Project SNOWstorm, a research project that was established in the winter of 2013-2014, has successfully captured and placed GPS tracking devices on two snowy owls in Maine. The owls, which have been coined “Brunswick” and “Casco”, are providing valuable information about the lives and the migratory habits of this species of bird.

In the winter of 2013-2014, the largest snow owl irruption ever recorded took place. The birds migrated from their breeding grounds in the Arctic and headed south to Canada and the US, including Maine. While this migration was awe-inspiring, it was also quite worrisome for airport administrators.

Snowy owls seem to be attracted to airports because of the wide open terrain that they offer, which looks similar to the Arctic tundra, where they come from. As a result of this migration, aircraft and passenger safety has become a growing concern.

The birds, which weigh an average of five pounds and have a wingspan of four to five feet, can wreck havoc, causing serious injury and major damage, should they collide with a plane; not to mention a collision with an aircraft can be fatal for the bird. Read the rest of this entry »

The tour bus season is approaching, and if you own or operate a tour bus companies, you know you have a lot going on at any given time during the day. While most people in your position understand that GPS fleet tracking can help some people save money on fuel, when you have a set route that does not accommodate deviations, it may not really be feasible for you to make changes.

But, GPS fleet tracking provides so many more benefits than simple fuel conservation that will benefit tour bus companies greatly. Check out a few of them below.

Let’s You Know Where Your Busses are at All Times

Chances are good that you have multiple busses out running tours in different parts of your city and running the same tours at different times of the day. It can be quite harrowing to keep up with all your busses throughout the day. And it is something you need to know to make sure your drivers are where they’re supposed to be.

Others are glad they made the move to GPS fleet tracking:

“I own five charter busses in New Orleans,” said Todd Vinet of Grace’s Transportation.

 “Once we installed LiveViewGPS‘ vehicle trackers, we were able to monitor every driver to ensure they followed the correct route and made all scheduled stops. As a result, I can run the company more efficiently and keep our clients happy.” Read the rest of this entry »

When you think of things that thieves steal, a toilet probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. Well, in Washington, that’s exactly what a thief stole – a toilet.

When four of the biggest home builders in Washington noticed that equipment and materials was going missing from their job sites, they decided to take action. The builders tagged their equipment and materials with GPS tracking units in hopes that they would deter theft from their buildings. This type of theft costs the building industry millions of dollars every year and these Washington-based builders were tired of having what rightfully belonged to them stolen.

The builders, which include BGC, the ABN Group, JWH and Summit Homes, are all members of the Busted WA Alliance. This alliance aims to deter thieves – many of whom are tradespeople who work on the sites – from stealing tools and equipment from Perth area building sites.

Nina Hobson, a spokeswoman for Alliance, told Radio 6PR that her security company, Meridian Services, outfitted a collection of items that were located on construction sites, including water meters, copper and white goods, with GPS tracking devices. It turns out that the security company, Meridian Services, made the right decision to install GPS tracking devices. A Yanchep man was recently charged with theft after he allegedly took a toilet that was fitted with a GPS tracking chip. The toilet was stolen from a new housing development on March 16. Read the rest of this entry »

GPS fleet tracking alerts help bring data to fleet managers about exception messages and conditions. You can customize these alerts and others for specific fleet activity, like after-hour use and vehicle speeding.

When inbound messages are sent or exception conditions are triggered, these different alerts are forwarded via text or to your email or any selected recipients assigned to receive them. You’re able to view these alerts from your mobile phone or desktop computer making it easy to monitor your fleet’s every move, anytime of the day or night.

Some types of alerts include:

Route Alerts

If you have vehicles assigned to certain routes, you can set up alerts to notify you the moment one of your fleet vehicles leaves for their assigned route. They can also alert you if one of your vehicle’s deviates from their assigned route. Read the rest of this entry »

Telematics is a word that combines two important words for businesses today: telecommunications and informatics. Specifically, telematics allows this sharing of information over long distances. It’s a great tool for businesses that own fleets and a few other key businesses, such as any business that has expensive equipment that is often kept off site, such as construction companies.

Using Telematics for Fleet Tracking

When it comes to fleet tracking, telematics is highly valuable for short distance and long distance fleets. Combined with the power of GPS, fleet tracking allows you to do so much more than get directions to your desired locations.

These are just a few ways you can use telematics for the benefit of your business.

• Locate all vehicles, all the time.
• Set alerts to notify you if vehicles are operating “off hours.”
• Record driver logs and activities and send that information to you (for record keeping).
• Notify you of driver speeds and behaviors.
• Reroute drivers around traffic delays in real time.
• Identify the fastest route to desired location.
• Identify the most fuel efficient route to desired location.
• Choose truck closest to desired location for greater efficiency.
• Schedule routine maintenance.

Read the rest of this entry »