The driver, who was delivering parcels on behalf of online retail giant Amazon, was dragged from the vehicle before the thieves drove away. Luckily, he didn’t suffer any injury as a result.
Immediately after receiving notification of the theft, Practical’s director Naz Akram called the Simplytrak customer helpline.
He said: “Fortunately, the van was fitted with a tracker which has the functionality to immobilise the vehicle once the engine is turned off. So, I called Simplytrak to inform them of the incident.
“The Simplytrak team were excellent and they started tracking the van, so we knew where it was and then remotely immobilised the vehicle, so we were able to recover it.”
Immobilisation works by remotely sending a signal to the tracking device, which is wired up to the vehicle’s electrical supply, enabling users to cut the power to the engine to prevent the ignition from being turned on.
Upon recovery of the vehicle, Mr Akram noticed that the interior light and roof lining had been ripped out. These are areas where some other models of vehicle trackers are often located.
Simplytrak’s business development manager, Ian Wood, explains why their trackers are harder to locate: “Vehicle thieves are getting wiser and they know that tracking devices are becoming more popular, particularly in larger fleets.
“This is why our trackers are carefully concealed in a way that makes them difficult to locate so we never lose track of our customers’ assets, which is so important when immobilising and safely recovering vehicles.”
This incident came just days after the Sheffield branch of the Practical franchise experienced a similar theft. But the Simplytrak immobilisation feature came to the rescue then as well.
Practical’s Mr Akram added: “There’s a strong partnership between Practical and Simplytrak and quite a lot of the franchisees use them for tracking.
“Occasions like this really show the value of the system but what’s impressed us the most is the customer service we’ve received from the team at Simplytrak. They helped us to immobilise and recover this van swiftly, even on a weekend.”
Practical Car & Van Rental New Milton contacted Simplytrak after the event to consult if there was a way to prevent a similar event occurring. The Simplytrak team added geofences around restricted areas and ports which then alerted Practical New Milton if their fleet was at risk of leaving the country without prior consent.
Jon Wakefield, Managing Director at Practical Car & Van Rental New Milton commented,
“Once again we were able to use the immobilisation feature to our advantage until we made contact with the customer. The Simplytrak team were extremely helpful working with us to assist with future prevention. They created restricted areas in the system that now alert us before our vans potentially leave the country.”
Ian Wood, Business Development Manager at Simplytrak added,
“Our dedicated team regularly work with customers to assist them in utilising different areas of the system to improve their businesses. We’re happy that we were able to come up with a solution for the team at New Milton and that the Simplytrak system also ensured the safe return of their vehicle”.
At Simplytrak we are delighted to be able to offer our unlimited geofencing feature as part of vehicle tracking package at no extra charge. Get in touch for a quote and you might be surprised how small the cost is for peace of mind for your business. For more information on our fleet management system please contact Ian Wood our Business Development Manager at E: ian@simplytrak.com or on T: 01430879197.
Unfortunately, vehicle theft has occurred three times recently for the car and van hire company. Fortunately, the Simplytrak system has played a key part in locating and recovering the stolen vehicles on each occasion. Having recently installed the trackers on to their entire fleet, the company were able to immobilise each van immediately and mitigate their risk.
Practical New Milton could easily identify, through the Simplytrak system, the location of the stolen vehicle and pass the location on to the police. They police used the information to be swiftly at the scene of the stolen vehicles having been notified of their location. The vehicles were then recovered for the company. This was only possible through the effective use of the Simplytrak system. Once found it was an instant and remote process to remobilise the vehicles again.
The Simplytrak solution exceeds the expectations of many customers with its advanced features (part of a standard offering) and delivers many efficiencies to their businesses. The system uses turn-by-turn tracking, with a minimum of 60 second update, as standard. This ensures that the location is extremely precise and journey replays follow the roads perfectly. This is as ideal for locating a vehicle hastily if it is stolen, as it is for recording accurate mileage and fuel usage.
Practical Car & Van Rental of New Milton first contacted Simplytrak because they were looking to find a solution that did not rely on the authorities to find stolen vans. The immobilisation features fitted the requirement to a tee.
Jon Wakefield Managing Director at Practical Car & Van Rental of New Milton commented,
“We are extremely pleased that we are able to immobilise our vehicles, meaning that in circumstances like this locating and recovering is a quick and straightforward process. We chose the Simplytrak system with the immobilisation feature and the smooth resolution to the incidents highlights that we made the right decision.”
The case at Practical New Milton demonstrates a dramatic saving made to the customer of both time and expense by utilising the features of the Simplytrak system. Downtime and disruption compounding the actual theft itself.
Simplytrak CEO Andrew Johnson added,
“Although we always hope that events like this don’t occur, if they unfortunately do we are glad to hear that our solution has offered our customer a successful outcome. In this particular incident, we were able to immobile the vehicles for Practical Car & Van Rental New Milton to ensure that the vehicles could be located and recovered quickly. They also have this feature themselves so they don’t even need us to be involved each time.”
To learn more about how vehicle tracking and immobilisation can improve the management of your company or rental fleet please contact Ian Wood our Business Development Manager at E: ian@simplytrak.com or on T: 01430879197.
Having worked in the business for a number of years now I have heard a lot of bad press when it comes to our industry, tracking units going down all the time, no available engineers to fix issues, appalling customer service, features not compatible with their vehicles… the list goes on.
There’s also a lot of confusion too on pricing structures, what the different features mean and what type of tracker they need.
