For teens, learning to drive, and gaining the freedom driving affords, is an important rite of passage. For parents, allowing your teen that freedom, and immense responsibility, is one of the most terrifying challenges you will face. National Teen Driver Safety Week 2017 is designed to help provide teens with the knowledge and tools they need to adopt safer behaviors and take fewer risks behind the wheel.

National Teen Driver Safety Week is one week Congress has designated must be set aside each year to help raise awareness about topics that specifically affect teens when driving. The goal is to offer educational opportunities and experiences that will not only get the attention of today’s driving teens, but also change dangerous driving habits that tend to permeate younger drivers.

By educating teens about the variety of ways they can be impaired behind the wheel, the risks that driving impaired increases, and the potential consequences involved in making poor decisions while driving. Among common activities teens engage in that impair teens’ abilities to drive are the following:

• Consuming Alcohol
• Drug Use
• Fatigue – Driving While Tired
• Distracted Driving (texting, changing radio stations, interacting with friends in the vehicle, applying makeup, etc.)
• Emotional Driving

The 2017 event is set to take place October 15-21, 2017 and parents are urged to encourage their teens, those driving and who will be driving within the next year, to attend and participate in local awareness events.

What Can You Do to Improve Teen Safety Behind the Wheel?

As parents, you want to do everything in your power to protect your teen – even when you can’t be there in person to do so. These are a few things you can do that will help you allow your teen to drive with greater confidence and peace of mind.

• Set a Solid Example – Wear your seatbelt every time you get in the car, avoid using your mobile phone while driving, obey traffic laws, and don’t drive while distracted. Avoid alcohol use, drug use, and applying cosmetics when getting behind the wheel.
• Invest in GPS Teen Tracking – GPS teen tracking not only allows you to quickly locate your teen when accidents (or rumors of accidents) occur, but also allows you to monitor your teen’s behavior behind the wheel. You can receive instant notification if your teen drives recklessly, excessively fast, outside of designated hours, or outside of specifically defined geographic boundaries.

It will never be easy to give your teen the wings he needs to learn important life lessons, but GPS tracking and educational events, like National Teen Driver Safety Week 2017, can help make it a little less difficult.

If you have a teen driver or are about to have a teen driver, give us a call here at LiveViewGPS at 1-888-544-0494  to discuss getting a GPS teen tracking device for your new teenager driver.

Amanda Lilleyman, a researcher from Charles Darwin University, is on the lookout for one of the most threatened birds of Australia as the tide on Darwin’s outskirts surges across the salt pan. As she peers through some binoculars, she spots her target.

She says they’ve got several far eastern curlews as she points towards three birds’ silhouettes tracking across the dawn sky.

These birds make it to coastal mudflats around Australia from their breeding grounds close to Siberia, traveling 9,000 kilometers. However, their numbers keep dropping quickly due to their being habitat destruction along their path of flight.

Ms. Lilleyman says that the habitat is being reclaimed or destroyed in eastern Asia. Therefore, there’s been a significant decline in available intertidal mudflats which are where the birds feed.

The worldwide population of far eastern curlews declines by around 6 percent each year. Over the past several decades, the numbers have declined by around 80 percent.

Researchers worry that by 2035, the number of the birds may fall to around 10 percent of what the numbers were in 1993.

Gregory Andrews, Commissioner of Australia’s Threatened Species, says that it’s crucial they act to save the birds since their species have been declining at fast rates.

The far eastern curlew is among the species that are critically endangered, meaning it’s closer to being extinct than any other species. Ms. Lilleyman takes part in a 3-year project to increase knowledge about the Darwin bird’s roosting and feeding habits.

She says that Darwin is much like a “stepping stone” to a number of other Australian areas, making it an important site.

Her team, over the past 9 months, has been on helicopters watching the birds on the ground. Additionally, they’ve begun netting the birds so they can equip them with GPS trackers.

According to Ms. Lilleyman, it’s all about putting together the puzzle, connecting all beaches, roost sites, coastal areas and these saltpans to the mudflat where they feed.

The project’s objective is to come up with strategic planning guidelines that will help in preserving the favorite roosting and feeding sites of the birds.

One particular site is the Darwin Port, where the birds have safe refuge in dredge ponds during high tides.

Ms. Lilleyman says the highest count for the birds so far is 264 which is nearly 1 percent of the population of the entire world.

Co-funders of the project are the Federal Government’s National Environmental Science Program and the Darwin Port Corporation.

According to Mr. Andrews, the Darwin project is a great example of how conservation and business go together.

The far eastern curlew’s survival ultimately depends on vital East Asian-Australasian Flyway habitat preservation efforts.

The commissioner says they have to negotiate with Japan, Korea, China, and other areas along the birds’ flightpath to ensure it has sufficient stopover places while making its way to Siberia and back every year.

Otherwise, one of nature’s biggest migratory shorebirds could be nearing extinction.

If you operate a fleet of electric refuse trucks you might believe you have no need for GPS fleet tracking system. The truth of the matter is that GPS fleet tracking for waste management companies will still be highly beneficial for your business. Below are just a few of the great ways you can still use GPS tracking for phenomenal results even if you operate electric refuse trucks.

Go Even Greener with Paperless Record Keeping

Document everything without using a single slip of paper when you use GPS fleet tracking for your electric refuse trucks. You can generate reports related to labor, route efficiency, charge capacity, driver behaviors, and more that are electronically stored, maintained, and accessed. No paper required. It’s another small step for the planet that can have a giant impact.

Track Charge Capacity and Need to Re-Charge

Most waste removal routes are short enough that a giant recharge will not be necessary during the day. However, there are always exceptions to the rule when trucks may carry an extra-large load or during busier times of the year. GPS fleet tracking allows dispatch and drivers alike to monitor the level of charge so that running out of “fuel” doesn’t become a problem.

Plan More Efficient Routes

While you’re not necessarily interested in conserving fuel with your routing when operating electric waste removal trucks, you still need to conserve labor costs. Planning routes that are more time-efficient will help you keep your labor costs down and virtually eliminate the need for overtime – even on busier days.

Encourage Driver Safety

Safe driving is always a concern with larger vehicles on the road today. Even small accidents can have large consequences when dealing with waste removal vehicles and those of similar sizes. Use your GPS fleet tracking system to monitor driver behaviors behind the wheel and set up alerts to notify you instantly if certain behaviors arise, such as:

• Speeding
• Hard Braking
• Swerving
• Off-Route Driving

All of these behaviors need to be addressed in order to keep your drivers safe and to maintain route efficiency.

Extend Vehicle Life Span

Additionally, GPS tracking can be used to schedule routine maintenance of your electric refuse removal vehicles. Electric vehicles are a sizable investment. You want to protect them by keeping them in outstanding operational order. Adhering to a proper maintenance schedule is the best way to do that.

As you can see, the benefits GPS tracking offers electric refuse trucks go far beyond the basics making it a solid investment for your waste removal business.

Do you own or manage a electric truck refuse fleet? If so, give us a call here at LiveViewGPS to learn how GPS fleet tracking can benefit your company, your drivers, and your fleet. 1-888-544-0494