GPS is an amazing piece of technology that allows anyone, anywhere with a receiving unit to pinpoint their exact location to within a few meters. It makes it possible to find the proverbial needle in a haystack, wherever it’s hiding on this planet.

But like all technology it’s not infallible, it can make mistakes, and sometimes those mistakes have led gullible users down a merry path of tragic turns. Here’s our top five, along with some helpful tips on how you can avoid making the list.

1 – No road like a snow road

An elderly couple from Reno, Nevada, were stranded for three days in the snow after their GPS device directed them onto an unplowed road in an Oregon forest. At the time, John Rhoads, 65, and his wife, Starry Bush-Rhoads, 67, said they were driving home from Oregon “when we noticed that the snow was getting deep and we were over 30 miles into this road. We thought we didn’t have much farther to go.”

“We started to dig it out to get it so we could move on. We were successful in digging it out and moving farther down the road and we got stuck again.”

While turning back in these situations seems counter-productive sometimes it’s the smart choice, no matter what your GPS is telling you.  

2 – Amphibious cars only

Driving directions can be confusing, particularly at night but the actions of three girls returning from a work conference in a rented SUV still managed to surprise officials who couldn’t understand how they managed to end up driving down a boat ramp.

“We’ve seen sitcom parodies of something like this and to actually see it is surprising,” said Lt. Eric Keenan with the Bellevue Fire Department.

The road was dark and the driver crashed the SUV into the water in Mercer Slough Nature Park.

“I don’t know why they wouldn’t question driving into a puddle that doesn’t seem to end,” Keenan said.

Reminds us of an episode of The Office.

3 – Overweight

Heavy trucks or vehicles carrying dangerous goods are restricted to specific roads to avoid creating an unnecessary hazard to other road users. Commercial navigation solutions, such as those built using Telogis GeoBase, guide drivers along legal routes but that was a luxury Doug Madison didn’t have.

Doug was driving a chemical tanker from South Carolina to Halliburton’s plant near Carmichaels, Pennsylvania when his GPS directed him off Interstate 79 and onto country roads that have a 10-ton weight limit.

Doug’s truck weighed three times that.

He was cited by a Pennsylvania State Police trooper for two traffic violations that carried a total fine of $12,000. He was scheduled to spend Christmas in Greene County but was given a last-minute reprieve and was able to go home to his family.

4 – Taking the long way

It can be confusing traveling overseas so it always pays to check your destination carefully, one piece of advice a couple of tourists will be taking seriously from now on.

Wanting to visit the popular Italian island resort of Capri, they mistakenly typed Carpi into their GPS unit and blithely sallied forth.

Now making mistakes on your GPS is one thing but only realizing you made a mistake when you’re 400 miles off course is a little less forgivable.

A local tourism official, Angelo Giovannini, told the Associated Press at the time, “Capri is an island. They did not even wonder why they didn’t cross any bridge or take any boat.”

5 – Waiting for a train to come

In an unfamiliar city after dark, 64-year-old Mary Davis let her GPS device lead the way, police said. When it told her to make a right, evidently she did – right onto railroad track and into the path of an oncoming train.

If not for a local officer who spotted her and urged her to leave the car, police said the outcome could have been tragic. Less than a minute after Davis climbed out the door, the train rammed into the back of her vehicle, totaling it, police said.

Commercial GPS systems make drivers smarter

Aside from the obvious need for common sense, there are ways to make sure your GPS works smarter.

Basic GPS location needs a little help to make it valuable to commercial fleets, where every wrong turn or unnecessary mile is a cost they can’t afford to absorb. Telogis Fleet is built on the award-winning geospatial mapping engine, GeoBase. This SDK includes features that modify the GPS information to make sure it stays accurate, relevant and useful for fleet managers.

Examples of this intelligent correction include such features as:

• Making allowances for road widths to ensure speed limit readings are accurate
• Using dead reckoning to compensate for when the GPS signal is lost
• Facility for users to provide real-world feedback on road conditions
• Truck attribute layers to help drivers route legally as well as avoid low bridges
• ADAS data to provide drivers additional road attributes such as incline
• Weather and traffic information help drivers route smarter

Telogis helps fleets plan and execute routes with less cost and greater efficiency by helping GPS work a little smarter. You can learn more about their solutions or watch a demo of their fleet management software by visiting www.telogis.com.

