With warm weather afoot in most of the U.S., Fleetmatics dug into its data to paint a picture of the landscaping industry’s activity during this time of year, as well as offered a few pointers for companies to not lose sight of how to be productive amid the busy season.
Derived from approximately 19,000 landscaping service-based vehicles that use Fleetmatics’ fleet management technology, the study determined the following findings about its average users:
- vehicles travel 111 miles on average every day;
- vehicles work 9.5 hours a day, with some working as much as 11.4 hours a day; and
- vehicles see a 22 percent increase in productivity in the warmer temperatures versus colder, averaging 8.3 stops per day in the spring/summer and 6.8 stops per day in the winter.
Additionally, Fleetmatics pared down the top 10 states where landscape professionals work the most hours:
- West Virginia
- New Mexico
- Colorado
- Alabama
- Utah
- Minnesota
- North Dakota
- South Carolina
- Louisiana
- Oklahoma
On how to bolster productivity, Fleetmatics hit on three key players to any landscaping company: the customers, the crew and vendors/suppliers.
To ensure customers receive great service at a fair price, confirm crew members have all the information and materials they need to complete a job before they hit the road. Even consider reminding them of the basics such as their expected arrival time, frequency and duration of the job, the best route and the services to be provided while on site.
Fleetmatics also noted companies can keep complete visibility of their crews by utilizing a vehicle tracking solution on all the trucks in its fleet for a look into who is speeding, making hairpin turns or even stepping on the gas harder than they should. With such information, foremen can turn reprimands into coachable moments and create best practices.
Lastly, Fleetmatics advised crew leaders to carve out 15 minutes at the end of their shift to plan out the next day, particularly to streamline communications with suppliers—albeit for those scheduled phone calls or random visits from vendors.
