MEASURES to prevent the unauthorised use of company vehicles are helping to reap financial savings of up to £10,000 a year for newspaper group The Scotsman Publications.

The company has fitted a tracking system into 33 vehicles that reports minute-by-minute movements over the internet.

The Masternaut system provides an ‘out-of-hours’ alert system that uses email or a text message to notify fleets of any vehicle movements during non-working hours. It also allows bosses to monitor daily deliveries and inform retailers of any newspaper delivery problems.

Rob Kelly, The Scotsman’s transport and distribution manager, said: ‘By monitoring vehicle activity both during the working day and out of hours we have reduced our total mileage, giving us an estimated saving of more than £10,000 a year. The vehicle-based reports also enable us to reduce unplanned maintenance and vehicle downtime.’