If you’ve been browsing GPS devices you might have seen some of them, particularly GPS-enabled smartphones, boasting A-GPS. What is A-GPS? What are the benefits of Assisted GPS, and why is it a good feature to have?

A-GPS, which stands for Assisted GPS (what is GPS?), helps a standalone GPS unit to lock on to a satellite signal. Known as the TTFF (time-to-first-fix), this startup period can be challenging for GPS units where the satellite signal is weak or distorted by surrounding buildings.

It’s important to note that AGPS will only work if the device has a GPRS (data) connection, normally using a 3G connection.

How Assisted GPS helps speed things up

The first time a device attempts to lock on to a GPS satellite signal (known as a ‘cold start’) it has to download three sets of data (GPS satellite signals, almanac data, and ephemeris data) to calculate its position. A device may do a cold start if it has been switched off for a long period of time, has moved a considerable distance or the cache reset.

For standalone GPS, a cold start can take up to 12 minutes. If the signal is interrupted during that initial startup (due to a weak signal, conditions in the atmosphere, walls or trees) then it has to restart, further delaying the TTFF.

Assisted GPS can help avoid this, solving the data connection issue by linking to a web-based internet server (known as an assistance server) that already holds the current satellite information. This information is relayed to the device using GPRS (cellphone data connection service) rather than using the much slower, and possibly unreliable, radio signal from the satellite.

Even for devices doing a warm start, studies showed that using AGPS saved, on average, at least a minute.

What A-GPS won’t do

While helpful, there are some things Assisted GPS can’t do, no matter how much you want to believe it can. It doesn’t possess some magical ability to lock on to a satellite signal through everday obstructions. GPS won’t work underground, inside a building (away from glass windows) or underwater, and will be affected by dense tree cover.

AGPS won’t change that. As the name suggests it is Assisted-GPS – if you don’t have the GPS part of A-GPS then it just won’t work. All that AGPS does is significantly improve the startup time when first locating your position.

A-GPS is not to be confused with WiFi positioning or cellphone tower triangulation, methods where position can be determined when GPS is unavailable.

Some devices will use a combination of these methods to determine your position, using what is known as hybrid-positioning systems.

Integrated systems the way forward

Under ideal conditions GPS (or more correctly GNSS) is the best (fastest, most accurate) method to determine your location. However, there are several situations where GPS signals don’t work (underground, underwater, inside buildings or poor atmospheric conditions) so the future of device positioning lies in providing users with an integrated approach.

As discussed at the FIG Congress in 2010, the holy grail of device location is ‘ubiquitous positioning’ or for devices to be constantly location-aware. The only way, it appears, to achieve this is by using several different technologies to converge – GPS, WiFi positioning and cell tower triangulation.

Combining the advantages of different location technology will allow devices to automatically switch based on current conditions without requiring the user to interfere. With growing interest in location intelligence it won’t just be commercial fleet management systems that will benefit from accurate and reliable positioning systems.

Something that’s important to a lot of commercial fleets is recording mileage – it might be used in a range of situations including:

• Determining next vehicle service
• Replacement of vehicle parts such as tires or oil filters
• Off road tax credits
• Calculating fuel economy
• Warranty claims
• Route optimization

It’s important then that fleets can rely on accurate mileage reports for their vehicles. So how can incorrectly inflated tires affect the vehicle’s instrument accuracy, and how can you make sure this doesn’t affect your fleet?

Changing tire pressure changes instrument readings

Let’s just reiterate that tire pressure won’t have a big impact on instrument readings, but when any slight variation is extrapolated over a large number of fleet vehicles then the discrepancy can be significant enough to warrant your attention.

So how does incorrect inflation affect the vehicle’s instrument readings?

In most vehicles, speed and distance readings are based on the number of axle revolutions rather than turns of the wheel. Instruments use the standard diameter of the wheel to calculate how much distance has been covered, and base odometer and speedometer readings on that. But overinflating or underinflating the tire changes the diameter, slightly skewing the calculations. For example, an overinflated tire has a larger diameter and thus covers a greater distance with each axle turn. The result is that the odometer under-reports the actual distance covered, and the speed will also be less than what it normally would be.

