Some people have a limited understanding of how GPS works. For the average user, it is enough that you turn on your GPS tracking device and it tells you roughly where you are and helps you find directions to get where you want to go. You don’t even fully comprehend, in a world of fancy interfaces, that what you’re seeing on the screen is literally a series of numbers, representing precise coordinates, behind the fancy user interface. Specifically, you’re seeing where two numbers intersect.

Longitude and Latitude

Your location, at any point on the earth, can be represented by pinpointing your latitude and longitude. The longitude refers to vertical lines that dissect the earth from the North to South Poles. Beginning with the Prime Meridian, which is represented as 0 degrees and moving east beginning and one degree and ending at 180 degrees and indicated with the letter E.

Those moving west of the Prime Meridian also begin with one degree and move on until reaching 180 degrees. These are indicated with the letter W.

The latitude, on the other hand, indicates the north/south location. These numbers begin with zero degrees at the Earth’s equator and increase by one degree moving north or south up to 90 degrees in either direction. Each one indicated by an N or S.

Read the rest of this entry »

Appliance services businesses cover a lot of ground on any given day. Whether you are performing routine maintenance on appliances like dishwashers, hot water heaters, etc. or you’re repairing broken refrigerators and ovens, or even providing invaluable installation services for homeowners throughout your city, GPS fleet tracking can help your business.

These are just a few of the ways your appliance services business benefits with GPS fleet tracking services.

Accurate Appointment Windows

One of the biggest complaints customers have when dealing with appliance service businesses is the lack of accuracy when creating appointment windows. Or worse, the lack of specificity. With GPS fleet tracking, your accuracy improves greatly, allowing you to provide narrower appointment windows for your time-strapped customers. Think of the benefits of providing two-hour windows for appointments rather than eight! Your customers will love you for it.

Read the rest of this entry »

According to Vox, two of every three flood-related deaths from the year 1995 through 2010 (excluding Hurricane Katrina) occurred in a motor vehicle. Storms do not have to be major hurricanes to put the lives of your fleet and drivers at risk.

These seven things will help you protect them both whenever storms occur.

1. Set Up a Communication Network Before the Storm

If you have drivers on the road, on a regular basis, then you know storms are likely to affect your drivers and your fleet on occasion. There are few places in the country that never deal with rain or storms of any kind. You need to have a communication system in place to deal with widespread power outages. It can be a mobile phone chain with your drivers, Facebook group, Twitter check-ins, or even a fleetwide text alert system. Everyone needs to know what to do.

2. Create Policies about Road Conditions

Drivers need to know the official company stance on when they should not be driving on the road.

Read the rest of this entry »