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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.
School boards are under pressure to not only provide a safe, reliable transportation service to school children and their parents, but also to run as efficiently as possible in light of today’s budget restraints. A GPS tracking system can make a school bus fleet more profitable, plus it helps to keep children safe.
Which is why last week in Prince County, Maryland, a local school board voted and approved to upgrade the school system’s fleet of buses with new GPS tracking systems.
The new GPS tracking system will provide several benefits to the school bus fleet. In addition to being able to guide drivers who have gotten lost, the system will be able to track if a bus is speeding and send e-mail updates. Previously, the only way to know would be to do radar checks or rely on complaints. The system can also monitor bus driving patterns to make sure drivers operate their vehicles efficiently, eliminating unnecessary idling, observing speed limits and not taking detours.
Hundreds of thousands of pets go missing every year, and according to the National Council on Pet Population Study and Policy, only 15 to 20 percent of lost dogs and only two percent of lost cats are ever returned to their owners. Pet owners can now put their minds at ease as they no longer have to worry about their dog or cats getting lost, thanks to Tagg—The Pet Tracker.
Tagg is a GPS-enabled, wireless pet tracking system that enables pet parents to monitor their animals’ location. Tagg provides peace of mind for any pet parent by providing them access to their pet’s whereabouts via a mobile phone, mobile device or computer.
The Tagg pet tracking system uses advanced GPS technology to enable pet owners to know where their pets are and be notified if they wander off. Tagg uses a sophisticated combination of GPS and wireless technology to monitor a pet’s location and quickly notify the owner via email and/or text if the pet leaves its Tagg zone, the area where it spends most of its time—typically the home, yard and adjacent areas.
Did you know that a lot of smart phones encode the location of where pictures are taken? Anyone who has a copy can access this information. If you or someone yu know snaps a photo of you and then uploads it to the internet on social media sites such as Facebook or Twitter, it is very easy to figure out exactly where the picture was taken.
Browser plug-ins and certain software programs can reveal the geotag location information of your photos and movies to anyone who wants to see it. Location information (GPS coordinates) stored inside photos can reveal your home address, work address, places you visit often, etc. Geotags can make it very easy for people – friends, family, bosses, spouses, parents – to know exactly where you are.
While this may be disconcerting (especially for parents of teenagers!) the good news is disabling geo-tagging on your phone is easy.
Twitter is the social-media platform that lets users communicate in short posts called tweets. It is very common for Twitter users to snap pictures using their mobile phone and to instantly upload them to Twitter. But users should beware, because you may be sharing more than just a photo. You may actually be revealing where you live, work and play.
Ever snapped a photo with your phone, then uploaded it to post on Twitter? You may have shared more than just an image. ICanStalkU.com was set up by tech consultants to alert Twitter users that their smartphone pics are embedded with GPS data, making it so easy to determine your precise latitude and longitude that “a first grader could stalk someone,” says cofounder Larry Pesce. For its part, Twitter’s image-hosting service strips geotagged data from phone-uploaded pics, but third-party services like TwitPic are still vulnerable. Twitter has twice suspended ICanStalkU’s account, calling the site’s cautionary tweets spam. But Pesce says, “If we thought of it, someone else much more evil and smarter has been using it.”
Did you know that GPS location data can be recorded when someone takes a picture of you?
According to the New York Times, when Adam Savage, host of the popular science program “MythBusters,” posted a picture on Twitter of his car parked in front of his house, he let his fans know much more than that he drove a Toyota Land Cruiser. Embedded in the image was a geotag, a bit of GPS data providing the longitude and latitude of where the photo was taken. Hence, he revealed exactly where he lived. And since the accompanying text was “Now it’s off to work,” potential thieves knew he would not be at home.