Solving the tire pressure problem

While the mechanical instruments in a vehicle can be affected by the wrong tire pressure, there is something that isn’t. Intelligent fleet management systems that use GPS tracking maintain accuracy regardless of the vehicle’s tire pressure. Customers using Telogis have verified its accuracy for both mileage and vehicle engine hours, providing a much more reliable method of tracking vehicle metrics.

Five more reasons to avoid incorrect tire pressure

While we’re talking about tires with the wrong PSI reading, here are a number of other reasons to keep tires at the correct pressure.

1. Accidents – Studies indicate that underinflated tires are a contributing factor in more than 20% of accidents.
2. Overheating – Underinflated tires are more prone to overheating, which can lead to other problems.
3. Blowouts – There is a greater risk of the tire suffering a blowout due to more exposure against sharp road edges.
4. Uneven tire wear – Both underinflated or overinflated tires create an abnormal contact pattern on the road, causing uneven tire wear, either on the edge of the tire wall or along the center line.
5. Fuel economy – Underinflated tires can reduce a vehicle’s fuel efficiency.

So even though your fleet management software is keeping accurate speed and mileage records, there is still good reason to keep tires properly inflated. Telogis Fleet can help you do that working with tire pressure monitoring systems to alert you whenever vehicles are not inflated to the recommended pressure rating.

In our last post we talked about the benefits of using GPS when traveling overseas. Most tourists would agree that once you’ve used GPS to help you get around, discover local attractions, or find your way out of trouble, you’ll never go back. Today, more than ever, GPS is becoming tightly integrated with how many of us find our way around, do business or learn about our surroundings.

So how can you make the most of GPS? It’s free, it’s very useful, and it’s everywhere (except underwater or in a concrete bunker!). Previously only available with dedicated GPS devices, modern smartphones have put the power of GPS into the hands of just about everyone. And, with a proliferation of GPS-enabled smartphones available, software developers are not wasting any time building apps to take advantage of GPS, offering a growing range of solutions that offer ‘near-me’ services.

Top 3 GPS Smartphones

Even lower-end smartphones are now coming equipped with GPS but it’s worth noting that GPS hardware is not created equally. Some devices are slow to find a signal (especially if they don’t have A-GPS) while others struggle with low signals, a problem under certain conditions where clear line of sight isn’t available to at least three or more satellites.

Other issues that can affect how well the GPS performs on your smartphone include screen size (too small to be usable) and how well the touchscreen responds to gestures (vital for panning and zooming on maps).

Some phones also use other positioning Wifi location or using cellphone towers to triangulate your location, however this is generally only done if a GPS signal is unavailable, as GPS will offer the most accurate positioning.

While these are our top three GPS smartphones we do recommend if you’re buying that you try it out first. To test any GPS functionality you’ll need to take it outside and allow a few minutes for the phone to locate a signal, which means you may be required to leave some type of bond with the sales assistant so they know you’re coming back!

iPhone 4S

Apple is no slouch in making good use of GPS functionality. In fact they’ve taken it a step further with the iPhone 4S offering a “personal assistant” in the form of Siri to make finding your way to your next destination a hands-free experience.

• Find my friends – Using its iCloud service you can use your iPhone to track your friends; ideal for meetups. Of course they’ll also need an iPhone and be signed up to the iCloud service.
• Siri – Simply speak your location requests for instant results e.g. where’s the nearest ATM, take me home, take me to the Eiffel Tower
• GLONASS – Not only do you get the American-owned GPS system but you also get assistance from Russian controlled GLONASS satellites (how’s that for post-Cold War cooperation?). This means you have a higher chance of getting a good location signal and faster service.

HTC Titan

Running Windows Mobile, the HTC Titan has a good reputation for fast GPS performance and a good selection of premium map and navigation apps.

• Large screen – One of the largest on the market at 4.7” the HTC Titan makes it easier to browse, pan, and zoom maps with its massive touch screen.
• Powerful processor – Running a grunty 1.5GHz second-gen Qualcomm Snapdragon chip the HTC Titan can process map detail without much effort and good response times.
• Good battery life – Using your GPS will impact on battery life so it’s good to know the HTC Titan’s 1600mAh battery offers longer lasting performance.

