. And in-cabin alerts notify drivers of unsafe behaviors in real time.
“I'm a proponent of the front and inside facing cameras. Just the more information, the better,” Seeger said.
“We had some pushback from our guys when we were installing (the cameras). They were like, ‘I don't want to be on camera.’ And I'm like, ‘Guys, you're on camera 98% of your life right now, whether you know it or not. I understand you feel a little violated. But I'm not planning on logging into this thing to watch you drive down the road. That's not the intent. The intent is, if there's an issue, we're going to look at it. And if you were doing something dumb, we're going to have a conversation.’”
Chesterfield Service went live with Fleet Pro in the fall of 2023. But Seeger didn’t think he’d be using the camera feature so quickly.
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Eyes everywhere
In the first month that Chesterfield Service started using Fleet Pro, the office received a call from a tech.
“Hey, I’ve been in an accident,” the tech said.
Everyone involved was OK. The tech explained what happened: He was on the highway in bumper-to-bumper traffic, a car quickly cut ahead of his truck, and he didn’t have enough time to stop. It was a fender-bender.
Seeger reviewed the video via Fleet Pro. And the footage played out exactly as the tech explained it.
“(It was nice) to be able to go back and have verification that (our tech) was doing what he should have done,” Seeger said. “It turned out not to be a big deal.”
Moving forward, Seeger is excited to lean into the other features of Fleet Pro. He just hopes he doesn’t have to use the cameras often.
“It's like insurance,” Seeger said. “I'm glad I've got it. But I don't want to use it.”
