Rocky Mountain Tracking

Daily GPS News

MA: Cops Slow to Implement GPS in Cruisers

June 11th, 2013

So many different industries rely upon GPS tracking devices for their fleets: trucking companies; construction companies; transportation services; delivery drivers; and law enforcement to name a few. Most business owners who operate a fleet of vehicles knows that the best way to ensure they are saving money while keeping their employees safe and honest is to rely on GPS tracking.

When it comes to emergency response and law enforcement, GPS tracking offers swifter response times and reduced costs. Dispatchers will attest to this. However, in MA, it seems the value of GPS tracking of police cars i yet to be understood.

Trouble Implementing GPS

In Central Massachusetts, Westminster, Holden, Leominster, and Ashburnham are the few out of 20 police departments within the state that use GPS devices in their cruisers. Recently, Lowell officers agreed to the installation of the devices in their vehicles.

When you look at the entire Central MA region, however, you see that there are some cities that have begun to implement the system but are unfinished. For example, Templeton purchased GPS devices, but contract negotiations are holding up the activation process according to Chief David H. Whitaker.

According to Fitchburg Police spokesman Sgt. Glenn Fossa, GPS devices were installed in their cruisers over a year ago, but have not been activated.

In Shrewsbury, police Chief James J. Hester Jr. points out that although they implemented GPS seven years ago, technical difficulties have forced the system offline. Apparently, the company that outfitted his department is no longer in business, so their IT department is looking for an economical replacement.

The Value of GPS

While some officers find GPS devices a way to spy on their actions, most of them will agree that it is a great way to keep officers safe and out of trouble. An example: Westminster Police Chief Salvatore Albert said a civilian accused an officer of speeding after her vehicle, pulling out of a parking lot, crashed into the cruiser. The GPS device was referenced, and it was discovered that officer was actually driving below the speed limit.

There are those departments that use them to keep officers from conducting personal business while in uniform, according to Mr. Donnelly, former prosecutor in the Worcester district attorney’s office. However, police unions have fought against this. They are especially against undercover officers using them, as well as those cops that must take a cruiser home with them.

Said Mr. Donnelly, “The question becomes, with that, is that public record? I might not want my name and address known.”

It remains to be seen if all of Massachusetts will catch on, or if they will dismiss the GPS tracking device as a useful tool to protect their officers’ reputations and their lives as well.

GPS Tracking To Keep Employees Honest

May 1st, 2013

More and more, employers are watching where their workers are going in their company vehicles. It makes sense from an employer standpoint, but what do employees think?

Tracking Employees

Employers stand much to gain from relying on GPS devices to track their workers. Just the fact you can save a substantial amount of money in excessive, unnecessary wear and tear makes it a winning choice in an effort to add to your profit margin. It only adds to the value of the GPS tracking device when you know your drivers are making it on time to their destination, and not misreporting their time.

The general manager of Auckland’s Drain Repair Company in New Zealand can attest to its value. Ryan Lusty said that for the price of $1000 per vehicle, GPS tracking devices were installed in every one of its fleet six years ago. The purpose of the GPS devices was to monitor the location of the workers, how long they were taking to finish jobs and move on to the next location, and their rate of speed.

“The reason why we put them is just to stop the extra travel, because the vehicles do get abused if you can’t see them,” he said. “They will shoot to the city in the middle of the night or something stupid like that. Now we know how long they are on jobs for, and if they have gone the best, shortest way to a job.”

Of course, the employees weren’t pleased with the decision to install the GPS devices, according to Lusty.

“At the start the guys weren’t very happy about it, obviously, but everybody has got used to it now and it’s standard practice. Everybody knows it’s there and they are work vehicles and that’s it. Everybody knows we are watching them at all times,” said Lusty.

All over New Zealand, workers are being called out for their misdeeds thanks to GPS fleet tracking. For example, in Nelson, a man responsible for maintenance for Downer was caught going home hours before he was claiming on his time sheet, often falsely claiming overtime when he was really relaxing at home on the couch. In Whangarei, a linesman working on street lights was also discovered falsely reporting hours, where the work vehicle was shown sitting in his driveway at home. Both men were fired.

David Lowe is the employment services manager for the EMA, and he says that employers “don’t like catching employees doing bad things…so the best practice is to discuss it with them, discuss what the system can do. We would rather people realize themselves that if they are doing something that maybe they shouldn’t, it will get picked up.”