Motorola Droid Razr Maxx

While it seems the current smartphone race is all about Samsung and Apple, when it comes to GPS that’s not necessarily the case. Samsung has been hit with reports of GPS issues affecting the Galaxy (although apparently there are updates to fix this) so it may not be the ideal choice for users looking for the best GPS solution.

• Sharp map detail – With its Super AMOLED display, the Droid offers sharp, crystal-clear display and high map definition. This is perfect for seeing map detail clearly, particularly at high zoom levels or viewing satellite imagery.
• Long-lasting battery – Like the HTC Titan, the Droid has one of the best batteries on the market right now. This is a valuable feature; nothing worse for a traveler than their GPS device running out of battery life partway to your destination.
• Rugged construction – Built partly with Kevlar, the Droid is literally bullet-proof, ideal for outdoor use and situations where GPS is being used in demanding environments.

For all phones, a cradle is recommended when the GPS navigation is being used in a car. Recent versions of the navigation software for Android and iOS also offer voice command – perfect for hands-free operation while driving.

What GPS apps should I get?

How well your GPS smartphone performs may also have to do with the particular mapping apps that you use. Obviously depending on what type of phone you get will limit the apps you can choose from but the two main app markets (iPhone and Android) offer a huge variety of different GPS apps that are valuable to both the traveler and everyday use.

Next post we take some time to review the best GPS apps available for today’s smartphones. Stay tuned – sign-up to our blog feed and get it as soon as it’s posted!

One thing that is making overseas travel more attractive is the growing number of location-based services that use GPS and act as a travelers very own tour guide.

For example, you could be walking down a street in Manhattan with no clue about where you are or nearby attractions. But with your personal GPS device in hand and a location-based app, in a matter of minutes you could be listening to a walking tour of the architecture you’re standing next to or viewing a list of adjacent restaurants offering special discounts. Later in the day you decide you need to organize some accommodation. And once again you turn to your handy GPS device and start up an app that lists all nearby accommodation options, with prices, current offers and walking directions.

There’s no doubt that GPS has revolutionized the way travelers get around foreign cities and access food, accommodation, and attractions. If you’re looking to take advantage of the digital travel revolution, here are ten tips to make sure you get the best GPS experience.

1 – Get a GPS education

While there is a range of different personal GPS devices available to consumers, by far the most popular is the smartphone. Whether it’s an iPhone, an Android-powered smartphone or Windows Mobile, with built-in GPS the smartphone becomes a powerful tool in the hands of the traveling tourist.

When it comes to GPS it’s worth taking the time to understand how it works, times when it may not work, and its limitations (such as time taken to get a fix on your location, improved with the use of Assisted GPS).

Understanding how GPS works will help you to know what to expect and how to get the best from your GPS experience.

2 – Save on data charges – preload your maps

Most GPS smartphones allow you to connect to a Wifi hotspot, allowing you to save on data charges (which can be outrageous when you’re overseas – buying a SIM card locally can help).

When connected to a Wifi, download any map data you may be using in the near future. Most map apps today allow the data to be cached to your phone, which means you can save on data charges and also battery life, if you switch off your 3G connection.

3 – Don’t always rely on your GPS

It can be tempting to have total faith in your GPS device but do this at your own peril. Map data, particularly outside of main centers, can be incorrect and potentially dangerous (such as sending you down a one-way street the wrong way).

While GPS is a very handy tool it does have its limitations, such as losing satellite signals or showing a less-than-accurate position (see point 10 below).
Some location data is also unverified, added by enthusiasts but sometimes incorrect or outdated. If in doubt resort to common sense or ask a local.

4 – Get the biggest screen and best battery life you can afford

GPS not only chews through the juice but it also works better when you can see the big picture. Splash out on the biggest screen and best battery life to maximize your GPS experience, as well as installing apps that help you to manage the amount of juice your phone is using.

If you’re not using them, switch off unnecessary services, such as 3G (if you’ve cached your map data), and turn off the phone when it’s not in use.

5 – Have paper guides for backup

For most things in life it’s good to have a plan B. Allow for worst case scenarios to avoid being stranded in unfamiliar surroundings. What if your smartphone is stolen, lost, damaged, or runs out of juice?

Having some paper guides or maps can be a lifesaver in situations like that. It doesn’t have to be much – just enough to get you back to safety – or somewhere to recharge your phone.

