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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.
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:
Yesterday firefighters found a woman and her three young children who became lost while hiking Meriden Mountain at Camp Sloper in Southington, Connecticut. The mother of three ultimately helped rescue herself and her family using the GPS tracking system on her cell phone. Good thing there’s a cell phone signal up there!
The woman and her three children, aged 6 to 9, began their hike around 6:30 p.m on Monday evening. They hiked up the mountain and became lost after stepping off the trail, according to Fire Lt. John Folcik. The woman called 911 around 8 p.m. and remained on the phone while Southington and Meriden firefighters searched for the stranded family.
Gas prices have continued to decline in recent weeks. The average retail price for a gallon of unleaded regular gas in the US is currently $3.56, down 3 cents from one week ago, and down 13 cents from one month ago. This is the third week in a row that gas prices have declined, following five weeks of increases.
A gallon of diesel gas is currently averaging $3.87 per gallon, down 2 cents from one week ago and down 8 cents from one month ago.
Oil prices, which account for about 65 percent of the cost of making gasoline, closed Monday at about $84 a barrel.
In Mexico many families are constantly living under the threat of being kidnapped. It is a scary but true reality. Kidnappings are up 317 percent in the past five years, according to a recent Mexican congressional report.
Wealthy and upper class Mexicans living in fear of being kidnapped are turning to GPS tracking devices as a precautionary measure. People are spending thousands of dollars to have GPS tracking-enabled RFID chips implanted under their skin and the skin of family members.
However, scientists are claiming the tracking devices don’t work, according to The Washington Post.
The chip, implanted in the tissue between the shoulder and elbow, sends a signal to a GPS tracking device that the wearer carries. The chip relays a signal to an external Global Positioning System unit the size of a cellphone, but if the owner is stripped of the GPS device in the event of an abduction, Xega can still track down its clients by sending radio signals to the implant. The company says it has helped rescue 178 clients in the past decade
According to the Post, this claim seems very unlikely to be true.
