The supervisor of Wallkill, NY decided to add a GPS fleet tracking system to each and every city-owned vehicle. Town supervisor, John Ward, says he hopes many other municipalities will embrace GPS fleet tracking technology because it can help the city save money, become more efficient and can help police to patrol the town more effectively.
Mr. Ward decided to add a GPS fleet tracking system to Walkhill’s entire fleet of 93 vehicles. The town paid $27,000 for the tracking systems. The city expects the tracking systems to pay for themselves within a year.
The new fleet tracking system will allow department heads to monitor routes, idling time, how fast vehicles are traveling and when they are ready for routine maintenance. “Department heads know where their trucks and cars are, what they are doing and where they are going,” said said Glemming. “The data is secure – no one can change it. It will help the municipality create routing efficiency, which saves wear and tear on vehicles as well as expenditures for fuel, which is skyrocketing.” In addition to department heads, the supervisor and town board have access to the tracking data.
“Even as we speak, gas prices are going up,” said Ward. “It is a huge expense for every business and every municipality and is growing. We need to operate as efficiently as possible.”
Assemblyman Marc Molinaro also discussed the use of GPS for municipalities to increase efficiency and cut out redundancy of services at a recent town hall meeting. “I’d like to see this initiative expand statewide and to the county level to help us use the technology in a creative and effective way. The technology is there, so why not make the most use of it?”
Wallkill is using a GPS fleet tracking system from Tracking Systems, Inc. Owner Bob Glemming, whose company is based in Montgomery is an authorized distributor for Vehicle Path, says a “geo-fence” around the town’s borders will help the municipality streamline deliveries and cut down on redundancy of services.