global, positioning system

The holiday rush is in full force, and as a fleet business owner or manager, you still have to find ways to reduce costs, eliminate driver risks and improve efficiency. An effective tool to do this is GPS fleet tracking and many fleet managers are already taking advantage of this tool to optimize the transportation process and save money.

GPS tracking can be added to your fleet management system to help you coordinate and facilitate a number of transport-related activities like driver safety, regulation of drivers and comprehensive fuel management. Eight ways you can monitor your fleet using GPS tracking data are as follows.

1. Speed of Vehicle

You can monitor your drivers’ behaviors when they are out on the road with fleet tracking GPS technology. For instance, if you have a certain driver who continually exceeds the speed limits, you will be able to take action to get them to start driving at safer speeds and obey the speed limits.

2. Hard Braking

Your fleet vehicles endure a great deal of stress if you have drivers who brake hard. Along with this, hard braking can also affect your vehicles by:

• wearing out the brake pads quicker.
• overheating and damaging the rotors.
• heating up and warping the brake discs.
• adding more pressure to wheel bearings, suspension, brushings and ball joints.

Furthermore, more stress and friction can be added to the vehicle’s tires with this weight shift causing them to wear quicker. Additionally, it can also change the alignment angles causing changes in the contact patch of the tires and resulting in increased wear.

3. Idle Time

You can’t avoid some idle time. Your fleet vehicles will have to stop and idle for a bit at red lights and other areas. But, if you have drivers who are idling excessively, it can negatively affect your resources and eat up fuel, labor and time without giving you a return on your investment. You can determine where and how often a driver idles with GPS fleet tracking so you can resolve inefficiencies.

4. Hours of Service (HOS)

Keeping hours of service (HOS) paper logs can result in inaccuracies that lead to a decrease in business productivity and potential fines. GPS tracking technology can help you manage driver inspections and hours more easily to help you stay compliant with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). GPS automates the process so your drivers do not have to log their hours manually and maintain paper logs.

5. Maintenance Alerts

If your drivers procrastinate with vehicle maintenance, this can lead to you needing vehicle repairs which can cost you money. GPS tracking maintenance alerts can help you and your drivers stay on top of vehicle maintenance as well as alert you for things like when it’s time to have the tires inspected or a vehicle needs a tune-up.

6. Miles Per Gallon

You likely know the importance of keeping track of fuel consumption and vehicle mileage. Low MPG can mean a number of things such as inefficient driving behaviors like hard braking and hard acceleration, leaky fuel lines or fuel theft.

7. State-by-State Mileage

With this feature, you can coordinate all your fleet vehicles and track your vehicles’ state-by-state mileage. GPS even records trip and fuel expenses so you can generate trip reports automatically for further analysis.

8. Optimized Routing

With optimized routing you can organize a vehicle’s route by taking all the stops and locations of a particular vehicle’s route and create the most effective and shortest route for your drivers. Save time for both your drivers and dispatchers which will result in more jobs being completed in a day and lead to better driver productivity, reduced fuel costs and increased service revenue.

Aggressive driving behaviors like speeding and hard braking is dangerous for both your drivers and other motorists. It can also lead to a damaged reputation and expensive accident claims. Fuel is a huge operating expense for your fleet business and driver productivity is vital to the success of your business. With GPS fleet tracking technology, you can track all these things to ensure your fleet business stays profitable.

Contact us here at LiveViewGPS at 1-888-544-0494 today to talk about implementing GPS fleet tracking technology for your fleet.

ATMs offer convenient and necessary services in today’s society. You can find them anywhere and everywhere. What you may not know about these automated teller machines is that they are also attractive targets for thieves. In fact, some thieves in Conway, Arkansas have gotten quite bold with their ATM theft by using a forklift to remove the entire ATM machine, load it on a truck and drive off with it.

Attacks on ATMs have also been made using crowbars, welding torches, and sledgehammers. In these instances, silent alarms were triggered alerting law enforcement before any cash could be taken from the machines.

As you can see, using GPS tracking for ATMs can help apprehend the offenders and recover your cash back quickly and efficiently in cases like this. Below are just a few of the great ways it can help.

Offers Real Time Tracking

This is perhaps the most important benefit GPS tracking for ATMs has to offer. When you notify law enforcement of the theft, they can go to the exact location of the machine and recover it before anyone has time to retrieve the money and run. The longer the delay between notifying law enforcement and retrieving the machine, the less likely it will be for you to recover the cash from inside the machine.

Triggers Automatic Silent Alarm when ATM is Moved

It can also be configured to trigger the alarm when the ATM machine is tilted or otherwise tampered with for an added layer of security. The key is that the proper authorities will be notified instantly when suspicious activities occur so that swift action can be taken rather than discovering the theft long after it has taken place when the trail has grown cold.

Sends Out Text and Email Notifications when ATM is Attacked

Not only will a silent alarm be triggered by the ATM when it is moved or tilted – according to how you have configured your machine, but you will also receive direct email or text alerts (also according to your preferences) letting you know the machine is being moved. You can follow the machine’s location directly on your mobile phone, tablet, or home computer while informing law enforcement of its location.

According to NPR, attacks on ATMs have cost U.S. ATM owners approximately $4.5 million each year. As thieves around the world grow bolder in how they attack ATM machines for money, it is becoming increasingly necessary for owners of these machines to protect their investments. GPS tracking allows you to do just that

Port Douglas in Northern Queensland could soon lead the world in crocodile management due to a new GPS tracking program. A collection of local businesses hope to place GPS trackers on some of the largest crocodiles in Dicksons Inlet and the surrounding area to safeguard Four Mile Beach.

The news comes after the tourist hotspot came to a standstill eyewitness reports came in of a crocodile as large as four meters swimming 20 meters from the shore during daylight hours. Kelvin Brown from Port Douglas Water Sports and Beach Hire stated that the beach is the last patrolled in the area.

Additionally, it’s where crocodiles tend to congregate. He’s hoping that the project is a success and that the rest of the world can learn from it.

Both the local police and the beach patrol hut will have the ability to precisely locate where the five biggest crocodiles are at any time of the day or night via GPS.

GPS crocodile tracking isn’t a new idea in Australia. Crocodiles have been previously tracked around the Wenlock River on the Cape York Peninsula. In fact, after its launch in 2008, the University of Queensland ‘Crocodile Tracks’ program became the longest and largest study of its kind.

Brown hopes that funding for the program will come from state and local government grants. He also believes that the beach will be safer for people who use it as the trackers will pinpoint the positions of the four biggest animals at all times. If a crocodile gets too close to the beach, staff can trap it and move it to a new location. The project safeguards both beach users and crocodiles.

Surf Life Saving Queensland plans to employ drones to help spot crocodiles in a similar manner to the way experts monitor sharks further south in the region.

Mr. Brown wants better tourist information to also be available throughout the main swimming area of the beach. He proposes that notices should carry information about the wildlife in the area as well as any negatives that relate to crocodiles. Brown believes that tourists should be able to clearly read about the many positives that relate to Four Mile Beach rather than just the potential hazards.