Lantern Recovery Specialists, an independent breakdown operator operating in the UK, has announced that it has renewed its contract with Masternaut, a pan-European telematics provider.

Lantern, which uses Masternaut’s vehicle-tracking solution to coordinate its UK fleet of recovery vehicles, made the decision to extend its partnership after reporting a marked reduction in fuel costs and a significant improvement in vehicle utilization since installing the technology, according to the company.

Delivering an around-the-clock emergency call-out service to its thousands of customers, Lantern required a tool which could increase the flexibility of its fleet while cutting down on associated fuel costs. The company chose Masternaut’s technology following demonstration of the solution’s ability to monitor the real-time whereabouts of each of the fleet’s vehicles via remote, web-based software, according to Lantern.

“The implementation of Masternaut’s technology across our fleet has led to a number of direct business benefits,” said Peter Blackmore, Corporate Manager at Lantern, “so extending our contract was not a difficult decision to make. Lantern is now able to offer an improved level of customer service thanks to a more streamlined, efficient fleet. What’s more, we are saving a significant amount on fuel as a result of a reduction in unnecessary time spent on the roads by our drivers.”

As part of the initial implementation, Lantern also brought on Masternaut’s mobile compatibility software which enables full reports, real-time updates and customized job alerts to be delivered directly to employees’ mobile devices. As breakdowns are flagged via the system, fleet managers are able to send an instant alert detailing full job descriptions to deploy the nearest driver to the incident.

As such, the technology has facilitated a reduction in waiting time for roadside recovery services, while Lantern’s customer service and call center teams now have the tools to more accurately manage customer expectations, with full visibility of the recovery vehicle’s location and expected arrival time, according to the company. Lantern has retained this functionality as part of the three-year contract extension.