Here’s a neat link to a comparison clock: http://leapsecond.com/java/gpsclock.htm

So, what is an Unauthorized Fuel Exchange and how did the customer use a “Geo-Fence” to stop it? An Unauthorized Fuel Exchange (UFE) is a situation
where a driver of a large diesel-powered commercial vehicle fuels up, then travels to a concealed location and transfers the fuel to another vehicle
for a cash payment. The Geo-Fence is a virtual perimeter around a distinct geographic area which can notify the customer if a vehicle enters or exits
that area. Until the introduction of GPS Vehicle Location systems with Geo-Fence capabilities, catching and proving this crime has been next to
impossible. Because the customer can now track the movements of company equipment with the vehicle tracking system, he can now set up a Geo-Fence
around the Unauthorized Fuel Exchange to alert him of any unusual stops or illegal activity.

There are other uses for the Geo-Fence feature.  For e mployees with take-home vehicles, the Geo-Fence can be used to place a boundary around
their home to help define when the day begins and ends for more accurate payroll records. Another real life example is where a customer places a
Geo-Fence around a major seaport in order to be notified if a piece of their heavy equipment has been stolen and taken to the port to be smuggled out of
the country.

Auxiliary Input monitoring and Landmarks puts the “WHAT” in GPS Vehicle Location

Most companies envision seeing their fleet of trucks portrayed as icons on a map when they think of GPS vehicle location systems. For some, that is not enough. In addition to detailed reports and alerts, many fleet managers need to monitor specific inputs from their vehicles and equipment.

One such customer, a nationwide trash hauling company, uses Auxiliary Input monitoring and Landmarks to accurately record every instance where a trash container is picked up or dropped off. No more lost revenue when the driver forgets to log a pickup or drop off. So how do they do it?

Vehicle tracking devices are simply wireless modems with three main components: radio frequency, GPS receiver, and logic. It is the logic portion of the device with its multiple input/output sensors that allow them to monitor various electrical signals onboard the trash hauling vehicle. One of the inputs is wired into the truck’s lifting mechanism. Whenever it is activated, either to lift a container or to drop off a container, the tracking device takes a GPS reading and sends the information to web-based mapping interface for the customer to view.

To increase the usefulness of the Auxiliary Input monitor, another feature called Landmark is used. It is a point on the map that has GPS coordinates which is labeled with a name. The Landmarks are identified on the web-based mapping interface and its reports. This particular customer uses the Landmark feature in a very unique way by creating a landmark for the location of every container using the container type and size, as well as the customer’s name in the landmark description.

The powerful “real-time” location, Input Monitoring, and Landmarks features of the tracking system combine to create a very powerful management tool. The customer can use the reporting module to print an AUX INPUT report that shows every instance where its dumpster was picked up or dropped off, the time of day, how long it took to complete the task, the address, GPS coordinates, AND the landmark identifying the customer and type of product they have. This system helps the customer to recover costs, prevent missed opportunities, and ultimately MAKE MORE MONEY.

GeoCoding is the process of taking an address, say: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and turning it into the latitude and longitude, its geographic coordinates.  These can then easily be mapped with mapping software.  While we all recognize 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue as the Whitehouse in Washington D.C.  Computers are more particular and require more detail, often a state or zipcode.  At google, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave returns 10 choices – none are the Whitehouse!

Reverse Geo Coding is the opposite.  Its the process of taking geographic coordinates, latitude & longitude and converting them back into an address.   The math behind this is much more complicated and the data used is often based on government census information.

Standard with all TrackerSystems.net packages is GeoFence reporting.  The feature allows the users to define a region on the map and specify where vehicles can and can’t go.   Downtime from equipment theft is a big problem for all companies, but not more so than the landscaping industry where the seasons are short and the competition so readily available.   A landscaping company in South Florida raves “finally, we can track our trailers all over South Florida, and, most importantly for us, we can set alarms when they go where we don’t want them to go.”  He went on to say “before Tracker Systems, we never knew where the trucks ‘really were’.  Losing a mower to theft means insurance hassles, downtime for our crews and unhappy customers.  Takes a long time to recover.”

Each customer has their own configurable list of status tags.   ”On Vacation”, “In Shop”, “Due for Maint.” are common examples.  Once the list is configured, and it can always be adjusted.   On the unit view, its just a matter of selecting an item in the pulldown menu and clicking the pencil icon to save.   Full fleet editing occurs under the Manage Units tab.   The status, for easy viewing, shows up when you mouseover the icon on the map.

Work force management quick notes quick status at a glance status

Heavy Equipment Owner Utilizing Tracker Systems

Obvious question you’d think.  But one of our customers discovered it wasn’t as obvious as he thought, when he looked at our mapping software.  There, in plain sight, was his six wheel road grader making progress down a city street heading towards a convenience store.

He immediately called the operator on his cell phone and asked why he was driving down a city street.  The operator explained that  he had forgotten his lunch and was hungry!  The manager ordered the operator to drive the equipment back to the jobsite. It turned out to be a good thing because just after the equipment was back at the site an inspector showed up.

Originally, the system was purchased and installed to keep track of when worker’s started and ended their days – automated time cards.

Redundant Backup Reporting standard feature

The redundant Backup Reporting is part of our ongoing system enhancements to provide our customers with the most reliable, easiest to use GPS Vehicle Tracking service.

You’ll see more and more enhancements, features and advanced alerting functions in the next few months. We’ll have instructions on how to use these features in our “Tips” pages (you’ll need to log in to this website at the top of the page to access these new features and the instruction pages).