6 – Get familiar with your phone before you go

While you may be waiting for prices to drop before you buy your personal GPS smartphone, it’s best to allow at least a couple of months before you depart. Not only does this allow time for any faults to become evident (so you can return the device) but it gives you lots of time to get thoroughly familiar with your phone in an unpressured environment. There’s nothing worse than trying to figure out how to get walking directions to the train station when you’re running late!

Play with all the features in your phone. The touch gestures, the soft buttons, and customizing it to suit so you’ll have fast access to the key features you need. You’ll also get a good idea of the actual battery life of your device (it often varies from the printed phone specifications) so you’ll know how long you can go between charges.

7 – Browse available travel apps (and get recommendations from other travelers)

Search the web for travel apps available for your device. This is one of the definite advantages of a smartphone over a dedicated GPS unit so make the most of it. New apps are coming out all the time, and while some are not worth the time it takes to download them, there are plenty of valuable apps out there that can improve your travel experience, and save you money too.

While iPhone apps had a definite head-start in the market, Android apps are gaining quickly, and other phone makers (such as Nokia with their Ovi Maps) also provide a range of travel apps.

Most apps offer users reviews which can be valuable. You can also post questions on traveler forums as Lonely Planet’s Thorn Tree or FlyerTalk to get opinions from actual travelers.

8 – Tap into the wisdom of the crowds

While the internet can be a source of collective stupidity, crowdsourcing information can be a valuable way to ‘triangulate’ and verify locations, attractions or destinations.

Use friends on Facebook or helpful strangers on Twitter to get answers to your travel conundrums (use the #travel hashtag to improve your tweet’s visibility), or search sites such as Yelp or foursquare to find useful location-based information, recommendations, or special offers.

9 – Geotag your photos

One useful feature of using your smartphone with GPS is when you take photos, you can automatically geotag them, which means it will record the exact location of where the photo was taken.

This can make it a lot easier when it comes to sorting out your travel photos when you return home. Some camera manufacturers are also building this feature into their products but generally only on higher-priced models.

10 – Remember the (in)accuracy of GPS

GPS technology is actually very accurate (learn more about how it works) and was primarily designed for the military. It was provided for civilian use, but for security reasons the signal was “adjusted” to be less accurate. Most devices, depending on the hardware and under optimum conditions, are accurate to within about three meters so they are perfectly acceptable for most travelers.

There will be times when your GPS device will be in less-than-optimum conditions, such as traveling underground or inside a building. Without clear line of sight to at least three GPS satellites, your device may make an educated guess about your location. If your device is fitted with A-GPS (Assisted GPS), cell-site triangulation and Wifi positioning then this will improve the speed and accuracy of your smartphone’s location reporting, even when the conditions are less than perfect.

Travel happy(ier) with GPS

A GPS device is not a necessity for travelers but it can definitely improve the experience, and with the growing number of location-based apps under development the future of travel is only going to get easier for tourists equipped with GPS.

So which speedometer is more accurate? Which one should be used to determine if you are driving within the posted speed limits? How does it relate to using speeding alerts in your telematics program?

Speeding is widely regarded as a significant contributor to fatal road accidents, and fleet owners find GPS-based speed calculations very useful in maintaining fleet safety. It’s important then that these speed calculations can be trusted to avoid drivers being falsely accused of speeding, as well as providing a reliable guide to determining a legally-safe driving speed.

How does a GPS device calculate speed?

Using GPS, a device is able to calculate a lot of information about a moving object. Using even basic time and location data, a GPS unit can quickly calculate the relative speed of the object, based on how much distance it covered in a given time.

GPS devices are positional speedometers, based on how far the device has moved since the last measurement. The algorithm also uses the doppler shift in the pseudo range signals from the satellites. It should also be noted that the speed reading is normalized, and is not an instant speed.

Speeds are updated at short intervals to maintain accuracy at all times. It uses frequent calculations to determine the vehicle’s speed. For example, using a standard movement per time calculation, if you have covered 80 feet in one second, the GPS device works out and converts that to MPH, which in this case is 55MPH.

Why does GPS speed differ from the vehicle’s own speedometer?

GPS speed calculations are more accurate than a vehicle’s speedometer since it is not affected by the same inaccuracies, including the vehicle’s wheel size or drive ratios. It is dependent however on GPS satellite signal quality but with the use of moving average calculations any errors are minimal.