GPS Tracking To Keep Employees Honest

April 22nd, 2013

More and more, employers are watching where their workers are going in their company vehicles. It makes sense from an employer standpoint, but what do employees think?

Of course, the employees weren’t pleased with the decision to install the GPS devices, according to Lusty.

Freedom from GPS Fleet Tracking

February 7th, 2013

The introduction or discussion of GPS fleet tracking has been met with varying responses from employers and employees. As specific industries and government-funded departments have decided to implement this new technology, opinions ranging from causes to freedoms to taxpayers’ money continue to abound—and to clash.

Some people, simply by personality, negatively react to the idea of accountability and control inherent within the establishment of GPS fleet tracking; however, the new technology seems to be spreading and attracting more supporters. Could a shift in thinking possibly help those in opposition see such changes as bringing more freedom instead of less?

Opportunity to Build Trust

Employees who accept the ramifications of GPS fleet tracking and function within the guidelines of the company can actually become highly trusted. Building trust in the employer-employee relationship has become increasingly difficult as employees in all industries have become less location-based. Even cubicles may become a thing of the past as employers continue to discover the increased productivity among satellite employees. As employees demonstrate their trustworthiness through the data collected by GPS fleet tracking systems, employers in general may become more comfortable with entrusting company equipment and responsibilities to off-site employees who have proved to be dependable.

Ability to Respond to Accusations

GPS fleet tracking being installed on municipal vehicles in Berkley Heights, New Jersey is actually viewed by some as a protection for employees. According to the Township Administrator, GPS fleet tracking will give an opportunity for employee’s uses of taxpayer-funded vehicles to be explained. When residents become suspicious about where they see the vehicles, they can voice their complaints and receive straight answers. Employees that are sent on special, work-related missions won’t have to worry about false accusations arising as they accomplish their work.

Automatic Record Keeping

As GPS tracking expands, company-owned vehicles can essentially keep their own records. While this obviously saves time in calculating miles and provides accountability for vehicle use, it also eliminates the concern for human error or intentional deception. As advocates of GPS fleet tracking have pointed out, the company who owns the vehicle has the right to know exactly how the vehicle is being used. In the long run, this automatic record can provide the employees with the freedom to use the vehicle in all the ways needed to get their jobs done.

Follow That Truck!: GPS Guides Commercial Trucking

December 15th, 2012

The sight of two 18-wheeler trucks rumbling beside a small car causes panic for many drivers who fear getting hit. But truck drivers may fear a collision just as much. How would they tell their manager about the accident? How would they find a quicker route to make up for the delay and still deliver the products to the business on time? Who will help guide them?

Getting There with GPS

GPS technology has begun to guide commercial trucking fleets of various companies. Of course, hundreds of little hand-held GPS units can’t do the job. So, business managers and government officials are trying to employ integrated GPS tracking receivers onto fleets of 18-wheelers to continuously monitor their routes as they travel through the busy state highways in order to deliver their products. While only a handful of technology companies offer fleet-wide tracking, the need for GPS on trucks is growing.

Moving Along the Road with GPS

During long road trips, trucks often encounter unexpected delays, such as weather, traffic and accidents. It can be difficult for a driver to send information to or receive information from the base in a timely manner. With GPS-enhanced trailer trucks, the system allows both sides to communicate real-time data. The base sends information that downloads into the truck’s GPS system. This allows the driver to choose another route to avoid traffic delays. To ensure safety on the road, the GPS system can even record and send to the base driver speed and safety data. To further protect the trailer and its products, the GPS can receive warning messages if the security cameras that monitor the intersections, as well as the entrance and docking bays of the destination, detect any problems.

Reaching to the Future of GPS Tracking

Integrated GPS technology offers many possibilities for the future of commercial truck fleets. Fleet transportation managers could create more efficient routes that avoid common traffic blocks. Real-time GPS updates could automatically divert routes without driver input. Most importantly, government officials could use the data collected from GPS-enabled trucks to create bridges, roads, and highways that align with the traffic patterns. That way, construction could be more efficient, thus saving costs and time for the state and the workers. Perhaps the best benefit of integrating GPS into commercial trucks is the even greater assurance that the trucks beside the car drive safely and confidently to their destination.

