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Fleet management systems have been around a while and have become so complex that it has evolved into Field Resource Management. This article explores 5 reasons why all fleets need at least a basic Field Resource Management system.
Gas prices have continued to rise all week. On Friday March 25, 2011, the current average for a gallon of unleaded fuel in the US is $3.561. The average for a gallon of diesel is $3.946, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge Report. One week ago gas was slightly less, averaging $3.54 a gallon. One month ago the average was $3.19 a gallon, an increase of over 37 cents.
Gas prices topped $4 a gallon this month all over Southern California – from Los Angeles to Bakersfield, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and many, many more cities. The current average for gas in California is $3.993 a gallon. In San Diego, many drivers cannot find gas for less than $4/gallon. In downtown San Diego, gas is going for $4.20 per gallon of unleaded regular.
Some experts have said that gas prices in California may have peaked. Others do not agree.
GPS jammers are illegal in the United States and restricted in Europe. However, laws in some other countries are less clear.
2) Jamming devices can easily be ordered online. GPS jammers are marketed and sold online as gadgets to protect personal privacy and prevent someone from tracking your movements. On the internet there are GPS jammers being sold for as low as $33.00 at the Jammer World .
3) Some say that GPS jammers are dangerous to society. “The worry is that factories in China are starting to churn these things out,” says Peter Large, vice president at Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Trimble, which develops advanced positioning systems. “If they did start to proliferate, it could have devastating consequences.”
4) Some people believe the devices can be useful and people should have the right to buy them. FOrt example, Michael Kharkovoy, CEO of Jammer-Store, told Fox News that GPS jammers can be stowed easily in a car or a bag and can help avoid spy detection — say, from a spouse who suspects infidelity and plants a GPS tracking device like the Zoombak in a car.
GPS jammers work by disrupting frequencies in one of the often used GPS bands. GPS system signals are pretty weak, so it’s fairly simple for a jammer to interrupt or interfere with receivers such as portable navigation devices.
A recent report by the U.K.’s Royal Academy of Engineering on the vulnerability of the GPS system said that jammers are a threat that could affect both individual GPS devices and the GPS system’s basic infrastructure. Although the threat of someone using GPS jammers in a major terrorist attack is quite low, it is possible, and the military is certainly keeping that in mind as it has been trying to protect the GPS system from these types of weaknesses.
But the jammers ability to interfere with individual navigation devices is a much more likely scenario. GPS jammers can wreak havoc when they get into the wrong hands. Criminals and car thieves can use GPS jammers to get away with bad behavior
According to a recent report by the U.K.’s Royal Academy of Engineering on the vulnerability of the GPS system, GPS technology has become a ubiquitous part of our everyday lives. We are all dependent on the GPS system whether we know it or not. Although the report pointed out weaknesses in the GPS system, most people agree the chances of a successful terrorist attack or interference with the GPS system is quite low.
Professor Peter Sommer from the Information Systems and Innovation Group, London School of Economics, welcomed the report findings but stressed the GPS systemic risk was relatively low. “It is not so unimportant that we should not be doing anything about it,” he said, “but the suggestion that it is going to be easy for terrorists to cause any long term, large scale disruption is entirely fanciful.”
March 24, 2011 – Gas prices this week remain high this week. According to the AAA Fuel Gauge Report, the national average for a gallon of unleaded gas is hovering around $3.55. Diesel gas prices have steadily been increasing, and the US average is $3.94 a gallon. In California, regular gas is at $3.98 average and diesel is at $4.33.
The Chicago Department of Fleet Management is benefiting from forward contracts because the forward contracts set the city’s purchase price for unleaded and diesel fuel before the price of oil and gas shot through the roof. Gas prices have shot up roughly 37 cents in the last two weeks alone.
Forward gas purchase contracts are part of the City’s fleet management efforts to protect their budgets against rising gas prices. The higher the gas prices go, the better the decision to lock in prices looks.
China is planning to launch its own GPS system – one that will rival the GPS system in the US.
At a news conference yesterday in Beijing, a world renowned GPS technology specialist said that China will start to offer a GPS service aimed at drivers in 2012. The new GPS navigation service for drivers will use own China’s own GPS satellite system named, aka Beidou.
Gas prices in San Diego have been very high lately. The current average for a gallon of regular unleaded gas in the US, according to AAA, is $3.547. In California, the average is $3.969. It’s going to be hard to find a gallon of unleaded regular gas for less than $4 a gallon this Spring in California.
The Utility Consumers’ Action Network (UCAN) tracks gas prices at hundreds of gas stations in San Diego. Charles Langley of UCAN said he was uncertain about where gas prices are heading, but it wouldn’t surprise him if the price topped $5.00 a gallon this summer, according to KPBS.
Gas prices are high and are expected to stay that way for the next few months. A gallon of regular gas in the averaged $3.549 on Monday March 21, 2011, almost 38 cents more than one month ago, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge Report.
Gas prices have steadily been on the rise. One month ago, gas prices were at $3.163. One year ago gas prices were at $2.820, which is 73 cents less than today.
One week ago, gas prices were at $3.558 so prices have eased up a bit over the last few days
