One of the worries service technicians often cite regarding the use of GPS to track drivers is the dreaded “Big Brother” effect. And while nobody likes to be presumed guilty and have to prove their innocence through a clean GPS report, don’t companies have a right to know if resources are being wasted through dishonest practices in the field? That’s the subject of a new release from VelocitTRACKER, which reports their software has helped some clients save more than 20% on fuel costs — and that’s just on fraud alone.

It’s bad enough for service companies that fuel prices have soared at the rate they have — even with the price of gas dropping slightly in recent months it’s still closer to $4 than $3 per gallon in every region of the country as of July 18 — but some service techs have been taking advantage. Not anymore, in the case of companies using VelocitTRACKER.

How doe software detect all this fuel-related fraud? These findings were the result of an update to VelocitTRACKER which requires drivers to manually enter their vehicle’s odometer reading before going from one location to another, then entering what the odometer says after reaching said location. If the difference doesn’t equal what GPS mileage values says the distance should have been, well, the field worker may have some explaining to do according to the report published in Digital Journal.

Once CRC client was quoted as saying, “as soon as our reps knew we could accurately track their mileage and verify it against the GPS tracking in their mobile device, our fuel bill dropped by over 20% — while this doesn’t offset the total increase in the cost of gas, it does help immensely.”

Workplace morale and productivity often go hand in hand, and it still stands to reason that the most effective implementation of GPS tracking starts with selling the technology’s value to the service technicians who’ll be monitored. However, this report shows bad apples do exist in the field service orchard, and reports like these will only hasten the use of GPS tracking to increase efficiency in the field and reduce unnecessary detours and wasteful trips.

Read more about GPS on The SmartVan