Vehicle speedometers also require calibration to maintain perfect accuracy as general wear and tear, changing wheel sizes, and the manufacturers own ‘erring on the side of caution’ and setting the speedometer to read higher than the actual speed, all contribute to inaccuracies.

Generally most manufacturers claim a 0.1MPH tolerance with speed readings, however will go as far to say a 0.5MPH inaccuracy is possible, to make allowances for any satellite signal variations beyond their control.

Which speedometer should a driver use?

It really comes down to personal preference since both gauges are reliable for determining a safe, legal traveling speed. In most cases the vehicle’s speedometer will show a higher speed due to the aforementioned inaccuracies but this at least ensures the driver stays lower than the posted speed limit.

And while logged GPS data has been used to overturn speeding tickets, the cautious driver, who is keen to avoid infringements, fines, trouble from their employer or the possibility of an accident, will tend to err on the side of driving slower rather than pushing it too close to the limit.

Using GPS to record company speeding incidents

Any business that has company vehicles available for employee use is no doubt keen to avoid dangerous speeding, both from a public liability point of view, the possibility of accidents as well as infringement notices or demerit points. Using fleet management software such as Telogis Fleet, fleet owners are easily able to specify speeding notifications that can alert managers to speeding incidents in real time, or provide regular reports of this sort of activity.

Speeding alerts can be setup to record either speeds in excess of the posted speed limit, or simply if a certain speed is reached (ideal for vehicles that become unsafe above certain speeds e.g. forklifts).

How closely the speeding alerts are monitored can be set as well, such as how long the vehicle is speeding before the alert is triggered. This can be used to avoid false positive reports due to overtaking or temporary distraction.

Since employers know that speeds calculated by GPS devices are not only more accurate than a vehicle’s speedometer but also lower, it gives employees no excuse to be caught driving at unsafe speeds. Through a combination of regular reporting and driver coaching, fleet owners can make sure they are doing everything in their power to improve the safety of their staff and other road users.

Of particular interest to fleet managers is that vehicles are defined as a ‘workplace’ and a duty of care is imposed on employers to ensure the health and safety of their mobile employees within this workplace.

Fines up to $600,000 or imprisonment

Business managers are nervous about the impact of the new legislation since failure to comply carries possible fines of up to $600,000 or a term of up to five years imprisonment. Obviously the Australian government is sending a strong message to all businesses about the need to review and strengthen their workplace safety.  for failure to uphold this duty, businesses need to put in place solid practices around fleet safety to limit their liability.

A recent blog post discussed how Australian businesses need to rethink how they manage the safety of their mobile workers. The new bill puts pressure on management to take even more responsibility for the safety of their workers, wherever they are, and for some firms with staff who work in distant, remote locations or travel thousands of miles, that creates a significant challenge.

So what can managers do to make sure they’re doing everything reasonable possible to keep their mobile workers and company drivers safe whenever they’re on the job?

Technology creating safer mobile work environments

Many firms with mobile workers are taking the prudent step of implementing safety measures now, rather than waiting for an accident or legislation to force their hand. And intelligent, location-based applications are helping managers create safer working environments and helping them sleep easier at night.

Smart telematics systems, such as Telogis Fleet, are revolutionizing the way mobile resources are managed, from workers, to vehicles, and high-value assets. The system focuses on prevention by monitoring factors that are often common causes of workplace accidents, such as dangerous driving, tiredness, poor scheduling, and missed maintenance.

• Unsafe driving – Monitor and manage incidents of dangerous driving such as speeding, swerving, hard braking or acceleration.
• Driver fatigue – Drivers, particularly for long haul routes, can often work long hours in remote areas. This increases the temptation to work longer than they should, breaking hours of service requirements and running the risk of driver fatigue, significantly increasing the chance of having an accident. GPS tracking can automate tracking of hours driven and assist workers to comply with a safe driving environment.
• Unauthorized use – Use real-time alerts to make sure assets (vehicles, construction equipment etc.) are not being used without authorization (outside of work hours or permitted areas).
• Accurate maintenance scheduling – GPS tracking ensures vehicles are maintained when needed (based on automated tracking of mileage, engine hours or other vehicle diagnostics) rather than at arbitrary intervals that sometimes get overlooked or ignored.

