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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.
At first Keil Southworth of Albertina Kerr Centers was unsure whether the FieldLogix GPS fleet tracking system would really help him to cut costs. So he decided to start with a few trial units to evaluate the product. He quickly realized how valuable and useful the system would be for his fleet. Once the trial […]
GPS devices are an invaluable tool that modern society is completely dependent upon. The GPS market has drastically grown worldwide on account of increased use of the technology in areas of fleet management, aerospace applications/avionics, transport navigational systems, public safety, and others. GPS technology has proven its worth as huge benefits are being drawn from this technology to obtain precise position, velocity, and timing information of various devices.
According to an RNCOS research report released yesterday, “World GPS Market Forecast to 2013”, the contribution of the Global Positioning System (GPS) technology to the world economy has shown a steady growth in the last decade. The global shipment of GPS devices is anticipated to reach around 900 Million Units by 2013, growing at a CAGR of more than 20% during 2011-2013, acknowledged RNCOS in its latest research report.
GPS Tracking Without a Warrant – Should It Be Legal?
How would you feel if the police put a GPS tracking device on your vehicle without having a warrant? Without your knowledge, they would be able to track your movements quite well. If the police did this to you in order to gather evidence used to accuse you of a crime, you might rightly feel that your constitutional rights have been violated.
After all, the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects people facing criminal charges in California and across the United States from unreasonable searches and seizures. Logically, you could assume that placing a GPS tracking device on a person’s car without a warrant would be precisely that type of unreasonable search. However, law enforcement authorities would like to be able to do just that. The U.S. Supreme Court recently agreed to take on a case that will address this precise issue.
In 2005, Antoine Jones drove around with a GPS tracking device inconspicuously attached to his Jeep. He had no idea the GPS device was attached to his vehicle. The device recorded the vehicle’s every movement, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for about 4 weeks total. Law enforcement agents placed the tracking device on his vehicle without first obtaining a court ordered warrant.
Did you know that if you lose your iPhone, you can easily track down its location using an app and the phone’s GPS system? There are several apps available that can help. These apps use your phone’s GPS to pinpoint its location, in some cases to within a few meters. Some of them let you remotely erase the data on a missing phone and even take a photo of a person using the phone, if it has a front-facing camera.
Find My iPhone is a free app that can locate a missing iPhone. It can be used by anyone with an iPhone 4, iPad, or 4th generation iPod touch (iOS 4.2 or later required).
TomTom just launched an innovative GPS navigation device. Now, with TomTom’s new GO LIVE 153 5M GPS device, users will be able to read reviews, or find and book a hotel, as well as check local gas prices and weather forecasts through TomTom LIVE’s other apps and services.
GPS navigation devices have typically been limited in their ability to tell you where you should go, unable to provide a way to choose between the three local motels and the five Mom-and-Pop restaurants in town. Services like Yelp and TripAdvisor solve this problem in useful ways, and TomTom is taking advantage: On Monday, according to PC Mag, the company announced the TomTom GO LIVE 153 5M, which combines the navigation power of TomTom with the reviews and information of related apps.
The GO LIVE 1535 M gives away its features in its title. The LIVE portion references the TomTom LIVE services, which connect TomTom devices to the Web and allow them, in the case of the 1535M, to access sites like Yelp, Trip Advisor, Expedia and Twitter. Right from their GPS, users will be able to read reviews, or find and book a hotel, as well as check local gas prices and weather forecasts through TomTom LIVE’s other apps and services.
The Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) conducted a study recently to determine which vehicles were most often stolen in the US. The study results show the Cadillac Escalade is the most popular choice for car thieves
The study, based on insurance claims made for model year 2008 through 2010 vehicles, showed that the Escalade is six times more likely to be hit by thieves than the average vehicle, and its overall theft losses are more than 10 times as large. Matt Moore, a vice president at the institute, says the Escalade gets hit more often because “It’s so wildly popular as far as pop culture goes. Watching the TV you see professional athletes coming in and out of them and other celebrities too. It’s a status symbol.”
HLDI, which is part of the Arlington, Va.-based Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, calculated the rankings based on the number of thefts per insured vehicle on the road. The rankings are based on vehicles that were stolen, had parts such as stereo systems taken or had other property inside the car snatched. The data doesn’t include uninsured vehicles or those covered by the 20 percent of insurance companies that don’t report their numbers to the institute.
Gas prices have been fluctuating up and down recently. Drivers were hoping gas prices would continue decreasing but yesterday prices reversed directions and actually increased slightly.
The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gas on Thursday $3.58, up one cent from one day ago but down 11 cents from one month ago., according to the AAA Fuel Gauge Report. One week ago, gas prices were the exact same price.
Two weeks ago, the gas prices were averaging $3.63 per gallon, down from $3.70 the week before, and $3.95 in May. As anticipated, gas prices continued inching downward, hitting $3.56 on Monday, before creeping back up to $3.578 on Thursday.
Though the increase at the pump was less than a penny, it’s noteworthy because the experts predicted prices would steadily decline throughout late summer. No one knows if this will happen or not, but many experts are expecting gas prices will fluctuate over the next couple of weeks and then begin a continuous decline after the Labor Day holiday weekend. Several experts are predicting that the price of gas will likely fall to about $3.50 per gallon on average by the end of September.
According to Jessica Brady, a spokesperson for AAA Auto Club, “No matter how optimistic investors try to be at this time, they can’t ignore the sluggish economy seen both here in the U.S. and abroad. Retail gas prices have consistently decreased throughout the past few weeks and are expected to continue the decrease into the Labor Day holiday.”
Garmin Nuvi GPS 2012Yesterday Garmin revealed its 2012 line of Nuvi personal navigation devices (PNDs). Garmin is simplifying its entire product lineup down to three tiers, plus the company is upgrading its navigation and traffic engines.
Choosing the best nuvi for any given lifestyle has never been easier as the 2012 models are categorized as Essential, Advanced and Prestige. New to the 2012 line are the advanced Guidance 2.0 and 3.0 navigation engines for a faster, more intuitive user interface and enhanced features that result in Garmin’s most capable navigators yet.
Many people have the notion that a cell phone-based GPS system is cheaper and just as effective as a vehicle installed GPS system. However, GPS tracking via cell phones is unreliable for business purposes. A cell phone GPS system may be good for providing directions occasionally, but it doesn’t perform the way an in-vehicle GPS system can.
In addition to providing navigation and optimal routing, a vehicle tracking system can save business owners time and money in numerous ways including: cutting fuel costs, increasing business efficiencies, improving asset management, optimizing vehicle maintenance, improving customer service and reducing your carbon footprint. Cell phone GPS will not help with any of these issues.
Here is list of some of the primary differences between a cell phone GPS system and a vehicle installed GPS tracking system:
