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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 are currently averaging $3.66 for a gallon of regular unleaded, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge Report. This is a 7 cent increase from this time last week. The Fuel Gauge Report uses retail receipts from more than 100,000 service stations across the United States, compiled by the Oil Price Information Service and by Wright Express.
Since the July 4 weekend, US drivers have been paying more at the pump. The states with the most expensive gasoline today are:
* Alaska – $4.09
* Hawaii – $4.04
* Connecticut – $3.98
This weekend, July 16-17, the busiest freeway in Los Angeles is going to be shut down for more than two days (53 hours, to be exact). Poeple are calling the event “Carmageddon”.
The 405 Freeway will be closed between the 10 and the 101 for demolition and reconstruction of the Mulholland Drive Bridge. Freeway ramps will begin closing at 7 p.m. on Friday, July 15, with lanes shutting down at midnight on the 16th. The 405 won’t reopen until 6 a.m. on Monday, July 18.
Luckily for drivers there is a new app that is hoping to ease drivers’ pain. Waze – a new, unique, real-time, traffic application – was designed to help driver’s get around traffic. In Los Angeles, the company says more than 180,000 drivers are using Waze. And the company is working with local transportation experts to better prepare for “Carmageddon.”
Waze is a social mobile application providing free turn-by-turn, voice-activated GPS tracking navigation based on the live conditions of the road, while harvesting the traffic information that you’re providing. It blends real-time traffic information with the urgency of a social network. The more people that use the app, the better the information.
Faced with the impact of rising fuel costs on the city budget, local leaders are realizing the importance of “going green” and utilizing a fleet GPS tracking system.
Dozens of cities across America are facing the same challenge: the effects of rising fuel costs. In Albany, NY the cost of keeping the city government’s fleet of vehicles on the road during the next fiscal year will increase by nearly $2 million because of rising fuel costs, officials recently said. That figure is up from the $1.6 million the city spent this last calendar year on fuel for its vehicles.
Albany Mayor Willie Adams used the fuel discussion to reiterate his position that every city vehicle needs to have some sort of Global Positioning System, or GPS tracking system, to monitor their whereabouts to ensure they aren’t traveling when they aren’t supposed to be.
“Nearly every corporation in the country has some kind of GPS or AVL (automatic vehicle location) device,” Adams said. “We’re a corporation and we need to keep track of our vehicles. That’s something I’d like to see on all of our vehicles.”
Gasoline prices are rising again even though drivers in the U.S. have bought less gas for four months in a row. Gasoline is getting more expensive even though motorists continue to cut back. MasterCard SpendingPulse said Tuesday that gasoline consumption has dropped for 16 weeks in a row. SpendingPulse, which tracks credit card payments around the country, said the four-week average for gasoline demand fell by 1.1 percent last week compared to a year ago.
Demand even dropped over the July 4 weekend, usually a time for lots of road trips. MasterCard analyst Jason Gamel said motorists used 1.7 percent less this year than they did during last year’s holiday weekend.
Oil, which is used to make gasoline, is higher as well. On Tuesday. Benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery gained $2.28, or 2.4 percent, to settle at $97.43 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, used to price many international oil varieties, rose 51 cents to settle at $117.75 per barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.
In 2009 Pioneer asked the International Trade Commission (ITC) to ban Garmin Ltd (NASDAQ: GRMN) from importing any global positioning system (GPS) device made with technology that infringes on its patented technology. Recently the ITC said Garmin isn’t violating Pioneer’s patent rights because Pioneer didn’t fulfill legal requirements of having a domestic industry for the underlying technology, which relates to how data may be stored, retrieved or displayed on GPS devices.
The commission looked at whether Pioneer, a Japanese maker of car-navigation and audio equipment, may use a portfolio licensing program as proof of a market when only one or two patents in the portfolio were being asserted. The ITC’s reasoning in today’s ruling won’t be made public until Pioneer and Garmin can redact confidential information. The International Trade Commission’s ruling may limit future patent disputes at the agency for Pioneer.
If you thought your partner was cheating on you, to what lengths would you go to try and catch them? Would you secretly place a GPS tracking system on their vehicle? Would you hire a private investigator to figure out what your spouse is up to when you’re not around? A woman in New Jersey […]
Weeks of declining gas prices have come to an end. Gas prices are on the rise gain, slowly but surely.
A gallon of regular unleaded gasoline is currently $3.63, up seven cents from one week ago. Gas prices are up 92 cents from one year ago, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge Report.
Rising oil prices over the last few weeks are the main reason for this month’s increase in gasoline prices. Oil prices are fluctuating day to day, but seem to be on an upward climb week by week.
Just when businesses and consumers thought they were in the clear – oil and gas prices have started to rise again. Gas prices certainly have come down in recent weeks, but they aren’t as low as last summer.
Two weeks after the U.S. and other 27 allies announced they were tapping domestic oil reserves (which temporarily knocked down the price of oil to almost $90 a barrel) oil is back around $100. And gas prices, which have been declining since May, are up over 4 cents since one week ago.
Oil is rising again as investors bet that the economies of many countries, including the U.S., will improve in the second half of the year, and global demand for petroleum will rise. While most experts agree that the world has plenty of oil, there are concerns that supplies could get tight as demand rises.
For Ryder, the decision to invest in a green fleet of natural gas vehicles is paying off. The company just reported that it is seeing a big increase in demand for its natural gas vehicles. A growing number of businesses are transitioning their fleets to run on compressed natural gas (CNG) or liquefied natural gas (LNG) as alternatives to gasoline and diesel because natural gas vehicles burn less fuel and produce less emissions.
Ryder (NYSE: R), a leader in commercial transportation and supply chain management solutions, announced last week that it has secured lease agreements for 87 heavy-duty natural gas trucks from customers looking to take advantage of the fuel cost savings and environmental benefits of alternative fuel powered vehicles. According to Ryder, natural gas is a domestic resource and it is 25 percent cleaner than the cleanest diesel. When your company commits to going Green with CNG vehicles, you demonstrate corporate and environmental responsibility and business savvy.
“Corporate and government fleets are the strongest adopters of natural gas vehicles” said Dave Hurst, senior analyst for Pike Research, which recently published a report analyzing global clean technology markets. “More and more fleet managers are attracted to the lower fuel costs of natural gas, in addition to the opportunity to reduce their vehicles’ carbon footprint.”
A large portion on the new truck order is part of the Ryder/San Bernardino Associated Governments (SANBAG) Natural Gas Vehicle project – a joint public/private partnership between the U.S. Department of Energy, the California Energy Commission, San Bernardino Associated Governments, Southern California Association of Governments, and Ryder. The $38.7 million project includes a total of 202 natural gas vehicles available for lease or rent, three strategically located natural gas compliant maintenance shops in Southern California, and two fueling stations. Ryder took delivery of 70 vehicles in May and is expected to have the balance of the full 202 SANBAG natural gas vehicle order in its green fleet by the end of 2011.
