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 »

This is an SX1 satellite tracker.  It’s one tough GPS tracking device.  It is perfect for tracking assets in remote locations.  The SX1 is a satellite tracking tag – that works in areas without GSM coverage.  The SX1 receives location via the Global Positioning System, and transmits its location data out via the Globalstar satellite network.

This particular unit was floating around the Pacific Ocean on A Buoy for the last three years.

We’ve had customers use these SX1’s for a variety of applications; like tracking giant tortoises in the Galapagos Islands, to sending these up to space.  They are more commonly used to track trailers and equipment in remote areas.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) get smart and use a pig carcass with GPS tracking to try and find missing persons in the nearby river, as reported by CTV News Saskatoon.

It is not uncommon for police forces to use global positioning software (GPS) for tracking living animals to learn about their daily habits, movements, and location, but this is one of the first times an animal not living has been tracked.

In this case, it is to help the Royal Canadian Mounted Police find missing persons.

A 180-pound pig carcass had a GPS tracking device strapped to it and was pushed into the South Saskatchewan River located in Saskatoon, Canada. With the GPS tracking software, the Saskatoon Historical Case Unit (HCU) can track its location down the river, including looking at data about how fast it goes, when it stops, and its general direction.

The mission of this project is to help the RCMP learn more about how bodies move in the river when they are dumped there. In the future, they hope that it aid them in a more efficient search for bodies in the river. Read the rest of this entry »

Researchers in Kenya stop ivory poachers with GPS tracking technology for their rapidly declining population of elephants.

In Nairobi, Kenya and surrounding areas, the elephant population is dwindling at a rapid pace. Much of this is due to poachers that harm the elephants for the ivory tusks of the animals, similar to poachers who slaughter rhinos for their horns, which are used for medicinal and narcotics purposes.

Locals have called it a “rapidly escalating environmental crime wave” and researchers in the area are hoping to put a stop to it with modern technology.

Two organizations – the United Nations Environmental Program and Interpol – are working together on a project to put a stop to this and other environmental crimes. These crimes not only put the environment and its living creatures at risk, but cost up to billions of dollars every year. Five hundred researchers and other experts and law enforcement agencies in Nairobi are working diligently on this problem.

The killing of elephants and rhinos in Africa has escalated in the last few years, reaching 17,000 elephants in 2011 alone and 35,000 in 2012. The threat to elephant extinction is so real that President Obama recently announced an executive order ban the commercial sale of ivory. Read the rest of this entry »