Now may be the perfect time to invest in a GPS tracking system since the federal government will essentially pay for a large portion of it. Thanks to the extension and increased deductions with IRS Piggy-BankSection 179, businesses can write off up to $500,000 for equipment purchased during 2011.
FieldLogix, an industry leading fleet tracking system, launched an online Fuel Efficiency Driver Training Program this year. The program helps drivers recognize and change habits that waste fuel.
Even drivers with years behind the wheel can improve their skills and driving performance with a fuel efficient driver training program.
A few simple changes in driving techniques can produce sizable fuel savings of 5 percent or more, according to the EPA. Fleets that improve fuel economy by at least 5 percent through driver training and monitoring programs can save more than $1,200 per truck each year in fuel costs and eliminate 8 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions per truck each year.
Drivers will probably pay record-high gas prices during the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday week.
The current national retail average price for a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline is $3.40. Today’s price 51 cents more expensive than one year ago.
Despite a lagging US economy and Europe on the verge of collapsing, oil prices surged past $100 a barrel yesterday. Experts are predicting this may drive gas prices higher in coming months. The last time crude oil settled at more than $100 per barrel was June 9.
Geotagging is when a device such as an iPhone, Android smartphone or digital camera stores your location or geographical information, such as your GPS coordinates, within a photo or movie file (such as .jpg or .mov files).
Nearly all smartphone cameras geotag the photos they take. So it is important that you check the settings on all of your cameras, cel phones and other image-recording devices, because you could be disclosing details of your life and you might not even be aware of it.
How to Protect Your Privacy and Disable Geotagging
There are several ways, and some of them are better than others.
When Jake Ackerman purchased Central Jersey Equipment, a John Deere dealership, the company had been in business for over 30 years and included several seasoned employees that were “too set in their ways.” At the time, Mr. Ackerman said managing his mobile employees and equipment was a daunting task and he “needed more control” so he decided to purchase FieldLogix’s GPS fleet tracking system.
Mr. Ackerman said, “You can’t manage what you don’t measure. FieldLogix’s tracking system has helped me to see which employees are the most effective and which ones are not. Now payroll is based on hours spent working, not just hours clocked in, so there’s real accountability. Not only are we saving money, but we can reward the drivers who are delivering the best results.”
Upon installing the FieldLogix fleet tracking system, Carlos’ suspicions were immediately confirmed. By using the tracking system’s activity reports, he found that his “honor system” was being abused by his employees. By having an accurate way to measure daily work hours, his overtime costs dropped immediately.
In fact, his overtime costs dropped by more than 2 hours per man per day with no change in the workload. Based on Carlos’ calculations, he paid for the entire first year of the system within the first 18 days.
FieldLogix, a San Diego company known for its innovative fleet tracking solutions, announced today that it has been named a 2011 TechAmerica High Tech Awards winner in the Outstanding Emerging Growth Category.
“We are honored to be selected as a winner for the 2011 TechAmerica High Tech Awards” said Yukon Palmer, CEO of FieldLogix. “This recognition validates the unique innovation of our system and its enormous potential.”
FieldLogix was recognized for the Outstanding Emerging Growth category, based on its innovation in the telematics industry and its proven ability to not only survive an economic recession, but even grow during it. “Because a fleet tracking system can provide an ROI in less than six months and immediately reduce fuel consumption, plus produce ecological benefits, companies both large and small are utilizing them to create profitable, sustainable fleets.”
GPS fleet tracking devices have become very helpful for Municipalities looking to trim costs and improve operations. Faced with the impact of rising fuel costs on the city budget, local leaders are realizing the importance of “going green” and utilizing a fleet GPS tracking system.
GPS tracking apps for iPhone and Android can help keep kids safe this Halloween. Shows where kids are located, and can notify parents if children wander away.
This morning the Dept. of Public Works in Prince George’s County, Maryland, rolled out a fleet tracking system pilot program for the city’s snow plows. The fleet tracking system was launched at a time when residents neeed it the most – after a big storm.
A huge storm pounded the Northeast this weekend. It dumped over 30 inches of wet, heavy snow that snapped power lines and trees, causing widespread power outages. Over 3 million people lost power throughout the Northeast, said the Wall St Journal.
Without a fleet tracking system, there is no way to verify a snow plow’s location. Until today, residents had no idea where the snow plows were or when they were going to show up in their neighborhood. Now residents can call in to the city fleet’s command center and find out when the next snow plow will be arriving. This feature is very useful, especially in times of a big storm.
A brand new type of vehicle tracking system was launched this month by the Indiana State Police (ISP) to help officers identify and locate drivers with invalid or suspended licenses. ISP said of the more than 4 million licensed drivers in Indiana, there are more than 222,000 suspended drivers and over 30,000 other drivers who have had their license to drive revoked for five to ten years or even for the rest of their life.
