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There are many industries that make great use of GPS tracking. We’ve told you a lot about how cities use GPS tracking to keep track of employees and schoolbuses. We’ve told you about the ways people use GPS tracking on the water to keep track of ferry boats or whaling ships. On land, golf courses, hockey teams, and police units all use GPS tracking.

GPS tracking is also used to help those who work a lot with the earth itself. For years, farming has become more and more high tech. No longer is it about just using a plow to till the soil and waiting for rain. No, the farming industry has been keeping pace with other industries when it comes to using technological innovations.

There is an area of study and practice called precision agriculture. In precision agriculture, farmers use GPS technology as a tool to micromanage what goes on their fields. By using GPS tracking, farmers can make more efficient use of fuel, fertilizer and pesticides. It is possible for a farmer to map soil variation. When such a map is combined with GPS tracking, the farmer can give different areas of soil just the amount of fertilizer that they need. Satellites and GPS technology can also let a farmer know which areas have the most weeds and they can make sure that pesticides are sprayed where they are really needed.

Now we know that micromanaging is okay when talking about a farm, but it is a dirty word when it comes to talking about managing people. When it comes to managing people, micromanaging is not about being small and petty. It is about making sure that resources are allocated correctly. With budgets getting tighter and tighter, you need to which employees are going where and look at ways to make travel more efficient.

As fleet routes become more efficient, there are lower costs to the customer for fuel.  This again is a way to reduce operating costs.  Sometimes a portion of these cost savings can even be passed along to the customer.  This benefits employees because an efficiently-run business stays healthy and no doubt your employees want to work for an employer who is doing well.

GPS tracking systems increase productivity as well.  Drivers and dispatchers are able to communicate with ease.  It is simple to add a stop to a route or even to change a route since the dispatchers can contact drivers directly.  This helps to make each trip more effective and efficient.