Geotagging is when a device such as an iPhone, Android smartphone or digital camera stores your location or geographical information, such as your GPS coordinates, within a photo or movie file (such as .jpg or .mov files). The tricky thing about geo-tags is that they are invisible to the naked eye. Geo-tags are part of the meta-data, or underlying data about the data, that accompanies each file. The problem occurs when you or someone you may know are geo-tagging your photos and then uploading them to the internet – especially social media sites like Twitter. When social media users take a picture or video and upload it to their page, they are probably transmitting far more data than they think.
Garmin just released a new GPS navigation App for the iPhone called Garmin StreetPilot. Garmin StreetPilot App gives iPhone users an intuitive Garmin interface for everyday navigation– without tapping into your dataplan. The Garmin StreetPilot App offers mapping, free real time speed camera alerts, traffic avoidance options and a host of other options for efficient routing, simple effortless planning and stress-free travel whether driving or on foot.
The Garmin Street Pilot App has advanced navigation features such as Garmin’s exclusive PhotoReal junction view , lane guidance, 3D buildings, trip planner, trip computer, Garmin’s “Where Am I?” safety feature and free real-time speed camera information including the location of temporary mobile cameras, based on real-time feedback from the ‘Speedwatch’ community.
With ultra-fast map drawing, panning and zooming, the preloaded maps and Points of Interest offer coverage even when there is little or no mobile signal available. So just as with a Garmin Nüvi, the maps and directions are always there when you need them most – especially when you can’t get cell or Wi-Fi signals or your dataplan is running low.
Dunphy’s ExtermaPest Cuts Gas Costs by $700 a Month For a 10 Vehicle Fleet With FieldLogix Fleet Tracking System
With today’s high fuel costs and a sluggish economy, companies are seeking ways to reduce their operating costs. One way to reduce costs dramatically is through the use of a GPS fleet tracking system.
Ron Dunphy, president of Dunphy’s Extermapest in Palm Springs, California has seen a significant reduction in fuel costs since implementing FieldLogix.
Dunphy said, “Before implementing FieldLogix last year, when gas prices were much lower, I was spending $3,400 a month on fuel for my 10 vehicles. After installing FieldLogix on my vehicles, I now spend $2,700 per month on fuel, even with higher gas prices!”
LightSquared is currently seeking approval from the FCC to move forward with its plans to build out a broadband wireless network. But the company has been facing fierce opposition from dozens of companies and organizations claiming the proposed network will interfere with GPS system signals.
Construction of LightSquared’s new wireless network is currently on hold as federal regulators wait to make sure the network will not cause interference with GPS system receivers. However, the FCC could not provide a timetable as to when continued testing, design modification, and review of the project would be complete.
In an effort to resolve the issue and make a decision , this week the FCC sent letters to both LightSquared and key members of the GPS industry. Letters were sent to LightSquared’s engineering and technology chief Julius Knapp, and GPS industry members such as Garmin (NASDAQ: GRMN), and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The FCC asked both parties to spell out exactly which GPS devices see interference and how those devices will interact with LightSquared’s newly scaled-down deployment plan.
Over the weekend there were three large magnetic explosions from the sun, prompting U.S. government scientists to caution users of satellite, telecommunications and electric equipment to prepare for possible disruptions over the next few days. As you read this, we are at the peak of the 11-year solar cycle. So drivers should double-check their GPS system, and watch where they’re going.
Solar storms this week could affect communications and global positioning system (GPS system) satellites and might even produce an aurora visible as far south as Minnesota and Wisconsin. Usually the aurora borealis, called the northern lights, are limited to northern latitudes, but the energy of this storm’s colliding energized particles may broaden the display.
On Friday of last week, Standard & Poor lowered its rating for U.S. debt one notch from AAA to AA+. Following the downgrade, oil fell to the lowest price in more than eight months as investors fled commodities for assets such as Treasury bills and gold after the downgrade. Poor economic news flooded the market and pushed oil prices below $90 a barrel, despite government agreements to raise the nation’s debt ceiling.
Oil prices had the largest weekly loss since May 6, when the death of Osama bin Laden was announced. Crude oil prices were down more than $3 per barrel Monday afternoon. Further declines in oil and gad prices are anticipated.
