Rocky Mountain Tracking

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.

One Tennessee school system used funds provided by a federal grant to install GPS tracking systems on a large percentage of its school buses. An official estimated that between one half to three quarts of the buses used by the school system now have GPS tracking devices that work in conjunction with video surveillance cameras.

No matter what kind of fleet of vehicles you have—be it school buses, trucks or limousines, you can use GPS tracking to keep track of your vehicles and know who is where at what time. Being able to manage your fleet with GPS tracking means you will have an accurate record of the driving activity for each vehicle that your employees drive.

You can reduce operating costs because you will be able to monitor driving habits that such as excessive speeding that waste money. Your vehicles will also be subject to less wear and tear when you help your drivers get a  handle on wasteful driving habits.

Officials in Tennessee said that they wanted to do all that they possibly could to keep students safe. And in this day and age you may be thinking that this means keeping them safe on the roads and safe from adult predators…well, it appears that school officials installed the cameras and GPS devices to also keep students safe…from each other.

Sadly, it seems that some of the students are a danger to themselves. It is not clear whether students are fighting with each other or somehow distracting the bus driver, but it is evident that something had to be done. After a number of incidents involving disruptions on school buses, school officials knew they had to do more to keep the peace. They also needed to be able to have more evidence of what may have happened when and where, so they turned to GPS tracking technology.

One article about this new development in the Tennessee school system noted that the GPS tracking systems were not installed to after a number of children were left on the bus by mistake or dropped at the wrong stop.

However, as a parent there are things you can do before this becomes a problem. You can get a personal tracking device to keep up with your child’s whereabouts. Then you will not have to rely on the school system to do this. We would certainly hope that you could trust bus aides and bus drivers to get your child to the correct bus stop, but just in case, a personal GPS tracking device an provide an extra layer of assurance.

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.

It is a rather startling statistic, but as many as there were over 1.2 million vehicles stolen in the U.S. last year. However, I recently read another rather impressive statistic: that in the United States and Latin America, some insurance companies will give customers a discount of up to twenty-five percent off if they install vehicle tracking devices in their cars.

Imagine that–you could pay a quarter less for your auto insurance if you decide to purchase a GPS tracking device. So in that sense, vehicle tracking devices are really a gift that keep on giving. When you buy a GPS tracking device, you get the added protection of knowing that your car will not be out of reach since a tracking device can quickly tell you where it is. Plus, you may get a lower price on a bill for car insurance, a service that you really cannot do without.

A GPS device can help you to monitor your own driving habits and this can also help you keep expenses down. While most of us are well aware of our speeding (though we often choose to ignore it) there are a number of other gas guzzling (and therefore money-wasting habits) that we pay little attention to. For example, do you know just how often you make sudden stops and that this habit can waste gas and add more wear and tear to your car? Or, do you know how often your spouse or other family members who use the family vehicle are driving without seatbelts? This is the kind of knowledge you can get from a GPS tracking device.

So to sum up: A GPS tracking device can prevent auto theft, lower your insurance rates and also help you enact money-saving driving habits. Knowing all that, how could to not get a GPS tracking device? Call Rocky Mountain Tracking today and let one of their experts help you choose the GPS tracking device that is right for you.

We here at Rocky Mountain Tracking know that even when you buy a GPS tracking device with theft prevention in mind, you certainly hope that you will not have to use it for this reason. So in the meantime you can take advantage of the other great features of vehicle tracking devices and make the most of your purchase.

Earlier this week we talked about how GPS can help improve customer service. But you may have other questions, such as, “How can GPS tracking help me make the most of my resources?”

Well, we at Rocky Mountain Tracking (RMT) are so glad that you asked that question.

GPS tracking can increase productivity
With GPS tracking, drivers and dispatchers can communicate with ease. If your dispatchers know where a driver is, they can easily give that person additional instructions, if needed. Dispatchers will not have to call around to figure out who is where, they will already know. This can be a great help when you find that you need someone to make an extra pick up.

GPS tracking can save you money on fuel
Even with the slight dip that we have seen in gas prices, we are becoming all too accustomed to paying rather high prices for gasoline. When you insall GPS tracking devices on your company vehicles, you will be able to monitor your drivers’ habits on the road. Then you can figure out how they can drive in ways that use less gas if they have wasteful driving habits. Plus, GPS tracking allows for more efficient route planning. Your vehicles will use less gas because there will be no guessing or making unecessary turns.

GPS tracking can help you watch out for your employees
If for some reason, one of your drivers is in danger, GPS tracking technology will help you locate that person quickly. Should an employee become ill, you can dispatch help immediately. Being able to monitor the location of your vehicles with GPS tracking means that you will be aware if something goes awry with a routine delivery of pick up.

GPS tracking can help reduce the wear and tear on your vehicles
When you install GPS tracking devices to help you plan routes, save fuel, and monitor driving habits, you are taking a step to protect the investment you have made in your vehicles. Making sure that your drivers use less fuel and driving more efficiently are two ways that you can make certain that your vehicles last longer and need fewer repairs. But it would be hard to monitor driving habits and maximize route planning all on your own. And this is where GPS tracking and RMT come in to the picture.

No doubt you do a great job managing your fleet and your employees, but that doesn’t mean that you don’t need a little extra help. You can visit the RMT website from information and then call Rocky Mountain Tracking toll free (877) 477-9668 to speak to someone who can help you decide with GPS tracking product will work best for you.