Safer County Drivers in Pima County, Arizona Thanks to GPS

November 5th, 2012

Pima County is the latest to realize the benefits of installing GPS devices in fleet vehicles, placing the devices on approximately 800 of their vehicles including 97 pieces of heavy equipment. This will aid the County in encouraging safe driving among their employees, while at the same time giving them the power to find any of these vehicles at any time.

The county can now check in on each vehicle and determine its location and speed, as well as monitoring the fleet for engine idle time, harsh accelerating or braking, harsh turn, and whether or not the employees are wearing their seat belts. They can use the information collected from the GPS devices to weed out the problem drivers and help them correct the problem.

When a problem arises and the County notices unusual travel patterns or unsafe driving behaviors, a GPS incident report is sent to the driver’s manager. At this point, the manager brings the concern to the driver, pointing out the poor driving behavior in the hopes of correcting it.

GPS tracking is yet another check and balance, and goes hand-in-hand with the “How’s My Driving?” hotline sticker located on the rear of each County vehicle. If a citizen calls in a complaint about one of their drivers, the information collected from the GPS device will either confirm the complaint or disprove it altogether, as it did in a recent case. A resident called to inform the County about “Ten Pima County employees sitting around all day and five trucks parked in Amado,” according to County Administrator Chuck Huckleberry. After reviewing the GPS data, however, it was discovered no DOT vehicles were ever in the area. All other county vehicles were also checked just in case, but none were found to be in that specific area at any point that day, either.

The County knows that the GPS devices also ensure safety of the employees as well. As an example, the Health Department sends its inspectors out each day, a fleet of 20 vehicles in all, to inspect motels, hotels, restaurants, swimming pools, mobile home parks, and to investigate complaints about mosquitoes and rodents. “We have inspectors out in remote areas. Using GPS, we can make sure they’re safe, and that they’re on their way back to the office after the inspection,” said Program Manager with Consumer Health and Food Safety, Jeff Terrell.

Huckleberry sums up the reasons to include GPS devices as part of your fleet: “Because of GPS, we know where our vehicles are 24/7. It’s all about efficiency, management, control, and safety.” I couldn’t have said it better myself.

GPS Devices Credited For Waste Dumping Reduction In The United Arab Emirates

September 30th, 2012

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) are notorious for illegally and unsafely dumping waste. Gulfnews.com released a report earlier this month, showing massive improvements in the region’s waste reduction efforts. It seems that the leading factor in the improvement was implementing GPS technology. Last year, 1,950 instances of waste dumping were reported in the UAE. 743 cases were reported in the Abu Dhabi area, 673 in Al Ain, and 534 cases were reported in the Western Region. The issue caught the attention of the Centre of Waste Management, who turned to GPS tracking technology and fleet management to solve their problem.

So far, 4,200 out of 4,300 of the waste collection trucks in the emirate have been equipped with GPS tracking devices. Soon, all of the trucks will be fitted with the tracking devices. The idea is that with better oversight, illegal waste dumping can be prevented. With GPS technology, managers can monitor the movement of every truck equipped with a tracking device. This way, overseers can ensure that the trucks are traveling to approved dumping zones, and question a situation if the device shows a truck stopping near a body of water or other suspicious areas.

Attaching the waste collection trucks with GPS devices is working out very well so far. This year, the total number of illegal waste dumping reports was down by almost 50 percent. The total this year was only 980, with 402 cases reported in Abu Dhabi. The most improved area was Al Ain, with only 151 instances reported this year. The Western Region didn’t improve quite as much, but still reduced their cases down to 151 this year. The Centre of Waste Management has high expectations for continued improvement. They project a 70 percent reduction by 2015 and an 80 percent reduction by 2018.

GPS Tracking the Trash in India

August 12th, 2012

Once a week, most of us see a large trash truck pull up to our house and drive away with our refuse, never to be seen again. Sometimes it might occur to us how much planning it must take to coordinate the routes of all those trash trucks each week. But most of the time, we don’t take notice of the trash truck fleet unless it fails to show up on the right day.

This very problem seems to be growing in the town of Ahmedabad, India. Officials regularly receive calls from customers complaining of spotty service and trash piling up. This is in spite of the fact that on paper, trash pickup personnel are consistently completing their routes and picking up all the trash they are responsible for. The only conclusion? Some trash collectors must be skipping streets or customers in order to save time, counting on the fact that their supervisors don’t have any way to prove whether the complaints against them are valid or not.

