A Concord resident, 55 year old Alan Barlow, is planning on running across the United States, starting at the West Coast and working his way over to the East Coast.

He dips a plastic bottle in the Pacific Ocean of Heceta Beach in Oregon and sets out for his run. He travels alone and pushes a 75 pound stroller filled with supplies.

Each night, he will be relying on motels, campsites, and kind strangers opening up their backyards for him to pitch a tent. He plans to walk some stretches and as needed, take days off. Barlow has been running for years.

It was in 2007 that his cross-country run idea hit him.  At the time, he was working on a 3-year assignment in Munich for a German-based lighting company.

He began researching online and learned that less than 10 people who were over the age 55 have been able to complete a solo run across the United States. He shared his idea with his family.  His wife was not receptive about the idea. Read the rest of this entry »

Geofencing is a particular feature located inside a software program that utilizes radio frequency identification (RFID) or global positioning system (GPS) to define geographical boundaries. It can be thought of as a virtual barrier.

Try to imagine a map full of hundreds of dots.  Each of these dots represents a different job site, work order, or eager customer. While it is very useful to be able to visualize tasks by location, this type of map can easily go from being a valuable tool for fleet managers to being overwhelming when trying to figure out how to react to each point of interest.

This is where geofencing comes to the rescue. Although you might not be intimate with the term, fleet experts use it regularly to maximize productivity. Simply put, geofencing is really a virtual boundary that surrounds real-world geography.  Visualize an invisible dog fence; although you cannot see it by the naked eye, it is there and helps to keep pets contained within a particular location.

How Geofencing is Used

Geofencing is used with moving things such as trailers, trucks, containers, and more.  However, fleet managers looking to monitor trucks and trailers say it’s particularly useful in improving their ability to:

• Keep track of arrival and departure schedules.
• Eliminate delays and offer advanced warning to customer sites of cargo arrival.
• Add extra security by being able to monitor high-value loads.
• Keep track of a fleet of vehicles inside a particular region.
• Limit fleet travel to particular locations.

With geofencing, users are able to draw zones around customer sites, workplaces, secure areas and more. To work properly, trailers need to have access to the Internet and GPS tracking devices installed that have geofencing capability.

According to XTRA Lease’s trailer tracking manager, Craig Nolle, using geofencing is perfect for customer service and operating efficiency.

“It lets you know when trailers are or are not where they’re supposed to be, improving productivity and helping the fleet operate at peak performance.” he says.

Also according to Nolle, geofencing will be appreciated by fleet managers due to its ability to:

1. Keep Unattended Loads on Lockdown.

While you can’t surround the load with armed guards, you can surround it with an invisible fence. You will be able to identify unacceptable activity if that fence is breached in any way. This will allow you to investigate it immediate and if you suspect the trailer of being stolen, call the authorities.

2. Provide Advance Shipment Arrival Notice.

Geofencing will alert you when your trailer is arriving at a customer site or distribution center. You might wish to set up a perimeter that is 30 minutes away from the facility that is being delivered to. Once this geofence is entered, you will get an alert.

3. Provide Improvement with Customer Service, Driver Efficiency and Load Scheduling

Managers can determine whether or not remaining route stops can be delivered on time through geofencing. If not, the user will be able to re-assign deliveries and pickups or reroute them as needed.

Geofencing is just one of various different tools that monitoring and fleet GPS tracking systems offer for helping fleet managers keep an eye on their fleet. Even though it’s not a magic bullet, it can be thought of as getting x-ray vision into a zone that is invisible that you are monitoring. This can help to keep optimization and costs where you would like them.

Call us here at LiveView GPS toll free at 1-888-544-0494 – Monday through Friday from 9 am – 5 pm PST for a GPS fleet tracking demo today.

On Friday, Greyhound, North American transportation giant, announced its new BusTracker launch.

The BusTracker tool can be found on any device that is Internet-ready as well as on GreyHound.com, according to the busing company. The tool provides real-time GPS tracking which enables customers to see the exact location of their bus and when it is due to reach their destination.

BusTracker can be accessed by customers from any device by going to the Greyhound site and searching by arrival or departure city or schedule number for updates.

For people who use smartphones, BusTracker can be found in the Greyhound mobile app, which is available on both the Android and Apple devices. BusTracker updates every 1 to 4 minutes and draws its data from three different tracking systems, which are installed on every Greyhound bus to offer customers the latest schedule status. Read the rest of this entry »

Parking lot sweepers may not have the same GPS tracking needs of other businesses. You’re not as likely to get lost on your way to jobs as plumbers and electricians may be. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of benefits to go around for using fleet GPS tracking to keep your business running like a well-oiled machine.

These are just a few reasons why GPS tracking services are a good idea for your parking lot sweeping fleet.

Pinpoint Exact Truck Locations – Throughout the Day

This isn’t a matter of you trusting your drivers – or even about not trusting them. It’s about having verifiable proof when customers claim that your drivers weren’t onsite at the time they stated or that they left earlier. It’s about transparency in the billing process for the protection of your business reputation, the good name of your drivers, and the satisfaction of your clients. Read the rest of this entry »

One of the biggest worries that loved ones of dementia patients have is that they will go missing. This is not an abnormal fear, as countless people who suffer from dementia are reported missing each year, and many of them are never found.

In light of dementia patients who wander off, a new system in Sakata, Yamagata Prefecture, is being tested. This system utilizes GPS tracking, which is placed in vending machines and other common public devices, to process location information and other vital data related to missing dementia patients.

The system is run on Internet of Things (IoT), which was created in cooperation with Captain Yamagata Corp and the National Institute of Technology, Tsuruoka College. And, though it may sound like it would be extremely costly, especially considering the high price of so many technologically related things in Japan, this system is actually quite cost-effective .

How it Works

Upon first hearing about the system, it may sound as if comprehending how the process works is difficult; but in actuality, it is pretty simple. Basically, Wi-Fi devices have been placed around the city in stores and on vending machines and they pick up signals from devices that are given to elderly dementia patients to wear. Read the rest of this entry »