The vehicle tracking system is called a License Plate Reader. Indiana police began testing the tracking system in June 2011. The system needed a few tweaks during test mode, but Indiana police say the system can successfully read Indiana license plates.
ISP’s goal is to help prevent accidents similar to the one that killed a construction worker in early October. Police said Spencer Woods, 29, sped through a construction zone around, hitting a construction flagger who was directing traffic away from crews building a barrier on Interstate 465. Woods’ license was suspended at the time of the crash. He also had an eight-page driving record that showed several citations for driving without a license and without insurance.
Archived Routing Information – FieldLogix offers present-time and archival routing information so he knows where drivers have traveled and where they are heading. By combining location- and time-based information, he can easily track the exact number of hours to charge customers and verify employee hours worked. This helps with accurate billing, payroll, and fewer overtime hours.
Bailey said, “My guys travel quite frequently but FieldLogix gives me the exact time when an employee started a vehicle, when he arrived or left a job site, and when the vehicle was shut off. l know exactly how long the employee took at each site and how long they worked during the entire day.”
Now that the iPhone will receive GPS data from 55 GPS satellites total, the iPhone GPS system is able to look at both satellite constellations at one time and leverage them to get much more accurate location data. This greatly increases the chance the phone will be able to find its precise location, zeroing in on where you are within a couple of dozen feet, instead of the vague light-blue circle encompassing several city blocks that many iPhone owners are used to.
Waze is a social mobile application that was designed to help driver’s get around traffic. It provides users with free turn-by-turn GPS navigation based on the live conditions of the road. The GPS technology company just confirmed that it has raised another $30 million in growth funding, led by Horizon Ventures and Kleiner Perkins Caufield […]
Sentencing was delayed yesterday for a man who recently plead guilty to cyberstalking a woman in San Diego, CA.
According to court documents, the ex-Navy man, Michael Lutz, made hundreds of calls to a woman’s telephone and tracked her through GPS tracking technology after she made clear their relationship was over. He once chased the victim throughout a shopping mall, followed her into a women’s bathroom and climbed under a locked stall to confront her.
Lutz made hundreds of calls to the victim, tracked her with GPS tracking technology on her phone, and illegally downloaded a program onto her computer that allowed him to spy on her Internet use, according to prosecutors.
Troy Suhr of Alpine Materials used to have a lot of problems managing his 14 delivery drivers. Every morning he would meticulously plan out his drivers’ routes, but his drivers would often make unscheduled stops or would take too long at deliveries, which would completely throw his plans off. So he decided to research fleet tracking systems, because he “needed more control” of his employees out in the field.
Troy said, “Customers waiting for a delivery would often call wondering when their materials were going to arrive. So I would have to track down the driver on my cell phone and try to figure out where he was and reassess when he would arrive at his next delivery. Then I would have to call the customer back. It really ate up a lot of my time.”
So Troy decided to take control of the situation and purchased FieldLogix+Nav for his entire fleet. Since then, FieldLogix has greatly improved his operations, customer service and driver safety. “It makes planning the day so much easier,” said Troy. “I like not having to worry about whether or not my employees have made it to a stop, are on the way to a stop, or have left a stop…. I have more peace of mind knowing my guys aren’t speeding or driving recklessly.”
In a recent police crackdown in England, named Operation Tramline, a man was caught using a laptop and drinking a hot cup of coffee while driving. Another man was seen eating a pear with a knife while driving while a third motorist was seen writing down the answers to a quiz on the radio.
Distracted driving has become a real problem. Not only is it illegal, but it is dangerous. “I hear, almost daily, accounts of people who are injured while texting,” said Dr. Angela Gardner, president of the American College of Emergency Physicians. Gardner said “It has stopped being an oddity when we hear that someone was texting and has a wreck. Now it’s more of a fairly common occurrence…While sending out a status update during a leisurely drive may seem innocuous, it only takes a moment for distracted drivers to become vulnerable.”
According to Sgt. Paul Diamond, 84 vehicles in Operation Tramline were stopped due to offenses being witnessed, and of these 55% were commercial vehicles, according to BBC News.
Pharmacies and supermarkets across the US are being equipped with a real-time tracking system that registers sales of products with pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient for making illegal meth commonly found in cold and allergy medications.
Next time you or a loved one catches a cold, chances are you will head to the local drug store and purchase an over-the-counter (OTC) medication to relieve the symptoms. If your local market has the real-time meth tracking system installed, the tracking system will scan a picture of your I.D. and record the amount of drugs bought. It also can show the cashier if you have exceeded the amount you are legally allowed to buy. The cashier can then refuse to sell to a customer that has exceeded his or her limit.