That will no longer be the case, though; the city’s Municipal Corporation will soon be installing GPS units on over 700 trash trucks operated in Ahmedabad. These units will give supervisors real-time locations of each truck, so they can tell at a glance whether or not the fleet is making all scheduled stops throughout the day. The knowledge that someone back at the station is watching their vehicle’s progress will hopefully inspire trash collectors to pick up the pace instead of skipping houses.

The top purpose of the GPS units is to give officials a way to either confirm or invalidate claims by customers that they are being skipped. If the GPS records show that the truck did, in fact, stop at their house, the customers have very little to say in response. However, if the evidence shows that the truck never passed the house, or was moving too fast to pick up any trash, the collectors certainly have some explaining to do.

Fleet management is one of the industries that has benefitted most obviously from the GPS revolution. Drivers don’t always appreciate the new level of accountability, but supervisors and customers finally have a way to quickly resolve disputes over driver activity. And perhaps the streets of Ahmedabad will be a little less smelly, thanks to some GPS units!

Who’s Walking the Dog?

August 8th, 2012

Dog-walking has come a long way since the days of giving the neighbor boy a buck to take the dog around the block a few times. It’s a serious business these days, particularly in areas where many dog owners are high-powered executives who care about their pets but just don’t have the time to give them regular exercise. A GPS application now gives owners the ability to check up on the dog walking service they hire and see if Fido is really getting his ten laps.

VeriWalk, not surprisingly, was co-developed by a dog owner who was tired of finding out that he was paying someone who didn’t treat his job seriously. If only there was a way to check in and see exactly where that dog-walker was during the scheduled walking time! With so many cell phones featuring built in GPS technology, all that remained was to build a program around that technology, tailored to meet the needs of dog walkers and their customers (their human customers, that is). That meant adding a text/email notification at the beginning and end of each walk, plus a map that updates in real time during the walk.

Initiation of this GPS application requires installation by both the dog walking service and the customer. The software is free to customers, and only minor fees apply to the software used by dog-walkers. The producers of VeriWalk anticipate that the app will quickly become popular as a form of accountability that has been conspicuously absent from the industry. The last time dog-walkers were this accountable was when you could ask the neighbor boy’s mother whether or not he earned his buck!

A second version of the GPS application is available for internal use only; that is, supervisors at the dog-walking service can track their employees, without the customer being involved at all. This is a fascinating variation on the quickly growing “fleet tracking” program, usually applied to cargo shipping, city bus, and trash truck fleets.

Dog-walking services might jump at the opportunity to gain an advantage over competing companies by being the first in the area to offer verified walks. Unfortunately, the app will not tell customers whether or not the walker cleaned up after Fido…but the neighbor will probably let you know about that!

Newfoundland, Canada: GPS in the Graveyard

August 6th, 2012

We’ve touched on a multitude of ways GPS is used here at Rocky Mountain Tracking. From fleet tracking to criminal tracking, wildlife tracking to tracking your beloved pet, GPS technology is used in dozens of different ways. Did you know that six College of the North Atlantic graduates are currently using GPS technology in an entirely different way than we’ve ever reported on before? They are working towards digitally mapping a Stephenville, Newfoundland, Canada graveyard.

The group of students has been wandering around the graveyard and recording each tombstone’s associated information: who is buried there, other family members that are also buried there, and dates of the family members’ birth and death. The information gathered is then associated to a specific GPS coordinate.

Instructor in Geographic Information Systems at the College of the North Atlantic, Dan Brooks, says this is a more efficient way to store the information. What used to be stored in reams upon reams of paper is now stored electronically. “So now it’s gone from paper now to (GPS) point,” said Brooks. “This point is intelligent and has all the information that we need, and we don’t need the paper anymore.”

Kristen Scott is one of the student mappers and is loving the task of graveyard wandering. “It’s actually a lot of fun and, I mean, we spend so much time in the classroom in our computer lab throughout the year that getting out into the field like this is really exciting, we’ve always had gorgeous weather.”

Scott knows the information they are currently compiling will one day help someone who is clueless as to where their loved one is buried. The GPS location they are recording will lead the person to the correct plot. In the future, they hope to compile a database available online for public use.