3 Reasons Why Traffic Congestion Continues to Hinder Fleet Productivity

Last month, the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) released research that revealed a dramatic uptick in U.S. traffic congestion from 2014 to 2015, totaling more than 996 million hours in lost productivity and generating $63.4 billion in operational costs. 

Just a five-minute delay of vehicles each day, according to UPS, costs the company upwards of $105 million per year, so imagine what a typical hour-long traffic jam on Los Angeles’ Route 60 would cost a fleet. 

These findings build on ATRI’s earlier study of highway traffic data from 2012 and 2013, which reported 728 million hours of down time. What contributed to the additional 268 million hours lost between then and 2015? ATRI has determined three main culprits:

1. Surge in police-reported crashes and fatalities due to motor vehicle crashes (the highest in 50 years).
2. Increased economic growth and e-commerce sales.
3. Inclement weather patterns across the northeastern U.S. in January 2015. 

The causes listed above could be seen as extenuating factors—simply out of a fleet’s control—but what many businesses have yet to realize is that GPS fleet tracking can offer relief. 

A GPS fleet tracking system provides fleet managers with visibility into patterns and inefficiencies that would otherwise go unseen, like reoccurring pockets of congestion. They can then proactively identify the most efficient routes, or redirect drivers on-the-fly, to avoid common bottlenecks and lengthy traffic jams.   

While it’s true that weather interruptions cannot be avoided, GPS fleet tracking software does significantly decrease the risk that accompanies driving in these harsh conditions. At its core, this technology is a navigation tool, and fleet managers can use these capabilities to their advantage during inclement weather to mitigate risk, physical danger and business losses. 

When leveraged correctly, GPS fleet tracking software checks all the boxes for alleviating the three main causes of traffic congestion: Not only is productivity maintained (rain or shine) for growing number of e-commerce shipments, but safety is ensured for both drivers and citizens, as well.  

To learn more about the many benefits of GPS fleet tracking tools, visit Vehicle Tracking Systems