Snowmobiling is a fun pastime for many visitors to Boulder Mountain in Utah. One wrong turn, though resulted in a harrowing experience for two young men who were forced to spend a night in frigid temperatures after becoming lost and short on fuel.

The young men were carrying avalanche gear with them when their snowmobile became bogged down in a gully, but they did not have sat phones or personal GPS tracking devices with them. A mistake that could have proven fatal had they not been resourceful and stuck together during their experience on the mountain.

As daylight was fading, the two young men decided to focus their final hours of light building a shelter where they could hunker down for the night. When they didn’t return Saturday evening, it triggered an alert that had people combing the mountainside in search of them.

It was their footprints in the snow that alerted rescue helicopters to their presence and quick thinking on their part that had them shooting flares to help rescuers zero in on their location for a fast rescue Sunday.

When they were found the men were cold and wet, and beginning to feel more than a little panic that they would not make it home.

Today, the men are grateful to rescuers and happy to be alive, warm, and with their families who shed plenty of happy tears upon their return.

Gary Vanos of Revelstoke Search and Rescue credits the fact that the young men stuck together for their survival, stating how important that was in their efforts to remain safe throughout the ordeal.

Other things snowmobilers can do to avoid similar harrowing ordeals is to always ride prepared with GPS tracking, satellite phones, and find safety in numbers. The more people in a group, the better the odds of a rescue if something happens to one of the units.

With the right kind of GPS tracking units, snowmobilers can not only send out signals alerting others to their plights, but also receive directions to help them find their way home if their snowmobile becomes disabled.

Fortunately, for these young men, quick thinking and sticking together kept them safe and alive in a situation where the wrong moves could have resulted in a much sadder outcome.

The year 2017 has come to an end and businesses are looking to the future. As you take your fleet into this new calendar year, it is a wise plan to explore the new technology that is available and what it can mean for your business.

These are a few technologies you might want to consider incorporating into your business plan for 2018 and beyond.

Forward Facing Cameras

Sometimes called dash cams, forward facing cameras have been used with a large degree of success for years by some fleets. If you’re not currently utilizing this type of technology in your fleet, now is the perfect time to do so.

The biggest benefit to you for utilizing these types of cameras every time your trucks are on the roads is to defend your drivers. They are tempting targets for people hoping for a fast payoff thanks to a negative (and wholly undeserved) public perception. Dash cameras provide an added level of protection for your drivers, your business, and your reputation.

GPS Fleet Tracking Systems

GPS fleet tracking is one of the most important things you can do for your fleet if you aren’t doing it already. GPS allows you to:

• Create more efficient, time-saving routes.
• Reduce fuel costs.
• Track invoices.
• Improve record-keeping.
• Curtail labor costs.
• Track your drivers’ hours behind the wheel.
• And so much more.

GPS tracking for fleets can also be used in conjunction with forward facing cameras to determine sequence of events when accidents do occur.

Autonomous Vehicles

While some may believe this is a far off plan, the current predictions are the there will be approximately 10 million driverless vehicles (otherwise referred to as self-driving) on the road by the year2020.

Why are these types of vehicles attractive to fleet owners?

Because they can cut your costs dramatically. Driverless vehicles don’t need time to sleep, don’t charge by the hour for labor, and can operate at any time of the day or night without charging overtime, demanding holiday pay, or being subject to human error behind the wheel.

Many believe this will lead to fewer accidents, reduced insurance costs (though that is currently a topic for debate), and bigger profits for large and small fleets alike.

With the legalization of recreational marijuana just over the border in Massachusetts, Rhode Island dispensaries are looking for ways to step up their games and compete with new competition from the north once the law goes into effect in July of 2018.

Only medical marijuana is currently available in the state of Rhode Island, but the three dispensaries in the state aren’t taking the news or the new competition without putting up a fight.

How are they fighting? By offering a new service, medical-marijuana delivery services.

How will this help?

For patients that have medical marijuana cards, it’s one way to keep their business in the state, by bringing the goods to them.

Many patients who could benefit from medical marijuana have been reluctant to do so. Not only does Rhode Island require them to be listed on a state registry, but they must also pay $50 each year to renew their patient cards.

Dispensaries believe the convenience of having delivery to their homes will offset some of these considerations while offering a value-added service that will be unavailable from Massachusetts dispensaries.

The good news for Rhode Island dispensaries is the belief that when the first recreational marijuana shops open in Massachusetts there will be insufficient supply to meet the demand. This means Rhode Island dispensaries may not be hard hit by new competition until more shops are available and the supply begins to meet, if not exceed, the demand.

There is also hope that the hefty taxes imposed on recreational marijuana in Massachusetts will keep many Rhode Island patients buying close to home instead.

The added convenience of in-home delivery may be the ticket to turn the tide in favor of Rhode Island dispensaries – at least for a little while.

In an agreement struck with the state Department of Health, one Rhode Island dispensary has been offering limited delivery services to medical marijuana patients who were homebound.

Recently, though, the state put the brakes on the program, at least temporarily. The remaining dispensaries are hopeful, even confident, this will change. So much so that they’ve invested in GPS fleet tracking and locked compartments for vehicles to monitor their locations and ensure the safety of deliveries and delivery drivers. Their goal is to offset their potential losses by adding a convenience factor that Massachusetts can’t deliver to Rhode Island customers.