You know that fleet GPS tracking is essential for a company your size. But it how do you decide which one of the GPS tracking models to get? You need to do a thorough evaluation of your needs and then match them to the wide range of features available.

Evaluating Your Business

The big question is what is your main concern, the problem you expect the software to fix. The usual reasons are:

• reduce theft and risk
• monitor your drivers and their performance
• stop moonlighting
• improve delivery times and efficiency
• reduce engine idling
• improve the route planning for fuel efficiency and to reduce slowdowns due to traffic conditions
• do a better job of customer service
• lower fuel costs and the need for maintenance and repair

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GPS technology paves the way toward more knowledge of severe mental illnesses, such as depression and schizophrenia.

For years, researchers and scientists have tried to discover more about mental illnesses, particularly severe mental illness. Now, with the help of GPS tracking and a new study, they are able to do so.

Researchers at Temple University are utilizing GPS technology to enlighten them with information they have never had before about people with disorders like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and severe depression. They are tracking the individual’s community participation, which so far has left a big gap in research about these types of illnesses.

“For the most part, research focuses on their deficits, or on their illnesses. I also think there’s somewhat of a bias. I suspect we don’t think people have lives outside of the mental health system,” said Mark Salzer, who works for the Rehabilitation Sciences at Temple University’s College of Public Health:

Salzer also adds that there isn’t much information about community participation, socialization, and mobility of people who are struggling with severe mental illness. Read the rest of this entry »

One of the most effective uses of GPS fleet tracking software is to avoid traffic jams. Using it saves drivers time and saves the company money.

Traffic jams happen for a variety of reasons: construction, accidents, and commuting. They wreak havoc with schedules and slow down deliveries. When you can regularly avoid them, drivers, customers — and your bottom line — will benefit.

Benefits of Avoiding Congestion

There are five major benefits to your and your drivers when you efficiently use your GPS tracking to avoid construction and commuter traffic.

1. Better worker productivity: Instead of sitting in long lines of traffic, your drivers move around it, getting pickups and deliveries done on time

2. Truck engines don’t have to work as hard: Idling the engine for long periods is a fact if a truck is stuck in traffic. This decreases engine life and increases maintenance and repair costs.

3. Better mileage: While sitting in traffic, your trucks are still using fuel. Keeping them moving to their destination means trucks are not wasting this expensive resource.

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Vessels and ferries off the New York Harbor go digital with real-time GPS tracking data, provided by city officials.

Just off Staten Island, New Yorkers wait for their ferry boats, but really have no idea when exactly they will dock. However, that is all about to change as the city has approved GPS tracking of the ferries.

Passengers will be able to see where the ferries are at the harbor and when they are waiting at the terminals. The system is being called the Automatic Identification System (AIS), which is also used inside the ferryboats managed by the Department of Transportation (DOT).

“DOT decided to install the AIS to allow passengers to see where the ferries were in the harbor while waiting for them at the terminals,” a spokesman for DOT said,

The tracking units on the ferries and other vessels will show the movement of the boats about every five minutes. The GPS vessel tracking website will house a map that is refreshed every 60 seconds to show any change that might have taken place in their location. Read the rest of this entry »

How GPS Tracking Can Eliminate Employee Side Jobs

Moonlighting is a fact of life for nearly five percent of American Labor, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That extra money can mean making the mortgage. This is commendable and shows financial initiative on the part of the worker that juggles two jobs. However, there are concerns from the employer’s perspective: possible exposure of trade secrets, fatigued and exhausted employees, and potential use of company resources.

Side Jobs on Your Time

But if he’s using your truck and tools to work this second job, that’s far less laudable. It’s cutting into your bottom line and needs to be stopped.

For example, a plumber might be taking on side jobs in the evening after normal working hours. You may not have a problem with that, except if he’s taken your truck and tools to do it.

Another case is a limo driver driving friends to the prom for free—in your vehicle, on your time, with your gas. Read the rest of this entry »