There are few things in life that are truly remarkable. For me, it is the feeling in my veins that arrives at the pulsating of a bass line and the wailing of an E chord. Whether it is a soft acoustic song or a blast of metal madness that strikes your fancy, one thing is for certain: GPS provides your thrill. My guitar, which I love more than a man should ever probably love a single material object, is none other than the Gibson Les Paul Classic.
Now, I am not one to talk of prices, but let’s just say that the sales tax for my black and white beauty was $100. That is for one guitar. The price for a set of avant garde cymbals such as the Zildjian K’s? That will cost about $1,000. For the cymbals. So, if the average band has multiple bass guitars, even more electric and acoustic guitars, bass drums, snare drums, hi-hat, crash, and ride cymbals, pianos, microphones, effects pedals (for guitars), violins (best utilized in the Dave Matthews Band), trumpets, saxophones, and many other instruments… who is going to stop someone from stealing the equipment that is worth tenfold as much since it belongs to famous musicians?
Fortunately, that’s where GPS steps in once again. So, instead of having 100,000 silent and soon-to-be angry fans wanting an explanation, the musicians can rest assured that their instruments are protected by GPS tracking and they can go on stage to deliver a life defining show to get paid.
Furthermore, since parents and children shell out hundreds of dollars and re-arrange their lives around a musical extravaganza, it just wouldn’t make sense to not use cost effective and user friendly GPS tracking device. Taking theft out of play with GPS means everyone can rock on till dawn.
The mayor of Duluth, Minnesota hopes to join the ranks of cities that use GPS tracking devices to keep up with municipal employees.
The city is taking a cue for the neighboring city of Minneapolis, which uses GPS tracking systems to keep up with the whereabouts and usage of its fire trucks and police vehicles. Minneapolis mainly uses GPS tracking technology in order to be able to send the closest unit out when there is an emergency, but the plans are to make its use much more widespread in Duluth.
If the proposal from the mayor of Duluth becomes a reality, that area will take their use of GPS tracking devices even further. After starting with the city’s maintenance and utility vehicles, Duluth’s mayor hopes to use GPS vehicle tracking systems to also track park and recreation vehicles. If the GPS fleet tracking service is a success, then Duluth will then implement GPS tracking for their police and fire vehicles.
For their initial GPS tracking trial, the city of Duluth will use tracking devices to stay informed about where city vehicles go, how fast they are moving and if they are left idling.
Getting information on these three aspects of city workers’ driving habits can make a big difference in a city’s budget. Idling and speeding are costly practices that waste gas and cause unneeded wear and tear on vehicles. And if municipal budgets are like our personal budgets, then there is a need to cut costs wherever it is possible.
The information on where city vehicles are going will help the city root out workers who are abusing the use of city vehicles. It will also make it possible to plan the most efficient routes of travel for city vehicles, and this is another way to trim the budget.
GPS fleet tracking services can help you manage your fleet, whether you are a city government or a private business looking to keep costs in line.
A vehicle tracking system from Rocky Mountain Tracking can help your organization increase safety and driver responsibility. With a complete record of vehicle activities, whether live or historic you will know get an accurate picture of the good and not-so-good driving habits your employees engage in on a daily basis. This information is invaluable and difficult to get without the use of some kind of tracking technology.
When we tell you that installing GPS tracking devices can save you money, many times we are referring to the savings you get when your vehicles are running more efficiently and there is less were and tear on them. The decrease in wear and tear means that your vehicles will need to be repaired less often and will last longer.
However, there are other ways in which GPS tracking systems can help you to save money that do not involve keeping your vehicles in good repair.
One Tampa Bay police department found that some of its officers were attempting to “save” the department money by using the vehicles less…however, they were still harging the department for hours that they did not work. So in reality, they were attempting to defraud their employer. The police department set out to investigate a number of its officers with them aim of getting to the bottom of suspected fraud.
After reviewing records from GPS tracking systems in conjunction with time cards, receipts for gas and records of surveillance, investigators found that four officers were being less than honest about the hours they were working. The investigation showed that one tenth of the officers who were investigated were not being truthful about the hours they were working. On the one hand it is good to know that a majority of the officers are not trying to get more pay than they deserve. Still, though with municipal budgets getting tightened everywhere, municipalities can’t afford to let money be siphoned away in this manner.
The four officers who were found to be padding their work logs with hours that they were not working no longer work for the police department. Three of them retired and one of them was fired.
On the other hand, GPS tracking technology does not only let you know when vehicles are not being used, it can also alert you to unauthorized use of company vehicles. With our software you can not only track but easily establish an alert system for events like a driver going outside of a designated area or staying idle for too long. Idle time and stops at unauthorized locations can become costly for your business; with a GPS system you can ensure that this does not become a problem.
Call Rocky Mountain Tracking at 877-477-9668 to speak with an expert about the GPS tracking system that will work best for your company and help you manage your fleet.
When is it good to have a whistleblower around? When that whistleblower is a GPS tracking device that proves your innocence. For Shaun Malone of California, the GPS tracking device that he thought was his enemy, became a key component in his defense.
GPS tracking technology and a police officer’s radar gun have gone to battle, since the GPS tracking device reported that Malone was not going as fast as the police officer who ticketed Malone says. As new technology enters our lives, we have to find ways to deal with how we apply it and how we govern ourselves in relation to new machines and gadgets. Cases like this set new precedents for how speeding tickets are contested.
Malone went on trial after being charged with driving 62 mph in a zone where the speed limit is 45 mph. This charge, of course, paints the picture that he is a typical, reckless teenage driver. Good thing for Malone that his stepfather, a retired law enforcement official, installed a GPS tracking device purchased from Rocky Mountain Tracking on the car Malone drives.
Although Malone was not thrilled at the idea of having his driving habits tracked by a GPS vehicle tracking devices, it is that tracking that may keep him from being penalized for speeding when he was not doing so.
Malone’s stepfather has pointed out that the he did not buy and install the GPS tracking device to avoid speeding tickets, however. The device was put in place to keep his stepson safe. Many parents decide to track teen drivers using a GPS tracking device to make sure that the young drivers in their households are not speeding, braking suddenly, driving without a seatbelt or driving into forbidden territory.
Still, it may turn out that this tracking device keeps Malone safe in a different way than was intended.
Running a business come with great rewards and great risks. For many business owners the risks are worth it to reap the rewards. But still, if you could find ways to mitigate your risks, you would take advantage of these opportunities, wouldn’t you?
When you have employees and equipment under your charge, you certainly don’t want anything to happen on your watch. When you use GPS tracking devices to monitor vehicle movement and employee driving habits, you can feel just a little more assured. There is no way to see into the future, but you can see to it that your employees get assistance if they need it.
You may often hear that employers use GPS tracking to “spy” on employees, and if you don’t feel comfortable with that, be aware that the purpose of GPS tracking is safety, not spying. As an employer you are concerned about your employees’ safety for personal and professional reasons. GPS tracking is one way that you can think less about your drivers out on the at times treacherous highways and byways and concentrate on the work at hand.
Your employees may be perfectly good drivers and they may be on the road with other perfectly good drivers, and the unexpected can still occur. It is possible that some erratic movement or driving maneuver is not due to negligence, but to illness or some other unforeseen circumstance. When you use a GPS tracking system to monitor your fleet in real time you will be aware of a problem immediately. Then you can see to the safety of your employee without delay.
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Feb 07 2009
When is it good to have a whistleblower around? When that whistleblower is a 