A MAJOR grounds maintenance firm has fitted internet tracking and fleet management system to 290 of its vehicles to pinpoint their location throughout the UK. Oxford-based Continental Landscapes has installed Global Telematics' Orchid system so that managers in its 28 depots can identify where their vehicles are at any time.

The company employs 800 people maintaining parks, golf courses, housing estates and highways. Managers can follow their vehicles' movements and plan routes and times via www.orchidtrak.com. Paul Rhys Davies, fleet manager at Continental Landscapes said: 'This level of on-demand management information is vital for success in today's increasingly mobile business environment.

'It's no longer practical to expect that decision makers will be available at a fixed location whenever they're needed but, with orchidtrak.com, these managers now have the ability to log in, immediately identify the location of all vehicles under their responsibility, and make whatever decisions are required from wherever they are.'

Nigel Porter director of technical at Global Telematics claimed: 'While other companies are only now catching on to the potential of delivering telematics services over the internet, Global Telematics has set the agenda for the benefits available for this sort of solution.'