Animal welfare charity, the RSPCA has enlisted Trimble’s telematics technology to help field and support staff rescue and collect thousands of animals throughout England and Wales every year.

The RSPCA is rolling out Trimble GeoManager in its vehicles across the UK, whose benefits include real-time visibility into the location of its vehicles on the road to help dispatchers make more informed decisions about which inspector is both best equipped and closest to any animal in need of immediate assistance.

The system will also allow the RSPCA Fleet Management Team to track the location and safety of animal welfare and collection officers involved with supporting the RSPCA charitable objectives.

This increased efficiency in scheduling can help the RSPCA in ensuring greater overall effectiveness in fleet management through reduced fuel use, lower CO2 emissions and increased driver safety.

As a charitable organisation, the RSPCA is committed to being as cost effective as possible, and the move to take advantage of telematics technology helps enable more efficient operations. In addition to fleet management capabilities,

Trimble vehicle diagnostic tools can also identify potential faults before a breakdown occurs, keeping vehicle downtime to a minimum while optimising the time and effectiveness of their fleet.

Nigel Yeo, director of operations at the RSPCA said: "It is incredibly important that we make the most of every penny we receive in charitable donations. Investing in telematics technology can help our inspectors in their daily work.

"RSPCA field staff can spend many hours on the road travelling to deal with complaints of cruelty or to attend to an abandoned animal.

"Some of the locations can be remote or difficult to find and having technology that enables us to find who is the closest at any given time will mean an animal is found much more quickly and this can help our staff enormously. In addition to quicker rescues and collections this could also lead to lower fuel costs; which is great news for the charity.”

Andrew Yeoman, managing director of Trimble Fleet Management in Europe said: "We are delighted to support the good work of the RSPCA. Trimble technology can help the RSPCA manage the challenges that fleets face in terms of fuel usage, responding to more calls and even promoting better driver safety.

"With the solution, the RSPCA can remain focused on the health and welfare of animals and more effectively manage their day to day operations."

The RSPCA has also invested in Trimble GeoManager DriverSafety, an advanced telematics solution that allows fleet managers to monitor driver behaviour, including speeding and harsh breaking. With this data at hand, recommendations on training can be made for individual RSPCA inspectors.

This means that both the inspectors and the animals they are carrying remain as safe as possible.