Posts By: JC Strodula

Gas Prices Up 11 Cents in Past Month

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Currently the average for a gallon of regular unleaded gas is $3.69, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge Report. Today’s price is up 11 cents from one month ago, and up 96 cents from one year ago. Gas prices typically rise in the summer as demand for gas increases because more drivers are on the road.

Historically prices are highest in July and August because Americans drive the most during these two months, according to the Federal Highway Administration. Additionally prices also rise in the spring and summer as refiners switch to more expensive summer blends of gasoline. Federal and local laws require different additives in summer to preserve air quality, but more expensive additives tend to drive up the price.

There are several other factors that could push gas prices even higher. If the U.S. defaults on its debt, it would send shockwaves through oil markets that could push fuel prices even higher, analysts said Monday.

Many are also hoping that the hurricane season is mild this year, as a big storm could decrease the output by refineries. This would absolutely increase prices.

Gas Prices Rise for Third Straight Week

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Temperatures aren’t the only that’s been heating up across America this weekend. AA is reporting that gas prices have risen for the 3rd straight week. The national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline was slightly more than $3.70 on July 22, an increase of 8.58 cents in the past two weeks, according to the Lundberg Survey released this weekend.

A year ago, the price per gallon was $2.73, about 96.72 cents less than the current price. The average price for a gallon of gas in the United States rose for the first time since early May following an increase in the price of crude oil, according to the latest Lundberg survey, which includes data from over 2,500 gas stations across the continental US.

Prices in Tucson, Arizona were the lowest in the nation at $3.28 a gallon. Chicago drivers are currently paying the highest gas prices at $4.07 per gallon.

New GPS Fleet Satellite Launched Into Space This Weekend

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This weekend a GPS IIF-2 satellite was launched into orbit via a Delta IV Medium 4, 2 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket placed the navigation satellite into the Global Positioning System constellation for the Air Force. The powerful Delta 4 booster blasted away from Cape Canaveral’s Complex 37 at 2:41 a.m. EDT (0641 GMT) for a middle-of-the-night ascent precisely timed to deliver a critical replacement satellite directly into the GPS constellation.

Today’s GPS fleet is comprised of 31 satellites. “GPS is a global utility providing highly accurate position, navigation and timing services at no cost to billions of people,” said Jon Goodney, the GPS 2F deputy program director at Boeing. “Originally developed for military use, it’s since been adopted as the foundation of modern communications. GPS saves lives and enhances quality of living. And adding this GPS 2F-2 ensures the constellation will remain robust.”

Continuing a prolific partnership that has benefited billions of users around the world, this weekend the Delta rocket family successfully launched its 50th satellite for the Global Positioning System. It was the type of rocket flight that could appear routine. But replenishing the navigation network is vital to the military forces, civilian consumers and the blossoming commercial marketplace that have come to depend on GPS every day.

NYC Expands Green Fleet with 70 New Electric Police Vehicles

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New York City will be adding 70 electric vehicles to its police vehicle fleet as a part of an initiative to make the city more green. The city already has 360 electric vehicles currently being used by police. NYC has also launched new efforts to inform the public about the benefits of electric vehicles. The new vehicles include 50 Chevrolet Volts, ten Ford Transit Connect electric cargo vans, and ten electric Navistar E-Star utility trucks.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that the city’s new batch of electric vehicles includes 50 new “extended range” hybrid Chevrolet Volts, 10 fully electric Ford Transit Connect cargo vans, and 10 new fully electric Navi-star “E-star” utility trucks.

GPS Tracking App Can Help LA Drivers As Busiest US Freeway Shuts Down

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This weekend, July 16-17, the busiest freeway in Los Angeles is going to be shut down for more than two days (53 hours, to be exact). Poeple are calling the event “Carmageddon”.

The 405 Freeway will be closed between the 10 and the 101 for demolition and reconstruction of the Mulholland Drive Bridge. Freeway ramps will begin closing at 7 p.m. on Friday, July 15, with lanes shutting down at midnight on the 16th. The 405 won’t reopen until 6 a.m. on Monday, July 18.

