For the second time in recent weeks a Tampa city worker was caught where he wasn’t supposed to be on city time during work hours.

Specifically, Lawrence Woodfin was caught spending hours at his home, despite being on the clock with the city. The city will determine whether he can keep his job or will be subject to other disciplinary action.

The GPS fleet tracking device that caught the employee’s misdeeds attaches to vehicles magnetically and notifies local governments whenever employees move the vehicle.The device then sends out a report indicating that it is in motion and where the vehicle is going.

Mark Williams, a Tampa Public Works employee, was fired recently after GPS tracking revealed that he had made 36 personal stops in five days using city trucks and on the city’s clock.

Where did he go? Locations included several different restaurants, Ikea, and even the Florida Lottery Office. Read the rest of this entry »

Geotagging at safaris, sadly, puts endangered animals at risk.

Technology has come full circle, and unfortunately it is putting animals at risk. While advanced technology, like GPS tracking, can be great for protecting endangered animals and finding out more about their behaviors and habits, the same technology can also put them in danger.

The main culprit of this is geotagging, which provides the user with geographical location based on some type of media, such as a photograph, video, or QR codes. Geotagging is often used to help find images for a certain location by entering the latitude and longitude coordinates into a search engine.

It can also be used the other way, by taking a photo or video and being able to get the approximate coordinates for that image. If you find a picture of an event or a beautiful flower, you can utilize Geotagging to know where it took place. This is unfortunately how poachers are able to track down endangered animals when someone else takes a picture of them. Read the rest of this entry »

The electronic age is changing the way businesses manage fleets in modern times – for the better. Today’s fleet management options help businesses operate smarter, not harder. These are just a few tools you can use in your business to keep your fleet rolling day after day after day.

Electronic Maintenance Scheduling

It’s easier than ever to schedule routine maintenance for fleet vehicles as they approach certain mileage or drive time milestones. Proper vehicle maintenance not only helps vehicles operate more efficiently while on the road, but it keeps them in the road even longer with fewer breakdowns, accidents, and high-dollar repair bills.

Think of it as preventative medicine for your fleet vehicles and make the move to electronic maintenance scheduling for oil, transmission and brake fluid changes, vehicle inspections, and more. Read the rest of this entry »

Technology takes GPS tracking one step further by tracking shopper’s habits through their shopping carts.

Everywhere you look, research teams are being compiled to utilize modern technology, including global positioning systems (GPS), for gathering important data. The latest use for this GPS tracking technology is in shopping carts. Not just one supermarket is using this technology, but in several locations in the world, and for different reasons.

The first is being used in New Zealand, with a device called the PathFinder. A supermarket in Auckland is using the GPS tracking device in shopping carts and hand-held baskets to track the shopper’s habits. It looks at data such as what departments the customer shops in, how they select groceries, and how much they spend. Most GPS tracking studies and projects inform the person they are being tracked, but not in this case. Read the rest of this entry »

Businesses today are finding that there are many unexpected benefits for using GPS tracking technology in vehicles and even on equipment. The construction industry is no different. In addition to the primary benefit of routing and traffic concerns, GPS tracking can help construction companies in quite a few additional ways, including those mentioned below.

Reduces Fuel Costs

Every penny counts in construction businesses. While fuel may not be the biggest expense your business faces, chances are good that it’s big enough that substantial savings would not go unnoticed. Think of all the fuel your construction businesses uses traveling from one jobsite to another or utilizing the heavy equipment needed for the job. GPS routing can help you find the shortest, most fuel efficient routes, all the while helping you avoid congested traffic situations that waste fuel. Read the rest of this entry »