A nightmare for any city came to life for New Orleans, now they are having to pay the consequences to help make the circumstances better. Reported in the city’s audit released two weeks after OIG (Office of Inspector General: U.S. Department of Health & Human Services) issued an audit on the city’s fuel dispensing program, […]
A former fleet management employee of Acension Parish in Gonzales, Louisiana has been arrested for stealing $7,200 worth of gasoline. When the investigation is complete, the total cost of the theft could be as much as $50,000. According to sheriff’s investigators, Corey Richard, 36, stole approximately 2,007 gallons of fuel during June using parish fuel […]
A long-time fleet supervisor with the City of Knoxville has been fired for taking home city equipment. In December, Michael Smith was placed on administrative leave with the Knoxville Police Department looked into allegations he had misappropriated some of the city’s Fleet Services equipment. Smith, who was hired in 1990, was a fleet supervisor at a heavy […]
NBC 7 reviewed federal audits and discovered around 260 instances of gas theft committed by government workers since 2010 totaling more than $2.4 million. The government workers, including two from San Diego, filled up their personal vehicles using gas cards that were funded by taxpayer money. The U.S. General Services Administration distributed more than 590,000 […]
Ten New Jersey Transit employees, including three who were fired, have been disciplined after GPS tracking discovered fraud, abuse, and waste. NJ Transit has outfitted 480 vehicles with GPS systems. NJ Transit spokesman, John Durso Jr., says of the measure, “This was a proactive, cost-savings initiative taken by NJ Transit,” and confirmed the disciplinary action […]
After the scandal, county supervisors launched an internal investigation and began installing GPS tracking devices inside the sprayers’ vehicles. What they found them doing during work hours was unbelievable.
Earlier this year in Muskegon Cunty, Michigan, rumors were spreading that city employees were not working when and where they said they were. A county judge, John Ruck, became suspect after hearing rumors that a handful of city employees were misusing city vehicles and decided to take action.
He rallied enough support and money from the county and the state to purchase several vehicle tracking systems. Ruck then ordered someone to install the tracking systems inconspicuously in the trunk of several county owned fleet vehicles. The GPS tracking systems started gathering information in June.
Court administrators reviewed the vehicle tracking system data for several weeks looking for discrepancies. According to Ruck the process was simple – look at the employee’s time card and where the car they checked out was located.
Then lo and behold, the GPS tracking system data revealed that three county workers were not working while on the clock. One spent several hours at a golf course, another at the gym. Both resigned when confronted about the abuse. A third employee, whose error was not as egregious, is going to be disciplined.
GPS fleet tracking devices are now being used by Washington County to make huge improvements in county operations, monitor employee behavior, productivity and reduce unauthorized vehicle use. Washington County, located in the state of Tennessee, contains over 800 miles of rural highways. So tracking and managing its fleet over 24 pickup trucks 24/7 has been quite a challenge.
Why did Washington County install GPS tracking devices?
Because Washington County is so large and spread out, the County’s highway superintendent, John Deakins Jr., was struggling to manage all of the County’s mobile employees. He had received reports that employees were sometimes taking long lunches and using county vehicles after hours, which was not authorized usage of the County’s fleet vehicles. Before installing GPS tracking devices into the county’s vehicles, pinpointing the truck’s exact locations was nearly impossible. There were times when he needed to locate and dispatch the nearest vehicle and driver to a time-sensitive job. Also Deakins Jr. was concerned about speeding, optimizing routes and reducing fuel consumption due to budget constraints.
Deakins Jr. chose the best solution to solve these fleet management problems. He installed GPS fleet tracking devices into all of his vehicles. The results of installing the GPS system have been impressive. According to Deakins Jr., “We saw a lot of abuse and reports of county vehicle misuse. I went online one day and researched GPS tracking devices. When you have that much territory, it helps to have these devices.”