Legal compliance is a good reason to use technology to create a safe working environment, but the good news is that businesses that take action now stand to enjoy a range of other benefits.

Staying on top of safety has other benefits

Aside from the legal benefits of providing a safe work environment for mobile workers, there are several other benefits for firms that take steps to effectively manage fleet safety.

• Reduced insurance premiums – A record of safe driving combined with GPS tracking often leads to insurance companies offering reduced premiums. GPS tracking is an effective anti-theft device and leads to faster asset recovery, while driver monitoring reduces incidents of dangerous driving and vehicle accidents. Contact your insurance company and enquire about savings you can make on vehicle and accident insurance levies.
• Improved worker morale – When workers see changes being made to improve their safety they feel more appreciated and valued. Taking positive action backs up company claims of a safe working environment.
• Less downtime and accident costs – Safety often seems like an unnecessary expense until an accident occurs. Then businesses realize the true cost of an unsafe working environment. Smart businesses know that efforts made now to create a safer working environment are actually a good investment in the future profitability of the firm.

So if you’re concerned about keeping your mobile workers safe, learn more about the advantages of equipping your fleet with Telogis Fleet, and enjoy greater peace of mind and a safe working environment before you run into trouble with the new Work Health and Safety Bill 2011.

The news report stated that the man was eventually apprehended after causing approximately £15,000 (USD$23,378) worth of damage, and significant damage to the bulldozer, which had been driven at speeds of up to 20MPH, dangerously fast for this type of vehicle.

The incident is a stark reminder to owners of construction equipment, or any asset left at a building site, that they are often an easy and appealing target for thieves or vandals. It can be a major headache for construction companies that can face increased insurance premiums, the cost of equipment repair or replacement and public liability claims.

Protecting building sites a challenge

It’s not easy for building site managers to protect their on-site equipment from unauthorized use. Construction sites are often remote, have easy access and are generally unmonitored after-hours. The vehicles are not always fitted with high-tech security or anti-theft devices, lowering the barrier for opportunistic criminals to wreak havoc with your gear.

And, for some errant types, like the one mentioned earlier or even a James Bond wannabe, the sheer thrill of tearing up the road in a piece of heavy equipment is just too much of a temptation to ignore.

Construction managers are fighting back with the help of Telogis fleet management software. Tired of rising insurance premiums and costly downtime caused by repeated incidents of vandalism and theft, construction fleet owners are fitting their high-value assets with GPS tracking devices.

How do these tracking devices work to protect construction equipment? What benefits do they offer and is it improving ROI in the construction industry?

GPS tracking making construction firms more profitable

While there is an initial cost for setting up GPS tracking, it is soon outweighed by the benefits provided to fleet managers. In fact, most fleets experience a positive ROI within 120 days of implementing a telematics solution.
Aside from the financial benefits, fleet managers are also switching on to telematics for the peace of mind it provides, knowing GPS tracking is monitoring their equipment around the clock, seven days a week.

Telogis telematics improves the bottom line for construction fleets in several ways.

• Work site compliance – Efficiently comply with restricted access areas, noise ordinances and hours of operation. Easily monitor start and stop times, worker activity or equipment use and receive instant alerts for any exceptions.
• Increased productivity – Crews are often more productive when supervisors are on-site. With Telogis you can monitor how much time supervisors are spending at the work site, as well as keeping an eye on excessive congregating.
• Improved asset security – Monitor unauthorized use in real-time, regardless of where or when it happens. It doesn’t matter whether your equipment is old or new, non-powered or even outside the cellular network, asset tracking can prevent misuse and, in the event of theft, assets can be recovered faster, saving you downtime and insurance costs.

There are plenty of benefits for construction firms to be running Telogis telematics, and if the owner of the building site mentioned at the start had been using it, thousands of dollars worth of damage could have been prevented, not to mention the endangerment to public safety.

Don’t wait until after someone goes crazy with one of your bulldozers before you take action. Find out more about Telogis Fleet today!

The growing number of ‘rental car abuse’ videos on YouTube continues to highlight the potential loss faced by car rental firms, with much of the damage hidden from inspection on the vehicle’s return.

The videos might be entertaining, the renters are obviously enjoying themselves and in some ways it’s almost become a running joke that rental cars get driven hard. But for insurance companies it’s no laughing matter, and literally costs them millions in lost value and extra maintenance work.

