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Cover Story: Tracking technology
1 Aug, 2006 By: Charles Simon Landscape ManagementIf you're sending your trucks out each morning and just hoping for the best, read on because there's a better way.
By investing in a passive global position system (GPS), you might end the days of inefficient routes, wasted fuel, unsafe drivers and moonlighting technicians.
Here's what it does for us and maybe it can help you lose those windshield blues too:
- Reveals technicians' driving habits.
- Records where they've been and how long they've been there.
- Decreases the chances of employees moonlighting on company time.
- Serves as valuable documentation in the event of an accident.
- Reduces vehicle insurance premiums.
- Clears up disputes with clients about service stops.
- Saves fuel.
Is there a downside? In the minds of some employees there might be, especially the ones who want to control the workday their way and not necessarily the company's way. But generally, when you explain the advantages of the system (including boosting productivity and profitability so they can be paid more or receive bonuses), employees like the idea.
 Charles Simon found success with passive GPS. |
How it works
First, what is it? Simple. It's just a small black data recorder attached to two antennae installed in each truck.
What it does is impressive. It records a service vehicle's speed and location every few seconds via data received by the first antenna, a satellite antenna.
 Time spent vs. revenue earned |
When the truck pulls into the lot at the end of the day, the second antenna, an RF antenna, transmits the data to your computer. You see where your trucks were, not where they are now — a passive recording system.
The computer program generates a map that shows the path the truck took for the day as well as all of the stops. By clicking a box around the stops on the computer map and assigning a customer name to the box, the program remembers each customer location.
 GPS Equipment The system includes a small data recorder -A- attached to two antennae installed in each truck -B- and -C-. One is a satellite antenna. The second, an RF antenna, transmits the data to your computer. |
With this knowledge it prints customer visit reports. Any time a truck stops in the marked box, the report prints the customer name and the amount of time spent at the location.
Reports tell the story
Our company discovered from a summary trip report that one driver rarely shut off his truck's engine. This report has a column devoted to parked idling. He would leave the motor running while getting loaded at the nursery, off loading and just about all other times.
With diesel prices as high as they are now, we instituted a "No Parked Idling" rule. Each week we print the GPS report that shows parked idling times for all of our trucks. Quick note: The report shows time stuck in a traffic jam as parked idling so watch for idling patterns over a few weeks before confronting a driver.
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