Believe it or not automobiles capable of human trasport have been around for over 200 years now! Since the advent of the automobile, engineers and designers have been focusing on ensuring our comfort and safety mostly be implementing automation and greater efficiency technologies such as automatic door locks, check engine light, self-parking, seat belt reminders, […]
Intuitively, you know that the faster you drive, the more gas you burn, but do you often wonder about about what that trade-off really is? Recently, three engineers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have calculated the answer to this question. For example, if you drive 60 mph on your next trip, […]
GPS location based mobile phone search tracking data was recently used to reveal the most searched brand names in the U.S. This type of data gives insight into what drivers are searching for when they’re on a mobile phone or mobile device. Most Searched Restaurant McDonald’s Most Searched Retailer Walmart Most Searched Coffee Starbucks Most […]
The World’s First Direct-to-Eye Communications Display in a Snow Goggle, Integrating GPS Technology, State-of-the-Art Sensors, and Superior Optics: Rincon/Zeal’s Transcend Snow Goggle. Described as the most technologically advanced goggle in the world, it features advanced optics and Head Mounted Display technology, showing real-time data in a heads up display inside the goggles themselves. The Transcend GPS-enabled goggles, available from Zeal Optics in Fall 2010, features GPS & vertical odometer technologies, and provides real-time access to performance statistics including speed, altitude, temperature, and time.
Skiers, snowboarders and any other action sports lover are going to love this new GPS device – GPS enabled goggles by Recon. The ability to see video of what you just did is one thing, but to see it on an interactive map that displays speed and elevation is something that has never been done before.
This new snowboard technology will in essence be a ski and snowboard goggle where you view your cellphone screen, your speed and altitude on a small display on the inside of the goggle lens. The GPS system enabled goggles will feature a 15mm diagonal micro display will provide you with your real-time speed, jump hang-time, vertical gain/loss, altitude, temperature and will even include a stopwatch and GPS tracking capability for rescue situations – which is a great safety perk.
“We have generated more than $1 million in fuel savings since 2008, and our reduction in GHG emissions since 2006 is equivalent to removing more than 3,000 cars from the road,” says Erv Lauterbach, president, Carrier Building Systems and Services. With over 3,000 fleet trucks and cars in North America, Carrier reduced emissions by more than 30 percent since 2006 by deploying a diverse set of strategies, including right-sizing fleet vehicles and monitoring driving patterns using global positioning system (GPS) data to removing unnecessary weight from fleet vehicles.
Carrier Corporation is reducing its fuel use and green house gas emissions following an analysis of the company’s entire fleet of vehicles. Carrier changed its sales fleet by removing gas guzzling trucks in favor of hybrids and smaller engine vehicles. Carrier’s GPS system generates data that has provided visibility to other savings opportunities, for instance, carrying unnecessary equipment in trucks increased both weight and gasoline usage. Fleet vehicles now carry only the tools and parts that are required. The GPS technology provides data for fuel economy performance across the country and has led to an average mile per gallon increase of nearly 7 percent, according to the Carrier Corp.
GPS fleet tracking devices are being used by Washington County highway superintendent John Deakins Jr. to resolve several fleet management issues such as reducing vehicle misuse, improving employee productivity and improving emergency vehicle response time. “All GPS fleet tracking measures have resulted in lower county fuel expenditures and a more capable fleet, not to mention safer roads for Washington County citizens,” said John Deakins Jr., Washington County, TN, highway superintendent.” Once Deakins Jr. saw how much the GPS fleet tracking devices were able to put an end to fleet vehicle misuse, he realized the fleet management devices could also be used to improve employee productivity. (This is Part Two of a 4 Part Article.)
Before installing GPS fleet tracking devices, Deakins Jr. had heard several accounts of vehicle misuse, motivating him to research online and purchase the fleet tracking devices. For example, Deakins Jr. recalled one truck driver who was only authorized to drive his truck to and from work everyday. However, the truck driver was using the County owned fleet vehicle for personal errands – about 12 miles on average per day. While this may not sound like a lot, according to Deakins, “These trucks only average 11-12 miles per gallon. So the cost in fuel adds up quickly.”
In addition to the personal use of County fleet vehicles, Deakins Jr. acknowledged there were other issues that almost all fleets deal with, such as long lunch breaks and unauthorized time off during work hours. Thanks to the County’s GPS fleet tracking devices, Deakins Jr. can now monitor a driver’s exact location within roughly 10 – 15 feet. He also set speed limits for fleet trucks and automatically receives notification alerts each and every time a truck driver exceeds that limit.
GPS fleet tracking devices are now being used by Washington County to make huge improvements in county operations, monitor employee behavior, productivity and reduce unauthorized vehicle use. Washington County, located in the state of Tennessee, contains over 800 miles of rural highways. So tracking and managing its fleet over 24 pickup trucks 24/7 has been quite a challenge.
Why did Washington County install GPS tracking devices?
