# Satellite tracking improves effectiveness of donated clothes collection

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2005/10/02/satellite-tracking-improves-effectiveness-donated-clothes-collection/
- Published: 2005-10-02T23:00:00+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

Help the Aged has equipped 160 of its collection vehicles with a new in-cab wireless
data and satellite tracking system from Masternaut, which is helping boost efficiency
and productivity in the charity’s plastic bag donated item scheme.
Operating over
the Web, the Masternaut service provides electronic communication with live tracking
and provides a real-time log of the movements of each vehicle.

The service is being used by the charity’s fleet of vans which make collections 
of donated clothes from homes across the UK for sale in its network of 380 shops
acorss the UK.

Help the Aged has now equipped most of its fleet of vans with the service.

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“Masternaut gives us real control over the fleet with vital management information
that we simply did not have before. It is already clear that we can make big improvements
in the way we use the fleet” said Jon Evans, Retail Administration Manager of Help
the Aged.

The dashboard-mounted Masternaut Vehicle Data Terminal device has a LCD screen and
provides live two-way communication. It will be used for assistance requests, safety
reporting and the recording of operational information such as mileage and the number
of bags dropped and collected.

Help the Aged is now implementing Masternaut’s route and schedule planning software
that will allow routes to be optimised.

“This is where we can make real productivity improvements and reduce our ever increasing
fuel bills.” said Jon Evans.

It is too early to put a figure on the financial benefits to Help the Aged, but 
it is already clear they will be more than enough to recoup the cost of Masternaut
system” he added.

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