The company says that smartphones and tablets are especially being used because of their ability to track processes through facilities such as GPS, imaging, time stamping and signature recording.

Ashley Sowerby, managing director at Chevin, said: ‘This is something that has been possible for some time but has only really taken off in the last year or so.

‘What mobile devices create is the means to independently record all kinds of fleet data that is useful for managerial purposes but also meeting legal requirements.

‘For example, if you have a requirement that all drivers on your fleet check their tyres for safety every fortnight, a mobile device provides the means to take an image of each tyre and to timestamp and record the location of the check.

‘This clearly provides a much higher degree of control and proof when it comes to risk management policies than a driver simply replying to a text to confirm that they have carried out a check.

‘Similarly, if a driver has an accident, then a mobile device provides an ideal means to record information about the incident on the spot including images and even contact details for witnesses.

‘This kind of auditable, high quality information could potentially help to reduce incidences of fleets being the victims of insurance fraud, for example.’

Fleet software suppliers were responding to this trend by introducing products that allowed sophisticated recording of information to be carried out by drivers, he added.

‘We introduced our own FleetWave Mobile a year ago and, as expected, have seen it used in a commercial vehicle fleet context to track and record fleet processes, whether products or services.

‘However, we can also indentify a definite parallel trend where fleets see the potential of mobile devices to introduce a higher degree of control over the activities of company car drivers as well.

‘Fleet managers have identified the technology as a means to access better quality information with the aim of improving key metrics such as maintenance costs, risk management and carbon footprint.’