Managing a mobile workforce can be challenging. Your field employees represent your company, not just to your customers but to the general public as well. And those people are your future customers, so making a good impression on them directly impacts the bottom line of a service business.

Michael Bandas is the Project Coordinator for Field Management at Alison Service Company, an electrical, plumbing, and general contractor specializing in retail stores based in Hesperia, California. He recently had an experience that perfectly illustrates why every employee is responsible for presenting the company in the best possible light.

Like many businesses, Alison Service Company maintains a fleet of vehicles used by their employees to get between job sites. And like many businesses, they have provided these vehicles with a sticker carrying an 800 number for other drivers to use to report driving issues.

“We got a phone call on one of the trucks regarding an employee who was speeding excessively,” said Bandas. “The woman who called provided the general location and the date and time she witnessed this.”

The woman also reported that the driver was throwing trash out the window of the truck.

When Bandas initially confronted the driver with this information, the driver denied it. In some cases it might have ended there. But Alison Service Company also uses Fleet Manager, the fleet and workforce management system from GPS Trackit. GPS tracking units are installed on their service vehicles. The devices provide very accurate location and performance information.

“Our drivers were told that the tracking system was installed,” said Bandas. “This driver denied speeding.  He’d only been with us a few weeks, so we decided to cross reference the time and location information with the Fleet Manager portal. We played back his vehicle trail from the time period and he was 15-plus miles per hour over the speed limit on a freeway.

Bandas says he’s been called on something before himself.

“I know how it feels. But it all added up. We had to let him go.”

Bandas followed up with the woman who called.

“She was a business owner herself. She has people in cars. She just wanted to give us a heads up.”

How does Alison Service Company feel about Fleet Manager?

“We’re pleased as can be,” concluded Bandas. “It has already served it’s purpose well.”