Fleetmatics has come to the rescue in a big way for its customer, UnitedWorldwide, a Boston private car service.

On Nov. 6, a UnitedWorldwide fleet vehicle was stolen. Within 15 minutes, Terry Murtaugh, the company's co-owner, located the vehicle; sent police to apprehend the thief; and got the car back to the driver so he could resume business as usual in just over two hours.

The new SUV was stolen in front of the Boston Ritz Carlton Hotel at 7:30 a.m. when the driver was making a routine drop-off/pick-up. Murtaugh was immediately notified of the theft and contacted Boston Police. Using the Fleetmatics fleet management software solution, Murtaugh was able to track the vehicle in real-time and provide Boston Police with its exact route, speed, and location.

As the stolen vehicle pulled onto a sub-highway heading north, local police transferred Murtaugh to the Massachusetts State Police, and within a matter of 15 minutes they had pulled the vehicle over and apprehended the thief. The undamaged vehicle was returned to work by 10 a.m.

"Every day that a vehicle is out of service, it's lost revenue for us," said Jason Dornhoffer, co-owner, UnitedWorldwide. "Our cars typically cost us between 40 to 50 thousand dollars and the fact that we were able to recover it and get it back into service within two to three hours is a miracle. It saved us thousands."

Founded by Murtaugh and Dornhoffer in January of 2006, UnitedWorldwide has been using Fleetmatics to support its growing business since 2011. The company primarily uses Fleetmatics to ensure the safety and compliance of its drivers, reduce fuel consumption and day-to-day wear and tear of its fleet of 14 vehicles, train drivers, track where vehicles are in between jobs, and improve customer service through speedier dispatching.

Fleetmatics helps large companies and SMBs alike to significantly increase mobile workforce and fleet productivity, safety and security, while decreasing costs related to fuel consumption, unauthorized use, payroll discrepancies and more.