To put it simply, it’s not always made easy for the customer. Unfortunately, the confusion often leads to companies ending up with an unreliable vehicle tracking supplier. With this in mind I have put together a few key points that I think you should look for when making that important decision:
The range of features are extremely varied. First have a think about what you really want from your tracking system and what issue made you first think about vehicle tracking? This might be wanting to record accurate time sheets, decrease fuel consumption, look into driver behaviour or just know where your drivers are. This should give you an idea of what features you’re looking for. Something to be aware of is that some suppliers will offer different tiers of features with only the basic features covered in the pricing, making you pay more to add-on the features that you really need.
Prices can vary from suppliers and beware of low prices with hidden costs for installations and de-installations of the trackers. That doesn’t mean that there isn’t competitive pricing out there but vehicle tracking will become a very important and irreplaceable part of your company, so price shouldn’t be the only consideration. If it is you may be disappointed.
You really need to look for a company than can offer a local service, nationally. Well established companies will be able to offer a much more flexible approach when it comes to installs and service calls. You don’t want to be left waiting weeks for an engineer if there is an issue.
It is important to ask questions about the customer service team. Are they able to respond to queries quickly and promptly? How reliable has their service been in the past? You can even ask the supplier if they could put you in touch with other customers to voice your queries. If they are reluctant there could be a reason for this. All these questions are key for ensuring that you receive the very best service for your business.
Now comes the salesy bit…
Simplytrak offers all of the above as standard with 100% server uptime. After 16 years in the business, most of our customers come to us through recommendation, every customer is supported as if they were our only customer and if you are keen on price too we are just as competitive as any other tracking company, buy outright, or take a contract, whatever you want.
A Hampshire car and van rental company is able to keep sight of its fleet with cutting-edge turn-by-turn vehicle tracking provided by Simplytrak.
Practical Car & Van Rental of New Milton already had a vehicle tracking solution in place but there were a number of limitations to the system which meant it no longer met the business’ needs. In particular they were looking for a solution that had an immobilisation element, for protection if a vehicle was stolen.
The Simplytrak stolen vehicle tracking and immobilisation feature gives the customer extra security and reassurance if theft occurs. The innovative technology means that the time taken to identify the location of a stolen vehicle is significantly decreased and the chances of recovery enhanced.
The Simplytrak solution exceeds the expectations of many customers with its advanced features and benefits for their businesses. The system has turn-by-turn tracking, with a minimum of 60 second update, as standard. This means that the location is extremely precise as journey replays follow the roads perfectly. This is as ideal for locating a vehicle swiftly if it is stolen as it is for recording accurate mileage and fuel usage. Practical New Milton are also now able to monitor the whereabouts of their vehicles and a defined geo-fence on the system alerts the fleet manager to restricted out of bounds usage.
Jon Wakefield Managing Director at Practical Car & Van Rental New Milton was impressed with the features of Simplytrak solution, ‘We were really pleased to find a robust tracking system that has the immobilisation feature that the we needed. After seeing demos of other systems where the location tracking was less accurate, it was great to see how exact the Simplytrak system was when pin pointing a position.”
The system also offers the extra features that Practical New Milton needed at a comparable price point to the solution they had been using previously. “The competitive price point was also of high importance due to the number of vehicles we were installing the system into and an added bonus was not having any set up or installation costs at all.” said Mr Wakefield.
The contract with Practical New Milton demonstrates the diverse range of benefits that vehicle tracking solutions can provide in contrast to the more traditional benefits that Simplytrak’s solutions are regularly out sought for. The solutions are also all-inclusive with no stripped-down offerings or hidden costs involved.
Simplytrak Director Andrew Johnson added, “We are delighted to welcome Practical Car & Van Rental New Milton as a Simplytrak customer and it is great that they will benefit from all of the innovative features that we have developed as part of our vehicle tracking solutions. As a reliable and trustworthy solution provider, we offer an exceptional customer experience and many features that are often regarded as ‘extras’ we are pleased to be able to offer as standard. Simplytrak look forward to working with Practical New Milton for many years to come.”
To learn more about how vehicle tracking can improve the management of your fleet or rental fleet please visit our website or contact Ian Wood our Business Development Manager at E: ian@simplytrak.com or on T: 01430879197.
The Simplytrak servers hold a record of all the vehicle’s movement from the moment the units are installed until years after the vehicle has left the fleet. This means that the driver’s activities can be accounted for at any date and can be viewed on demand by the customer.
Through analysis of the fleet data, Simplytrak were able to conclusively establish with the customer that none of their vehicles were at the location where the incident happened, anywhere near to the dates/times involved. They also provided evidence for the Council’s legal team that this was the case.
“We really cannot thank you enough, both for the information and the speed at which you have delivered. In this case the report has proved that the vehicle alleged to have caused the damage was not in the area on either date” said the covering supervisor. Whilst the Council asked not to be named, the incident highlighted that fraudulent claims will not succeed if your fleet is covered by an effective tracking system from a reputable provider.
Andrew Johnson, CEO of Simplytrak, stated “Whilst we have one of the quietest customer service departments in any business, we are always happy to assist in these instances. Our systems are seriously robust so need little back up. However, whether it is assisting the police in pinpointing a stolen customers vehicle or a customer who, for whatever reason, cannot view their PC or smartphone app, we regularly help as an added service”.
To learn more about how vehicle tracking can improve the management and protection of your fleet and drivers, please contact Ian Wood our Business Development Manager at E: ian@simplytrak.com or on T: 01430879197.