Because Washington County is so large and spread out, the County’s highway superintendent, John Deakins Jr., was struggling to manage all of the County’s mobile employees. He had received reports that employees were sometimes taking long lunches and using county vehicles after hours, which was not authorized usage of the County’s fleet vehicles. Before installing GPS tracking devices into the county’s vehicles, pinpointing the truck’s exact locations was nearly impossible. There were times when he needed to locate and dispatch the nearest vehicle and driver to a time-sensitive job. Also Deakins Jr. was concerned about speeding, optimizing routes and reducing fuel consumption due to budget constraints.
Deakins Jr. chose the best solution to solve these fleet management problems. He installed GPS fleet tracking devices into all of his vehicles. The results of installing the GPS system have been impressive. According to Deakins Jr., “We saw a lot of abuse and reports of county vehicle misuse. I went online one day and researched GPS tracking devices. When you have that much territory, it helps to have these devices.”
GPS tracking system, FieldLogix, can quickly slash vehicle fuel consumption and fuel expenses plus reduce greenhouse gas pollution and CO2 vehicle emissions. FiedlLogix GPS system will give your fleet managers a GREEN Fleet Management Report that is easy to understand and utilize to develop a green fleet strategy. These automated Green Fleet Score Reports work around the clock, so you can quickly see increases in profitability, performance and greenhouse gas emissions reductions. With this type of GPS system, even a small fleet can save thousands of dollars per vehicle per year.
Vehicle GPS systems enable drivers to easily set attainable goals to reduce vehicle emissions and show tangible results. Reports that used to take days or months to compile now take just seconds thanks to recent improvements in fleet telematics technology. Modern GPS tracking systems can do things today that they were unable to do even just a few years ago. As the demand for Green features increases, the wireless telematics GPS technology is evolving.
Whether you have a fleet of one van or one thousand, all fleet managers should consider installing a GREEN GPS system into their fleet vehicles to monitor engine diagnostics, fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. With “Green” fleet GPS systems, it’s easy for fleet managers to identify areas for improvement and take decisive action on key issues such as:
GPS Navigation Systems were created in the early 1970’s by the U.S. Department of Defense for military purposes. Since then, GPS Systems have come a long way. In the past, GPS systems were expensive and difficult to use. Many people often preferred to use a paper map and hand written driving directions. But now times have changes. Modern vehicle GPS systems are easy to use, very affordable and give accurate turn-by-turn directions to drivers through computerized speech. All consumers have to do is make sure the GPS devices are charged and ready to go.
How does a GPS System work?
GPS technology uses 24 orbiting satellites with very accurate clocks. The timing between your GPS receiver and at least three different satellites allows a distance to be measure. Then by using triangulation and distance mathematics, your location can be determined.
A GPS System can do more than just give directions: As with most technologies, the hardware has gotten smaller and better. Today GPS systems can be installed in a multitude of places. Most cell phones now have a GPS receiver built in, and even there are even GPS watches too. GPS can be used to track wildlife, pets, stolen vehicles, fleet delivery trucks and even your children! Modern GPS systems not only give you turn-by-turn directions, it can also include features such as hands-free calling, MP-3 music, Blue-tooth, 3-D street level mapping, real time traffic reports, touch screens, FM transmitters, fuel pricing and weather reports.
Optimizing your driving route with a vehicle GPS system will not only prevent you from getting lost but it will also reduce your gas expense and reduce your carbon footprint. It may not seem like a lot day to day, but over the course of a year it really adds up. The average U.S. driver using a GPS system with real-time traffic updates is able to cut nearly 4 days off of their annual commute as well as decrease their carbon footprint (vehicle CO2 and greenhouse gas emissions) by over 21%.
GPS Fleet Tracking System Solutions:
Regardless of which state you are in, texting while driving is irresponsible and dangerous, especially for those driving large commercial fleet vehicles such as heavy duty trucks. Less than two weeks ago a very famous and successful plastic surgeon drove off a cliff in Mailbu because he was texting while driving. The accident demonstrates the very real danger of texting or tweeting while driving, an activity that has reportedly spiked in recent years.
“I hear, almost daily, accounts of people who are injured while texting,” said Dr. Angela Gardner, president of the American College of Emergency Physicians. Gardner said “It has stopped being an oddity when we hear that someone was texting and has a wreck. Now it’s more of a fairly common occurrence…While sending out a status update during a leisurely drive may seem innocuous, it only takes a moment for distracted drivers to become vulnerable.”
Text messaging has been the primary source of communication between truck drivers, dispatchers and fleet managers for many years. Fleet managers have relied on text messaging to stay in touch with their drivers at all times. When rerouting drivers or changing job priorities or text messaging has been the quickest and cheapest method of communication. In order to comply with recent text messaging laws, many companies have integrated GPS fleet tracking systems. Fleet tracking systems with Garmin integration enable dispatchers to send and receive information through a driver’s GPS system, eliminating the need for text messaging. This helps to keep truck drivers safe and comply with State text messaging laws.
