In some cases, if someone is caught doing something illegal, and 1) the GPS tracking system information was used to convict him or her and 2) the GPS tracking system was placed by law enforcement without a warrant, convictions are not possible or overturned. But in other cases, courts have upheld the use of evidence obtained by placing a GPS device on a suspect’s car without a warrant.
GPS tracking devices have been placed on several Rhinos in South Africa in an effort to stop the endangered animals from being killed by poachers. According to BBC News, the The North West Park Board in the Mafikeng Game Reserve began placing the GPS tracking devices on the Rhinos in April of 2010. To date, several Rhinos are being monitored by the GPS tracking system. The Board plans to tag many more animals with GPS tracking devices in the upcoming months.
The GPS tracking devices are fitted into the rhino’s horn by drilling a small hole in the inert or dead part of the horn. As well as GPS tracking, the devices are equipped with an alarm system to notify game wardens of unusual Rhino movement or location. According to Rusty Hustler, head of security for North West Parks Board,”There are a number of alarms that can be programmed: one for excessive movement, so if the rhino starts running, and another that goes off if the rhino sleeps for longer than six hours, which is abnormal.” He added that in the future, the devices could even help to track rhino horns that were taken by poachers to help combat the illegal trade.
GPS fleet tracking systems were installed last year in 300 school buses in St. Paul, MN. At first, drivers were not overly enthusiastic about the installation of the GPS fleet tracking devices. Until the drivers realized just how useful they could be. Not only have the GPS tracking devices help resolve heated disputes between parents and drivers, but in some cases, the GPS tracking devices have saved bus drivers from losing their jobs.
On a typical day, the public school system in St. Paul is responsible for transporting an average of 38,000 students. The school’s transportation department often receive dozens of calls a day from parents complaining that the bus never picked up their child. Until recently, before the
GPS systems were installed, it was the school bus driver’s word against the parent’s. That has all changed since the school district installed a GPS fleet tracking system in every one of the school district’s 300 buses.
Keeping children safe and secure is a top priority for good parents. There are uncountable ways to do this. More and more parents are using child GPS tracking devices for this exact reason. These GPS tracking systems utilizes cutting-edge technology and are becoming more popular all the time. The child GPS tracking industry has advanced greatly in the last few years and is a fairly new use of gps technology.
Are you wondering if you should use a child GPS device for safety? If so, then you should consider the benefits that they have to offer. A parent’s life is a constant juggling act. Keeping track of your children at all times can be difficult. There is a certain peace of mind in knowing exactly where your vehicle is located in real-time 24/7. Which is why so many of these GPS tracking devices are invaluable to parents.
These GPS tracking devices can 1) let you know when your children arrive at school safely; 2) locate your children when they are not at home 3) locate your child quickly in a crowd if you lose him or her. The stress and panic associated with losing a small child or teenager can be tremendous. When it comes to children, you can never be too safe – which is why you should have a child GPS device for safety.
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 vehicle tracking devices are a popular tool for thousands of business owners. Fleets with only one vehicle all the way to original equipment manufacturers like Ford, GM or John Deere are including GPS tracking devices in their vehicles. GPS tracking software is most frequently used by businesses in the service, transportation and manufacturing industries. Companies with fleets of one to to fleets of 10,000, such as FedEx, rely upon their tracking systems to improve their profitability.
Vehicle tracking systems should be considered if your company has more than two vehicles. If your company has more than two vehicles, then you have a fleet. The goal of fleet management is to extract maximum value and minimize the cost of maintaining of vehicles. Fleet management is a complex and comprehensive challenge. It involves much more than just knowing where drivers and vehicles are located or routinely checking oil levels in your fleet vehicles. Fleet management includes vehicle procurement, vehicle maintenance, vehicle disposal, vehicle tracking and the management of logistical, operational, functional, regulatory and compliance requirements.
With the assistance of modern technology such as fleet GPS devices or vehicle tracking systems, fleet management has now become much easier and cost effective. Fleet management is an important and often overlooked part of many private organizations. Due to the economy, private fleet operators today are under more pressure than ever to control expenses. Optimizing your fleet’s operations can improve your company’s productivity, reduce costs and have a positive impact on the bottom line.
GPS fleet tracking systems are successfully being utilized in the largest cities in America for good reasons. According to Helen Rane Carbone, Chief Programmer and Analyst for the Chicago’s Department of Transportation “Before we implemented GPS, our fleet managers and dispatchers had virtually no real-time information on the whereabouts or activity of our fleet vehicles. We relied on very basic communication using two-way radios and hand-written reports. This was never able to provide the type and depth of information we needed for real performance monitoring, improvement, and accountability, which is expected of all city departments.”
According to Carbone, “before implementing a vehicle tracking system, simply keeping track of mobile resources from a dispatcher’s perspective – vehicle and driver scheduling, routing, call response, location in the case of emergencies – was a very difficult daily task. Truly measuring fleet and mobile employees’ productivity was practically impossible.”
Cities like Chicago are also using GPS fleet management systems to enhance their efforts to go green. Fleet managers are using real-time vehicle location data to optimize routes and reduce excessive idling in an effort to reduce gas consumption, CO2 pollution and other hazardous greenhouse gas emissions. According to Ms. Carbone, telematics plays a big part in many of Chicago’s environmental initiatives in becoming a true green fleet. “Fleet GPS management systems help with everything from the number and type of vehicles we’re using for a particular task, how they’re being used, and the amount of CO2 emissions they’re producing. Everyone is looking to big cities like Chicago to lead the way in this, and remote fleet management has gone from being a valuable tool to an absolute necessity.”
Fleet GPS tracking data combined with tax software can ensure private fleet operators in the US that you aren’t overpaying on your International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA) taxes. For most fleet managers, calculating IFTA taxes is a tedious but necessary administrative task. The good news is that this process can be automated if a fleet manager uses GPS tracking/telematics devices in its trucks, along with fuel cards and IFTA tax reporting software (or a tax service professional that uses this kind of software). Then the mileage driven in each state and fuel expenses for each vehicle can be automatically uploaded into the software and the proper IFTA paperwork can be printed out.
Using a GPS Tracking System combined with proper tax software can make this process much more manageable and less labor intensive. If you have a large fleet of over 50 vehicles, then there is a good chance you have an employee whose only job is to handle this paper-intensive task. If you are paying an administrator say $38,000 year to manage this process, investing in a Fleet GPS Tracking System is a no-brainer. While a fleet operator would probably never buy a telematics solution solely to eliminate an administrative position, it can contribute to the ROI offered by fleet telematics solutions.
Since truckers typically operate across state lines they often need to calculate their usage in various locations. GPS position reports are a good way to do this as not only would it report your GPS location but it would also report the exact time for each position report. Ideally, you could automate this process with reporting transmitted in real-time as you go.
Facing severe budget cuts in today’s tough economy, cutting costs without sacrificing student safety is a formidable task for every school district across the nation. School district transportation managers are responsible for thousands of children each day once they step onto the school bus. Most state laws are very strict when it comes to school […]
SBD is an independent technical research and consulting firm that has been analyzing the telematics service market worldwide for over a decade. The company recently released their 2010 annual report titled “The Complete Guide to Telematics in Europe and the USA” providing an in-depth account of vehicle manufacturers’ telematics solutions. The report costs $3200.
