AutoAlert’s Richard Harris explains the benefits of using technology to monitor every aspect of your vehicle to save money on expensive fines. Transport for London’s new Low Emission Zone (LEZ) has been in service since February 4 for vehicles entering London. Haulage companies were given 28 days to ensure their vehicles were prepared for the change and this time has now expired. It’s becoming harder for commercial vehicle operators do their job: traffic congestion, road works, stiffer competition or rising costs can effectively ‘strangle’ a company.
The LEZ in London is the latest extra charge to the UK road system, and if vehicles are not ready for it, it could mean regular fines of £200, crippling cash flow in many businesses.
The LEZ is enforced using fixed and mobile cameras which read your vehicle’s registration number plate as you drive within the zone. If your vehicle doesn’t meet the LEZ emission standards or qualify for an exemption or discount, you will have to pay the daily charge.
Having technology that tracks vehicles can be invaluable to a fleet manager. Systems are available that can provide alerts if a vehicle has entered the zone, reducing penalty charges or ensuring you don’t pay if you haven’t gone into the area.
Monitoring services can ensure that vehicles can be alerted to zone boundaries and be redirected if necessary. This can be extended to routes which, if the circumstances were bad, could lead into the zone with no room for turning around.
At the click of a button, it’s possible with some systems to download complete reports as to which vehicles were in the zone, when, and when they came out. This is also useful for admin purposes and cross-checking payments. Some companies are working on systems which automatically pay the charges.
It is of course, important to make the change to ‘greener’ vehicles but in the meantime, it’s a big step change for those companies who simply cannot afford the cash in the business to make the necessary changes – especially in larger fleets.
Tracking technology is not a ‘fad’ that will simply die out. Fleet owners who invest in systems like this can reap the rewards, and as the cost of the technology goes down, it becomes more accessible to smaller fleets.
There are added benefits to using track and trace technology. As well as simply alerting users to areas of interest like the LEZ, systems can tell fleet managers if the vehicle is running, whether it was started with a key, its location and speed, and also plot the most efficient route to a destination.
AutoAlert
Richard Harris, MD
Tel: 0207 394 7457
www.autoalert.me.uk
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