So what are car rental companies doing to protect themselves from renter abuse, and helping to keep costs down for responsible renters who don’t want to be paying for the few who ruin it for the rest of us?

Rental car companies fighting back with tracking technology

The days for miscreants to abuse rentals cars are numbered as companies turn to sophisticated tracking technology to monitor driver behavior. GPS fleet tracking is offering hire companies a range of options to track and report on unwanted driving styles, including certain types of abuse that was previously difficult to detect. The types of activity Telogis telematics is helping monitor include:

• Harsh braking or acceleration
• Speeding
• Excessive revving
• Swerving
• Moving violations
• Vehicle used in prohibited areas such as off-road or high-risk zone

It can be setup to report historically and email the drop-off office, or generate instant alerts to relevant staff. It provides an indisputable record that can be used to show the renter has broken the terms and conditions of the rental agreement.

It can also be used as a way to deter would-be rental car abusers by advertising the fact that extreme driving is monitored and can constitute breaking the rental agreement.

Not just used by car rental firms

The technology is not just used by rental car companies. Other industries that rent, hire or insure vehicles are also investing in Telogis telematics to protect their assets and improve the safety of the fleet. This includes:

• Insurance companies
• Fleet leasing
• Heavy equipment including crane rental
• OEM (vehicle manufacturers)

In fact, vehicle fleets from a huge range of industries are switching on to telematics to improve overall management, control costs, monitor safety and cut down on asset damage.

Top five car rental abuse videos

If you work for a car rental company you may want to stop reading here. The following clips are some of the highest viewed video clips of rental car abuse and destruction. Whether the abuse ever caught up with the perpetrators it’s unknown but if these rental cars had been fitted with Telogis telematics they wouldn’t have got away with it. Please note some language in these YouTube videos may offend.

Download your own GPS mapping kit

Location-based services and mobile commerce = Big opportunities

It’s no surprise Google are talking up the future of LBS, particularly since it wasn’t that long ago they announced the launch of Google Wallet, an electronic payment method using NFC (Near Field Communication) to pay for purchases. Google knows that LBS presents a huge opportunity for both value-added services to end-user consumers as well as massive marketing opportunities for businesses who operate retail outlets.

It’s not just Google that are seeing the amazing potential of LBS and how it can generate sales, create new customers, improve customer loyalty and increase convenience and efficiency for the end-user. Other technology providers are also tapping in to the big opportunities that LBS and other related technology offers from social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare to hardware makers like Apple and Nokia.

These opportunities are only now becoming reality as the different technologies evolve and start to penetrate the mainstream. This is another example of how GPS systems are continuing to grow and adapt along with other developments such as NFC and increasingly widespread internet connectivity (hopefully not at the expense of disrupting GPS) to create user-friendly applications that take advantage of the one thing GPS can tell them – your exact location.

So how can you take advantage of this growing interest in GPS-based applications, and profit from this exciting software goldmine?

Did you know you can build your own LBS application?

If you thought that building a revolutionary LBS application was limited to the smart guys in the Google labs or technical wizards working in Silicon Valley then think again. Telogis have made available a free Software Developers Kit (SDK), known as Telogis GeoBase, to allow anyone to build their own mapping application.

It currently has map data for over 40 countries and a sample application is included to make it easy for even hobby developers to get started and create their own GPS-enabled map application.

Using GeoBase, developers have created software applications worth millions of dollars, simply by tapping in to the power of GPS and the growing popularity of LBS applications.

Download Telogis GeoBase

You might already have an idea for a ‘killer app’ or you might be waiting for that million dollar idea to hit you, but all that’s limiting you is your imagination. Brainstorm away, and if you need some help or inspiration, browse the list of technology partners who can work with your GeoBase application to create a valuable application for end users.

Location-Based services will drive the future of retail

GPS is evolving and smart technology providers are continually seeing increased opportunities to tap into location-based services, as both a useful service to consumers (“Where’s the closest clothing store that will give me a discount on my Smith’s card?”) and a great way for retailers to draw in extra customers (Broadcast to all subscribed mobile devices to check-in to a nearby store for an exclusive bonus).

Exactly how this technology will be used remains to be seen, but with SDKs such as Telogis GeoBase allowing anyone around the world to build their own mapping application the future is wide-open!