The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) via the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has proposed requiring all commercial truck and bus companies that operate across state lines to electronically log drivers’ hours through the use of electronic logging devices, sometimes referred to as ELDs.

FMCSA believes the proposed requirement will force compliance with existing regulations concerning the hours drivers are allowed to work.

This is largely encouraged by accident numbers suggesting that many of the crashes involving commercial trucks or buses are the direct result of drivers exceeding the maximum allowable work hours. In many cases, drivers kept two sets of logs or altered their own logs in order to conceal from inspectors the actual numbers of hours they spent behind the wheel.

Electronic logging devices will make it more difficult for drivers to misrepresent the number of hours they drive in a day. FMCSA believes this proposalwill save 20 lives and eliminate as many as 434 injuries each year.

An added benefit to the proposed requirement is that it will ease the recordkeeping burden of companies that manage and track drivers’ hours. Read the rest of this entry »

GPS tracking helps a door hanging advertising company improve the success of advertising campaigns.

A flyer distribution and door hanging advertising company is now using global positioning systems (GPS) to improve their campaigns. Every time an advertisement delivery goes out, whether it is a hand-delivered flyer or door hanger piece, it is tracked with GPS technology. The technology uses a satellite tracking system,as opposed to cellular coverage, for better accuracy, faster results, and less bugs in the system.

The distributors delivering advertising are wearing a unique GPS tracking device that the owner of the advertising campaign can track through their Internet browser, seeing results about every 15 seconds. These results include an interactive map of their location and deliveries. It is one of the most reliable tracking methods for door hanging advertising. Aside from watching their advertisement’s location online, the clients can also get email alerts with the current status, including when their advertisements are created, when they are on route, and as they are being delivered around town. Read the rest of this entry »

Just in time for all the spring breakers heading to the beach, GPS tracking technology  is positioned to help to prevent great white shark attacks on the Florida shore.

Global positioning systems (GPS) can be beneficial for the visitors to the shores of Florida who like to go into the waters where there is a risk for great white shark attacks.

Thanks to a GPS tracking device, an alert helped local lifeguards keep the beach clear when a 14-foot-long shark came within only five short miles of shore. This is just too close, according to Brad Warner, a specialist for Volusia Beach Safety.

Among the various species of sharks on Florida’s shore, the great white is one of the most worrisome. It belongs to the species genus Carcharodon, the first species to attack humans. It is a great predator of the ocean, usually targeting seabirds and fish. Read the rest of this entry »

Utility companies keep the country running. Literally. When they’re not working at maximum capacity and efficiency, no one is. That’s one reason GPS tracking for utility fleets is so important for utility companies today.

It’s more than simply helping you cut fuel costs and keep your drivers from driving too fast. Though, for many companies those reasons are incentive enough. In actuality, they are simply the icing on the cake. These are the benefits your company can enjoy when utilizing GPS for utility fleets.

Ensures that there is Adequate Technician Coverage for the Task at Hand

Utility companies work in large cities and some of the most remote areas in the country. When there are power outages to contend with, it’s vital that utility companies can get the closest men and women to the location in question. Read the rest of this entry »

Winter may be almost over, but it isn’t stopping kids in Colorado from skiing and snowboarding due to the persistent snowstorms in their area. And while spring skiing is nearing, kids get tracked using GPS technology at a local Colorado ski and snowboarding school.

Where 10 of 15 students out of a class of 800 may be separated from their ski instructor on a crowded and busy day, now learning to ski and snowboard at Steamboat Springs Ski Resort is putting parent’s mind at ease as their children are now tracked by using global positioning systems (GPS).The personal GPS trackers are through a system called flaik, which is pronounced like flake in the word “snowflake.” It is a small tracker that is strapped to the student’s leg and can send alerts if the student goes out of bounds. The ski and snowboard instructor is able to set a certain distance based on the level of the current class. Beginner classes have a much shorter alerting distance than more advanced students. Read the rest of this entry »