Luckily for drivers there is a new app that is hoping to ease drivers’ pain. Waze – a new, unique, real-time, traffic application – was designed to help driver’s get around traffic. In Los Angeles, the company says more than 180,000 drivers are using Waze. And the company is working with local transportation experts to better prepare for “Carmageddon.”

Waze is a social mobile application providing free turn-by-turn, voice-activated GPS tracking navigation based on the live conditions of the road, while harvesting the traffic information that you’re providing. It blends real-time traffic information with the urgency of a social network. The more people that use the app, the better the information.

High Fuel Costs Compel City Fleets to Go Green and Use GPS Tracking

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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.

Dozens of cities across America are facing the same challenge: the effects of rising fuel costs. In Albany, NY the cost of keeping the city government’s fleet of vehicles on the road during the next fiscal year will increase by nearly $2 million because of rising fuel costs, officials recently said. That figure is up from the $1.6 million the city spent this last calendar year on fuel for its vehicles.

Albany Mayor Willie Adams used the fuel discussion to reiterate his position that every city vehicle needs to have some sort of Global Positioning System, or GPS tracking system, to monitor their whereabouts to ensure they aren’t traveling when they aren’t supposed to be.

“Nearly every corporation in the country has some kind of GPS or AVL (automatic vehicle location) device,” Adams said. “We’re a corporation and we need to keep track of our vehicles. That’s something I’d like to see on all of our vehicles.”

Gas Prices Up 7 Cents in One Week

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Weeks of declining gas prices have come to an end. Gas prices are on the rise gain, slowly but surely.

A gallon of regular unleaded gasoline is currently $3.63, up seven cents from one week ago. Gas prices are up 92 cents from one year ago, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge Report.

Rising oil prices over the last few weeks are the main reason for this month’s increase in gasoline prices. Oil prices are fluctuating day to day, but seem to be on an upward climb week by week.

Gas Prices On the Rise – Again

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Just when businesses and consumers thought they were in the clear – oil and gas prices have started to rise again. Gas prices certainly have come down in recent weeks, but they aren’t as low as last summer.

Two weeks after the U.S. and other 27 allies announced they were tapping domestic oil reserves (which temporarily knocked down the price of oil to almost $90 a barrel) oil is back around $100. And gas prices, which have been declining since May, are up over 4 cents since one week ago.

Oil is rising again as investors bet that the economies of many countries, including the U.S., will improve in the second half of the year, and global demand for petroleum will rise. While most experts agree that the world has plenty of oil, there are concerns that supplies could get tight as demand rises.

Parkhouse Tire Selects FieldLogix To Improve Fleet Maintenance

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Parkhouse Tire Uses FieldLogix To Improve Fleet Maintenance and Enhance Employee Supervision

For the past two years, Parkhouse Tire has been successfully using FieldLogix, an industry leading GPS fleet tracking system. The company has been expanding their fleet and recently doubled the number of FieldLogix devices installed in their vehicles.

Parkhouse Tire Fleet Manager, Joe Guerrero, said “I like the ability to see where vehicles are, where they have been, and how many miles each vehicle has been driven… I’ve been given ‘bologna’ by past employees who claimed to have started their day at a certain time but actually started later. Monitoring employees makes them more accountable.”

iPhone GPS Tracking System Catches Robbery Suspect Red-Handed

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This weekend two robbery suyspects were caught red-handed with a stolen iPhone and other items after a GPS tracking system on the phone led police officers to their exact location. This story is a good reminder to activate a tracking system service on your electronic devices if it’s available.

On Saturday afternoon an 18-year old woman named Lilli Gordon and her mother pulled into Rooster Rock State Park in Oregon for a quick pit stop. They were visiting from California and were on their way to the airport to fly home. While they were away from the vehicle, someone broke into their car and stole several items, including an Apple iPhone 4.

“When the incident happened I was really upset and I was pretty hysterical and crying. But on the way to the airport I was like ‘oh my God, if the phone is on my dad can track where it is,” Lili said.

The young woman, Lili, had just gotten the new phone a few days before the trip. When she bought it the clerk recommended she activate a tracking system program called Mobile Me that can track the phone through GPS.