Category: Blog

GPS Technology HVAC Industry

Posted on | by Devin Johnson

GPS Technology HVAC Industry Work Together

GPS technology and the HVAC industry work well together; the technology allows you to correctly locate and follow your vehicles in real-time. It enables companies that provide Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) services with real time solutions for improved productivity, better customer service and energy waste management.

Being aware of the exact location of your HVAC service vehicle allows you to dispatch the appropriate vehicle accordingly, based on the worker closest to the next customer or customer in need of immediate (emergency) service. HVAC companies can use communication channels such as text messages with Garmin integration to direct their technicians to the next customer stop. This way a dispatcher can send a message safely to the driver having it display on their Garmin where they can simply click yes or no instead of texting/talking on the phone while driving. In addition, customers will be able to be informed of a more accurate time the technician will show up, rather than the massive 5-8 hour window other companies use.

GPS can greatly minimize spending on fuel by decreasing unnecessary idling by vehicle drivers. Similarly needless speeding can cause an increase of heat in the engine. Through GPS technology, a fleet manager can effectively track speeding vehicles and warn them against overheating the engine.

It is easier to reduce risks of heating in vehicles by actively pinpointing unauthorized activity by drivers. The vehicles are fitted with heat sensors for regulation. A fleet owner can order tailor made solution specifically for his vehicles. This means that if a car engine reaches a specified temperature, this information is sent via GPS signal to him.

Additionally, the technology enables proper management of fuel. One is able to tell the distance that a vehicle will travel. If it is needlessly long or has steep climbs, he can weigh the option of using an alternative route. This way, the company saves on fuel, time and efficiency while avoiding unnecessary tear and wear.

The other advantage of GPS technology HVAC industry working together is that the system can be integrated into mobile devices. This way manager has clear visibility of his workers hence increasing their efficiency. Managers should make use of this great technology to save on time and efficiency while increasing business.

GPS fleet tracking your HVAC fleet could be increasing your productivity, making your customers happier, and even save you money on fuel expenses. To learn more contact one of our fleet consultants.

This article was written in collaboration with guest author Raphael Macharia.

GPS Tracking Food & Beverage Industry

Posted on | by Devin Johnson

GPS Tracking Food & Beverage Industry Advantages

The Food & Beverage Service Industry has a number of distribution centers that are often mobile. Companies in this industry need to have a special way of keeping track of the food considering the fact that their delivery cars, trucks, or food trucks are always on the move. You have to be sure of the security of your investment hence the need to have a GPS tracking system. The tracking system answers several questions for you. You will understand the frequencies of sales location changes, what relevant information to gather at each distribution point as well as how best to secure your food and beverage stock.

It does not matter whether you have a small delivery vehicle, food truck or a larger van for similar services, the truth remains that the importance of your assets is not questionable. The only way to guarantee protection of these valuable assets is to ensure that they are properly utilized without any wastage occurring; this is where a GPS tracking system becomes useful. Owners of companies in this industry should take advantage of the ability to keep track and monitor their assets on a 24/7 basis.

The GPS tracking system will help you keep track of your food and beverage assets using a number of integrated systems and tools. They can track all your vehicles whether it is 1 pizza delivery car or a fleet of 1000. The cars, vans, or trucks are monitored for different aspects including speed and location among many others. There are devices that include temperature sensitivity monitoring to keep track of the food’s temperature levels our system easily integrates with. This way, food service providers can maintain high quality of food offered and prevent it from going bad at the same time, averting wastage in the long run.

Temperature sensor integration with our GPS tracking devices is important for use in food vehicles/trailers requiring temperature regulation. GoFleet offers trailer temperature monitoring integration to allow you to ensure the food being transferred is kept at a safe temperature. It will help you keep track of any radical temperature changes and act promptly to avoid food spoilage and wastage.

Majority of this article was written by guest author Kimberly Byrne.

What is a CMMS System?

Posted on | by Courtney redwell

What is a CMMS System?

We are very excited to have formed a partnership with Maintenance Assistant to bring our customers the best in CMMS Systems. But what does CMMS stand for? CMMS stands for Computerized Maintenance Management System. A CMMS is computer software that assists your maintenance team in keeping records of all assets they are responsible for, schedule and track all maintenance tasks and keep a record of work that has been performed.

What CMMS is used for:

  • Tracking Work Orders:
    Maintenance managers can easily select the equipment in need of repair, assign a technician to the job and describe the problem. Once the machine is fixed, the technician responsible marks the word-order as “complete” and the manager will be notified that the work is done.
  • Scheduling Tasks:
    CMMS systems are excellent tools when it comes to scheduling recurring work and sending reminders to the correct people. Organized maintenance will not only help ensure no tasks are forgotten to keep your vehicles in top shape, but it will also even out the workload for a maintenance team.
  • Recording All Asset History
    The older the machine, the longer the history of repairs. When problems arise it is useful to see how this problem was solved in the past. In CMMS systems whenever a repair is performed they are recorded in the machine’s history log and can be viewed again in the future by the maintenance team. This will help the team save time in the future should the same problem happen again.
  • Managing Inventory:
    Maintenance workers are responsible for storing and managing a large inventory. This can including anything from spare parts to everyday supplies like grease and oil. CMMS systems allow the maintenance team to see how many items are in storage and what has been used in repairs to determine whether new supplies need to be ordered. Inventory management can help save the company quite a bit of money because you can pre-plan purchases in order to shop around for the best price instead of paying anything when you need it last minute.

If you would like more information on Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS Systems) contact us!

Tips to Improve Driving Habits

Posted on | by Courtney redwell

Reduce Distraction, Be Proactive, Improve Driving

You should never stop improving driving skills. Many of us get over confident or too comfortable in our bad habits that we often forget simple defensive driving skills. Driving defensively is the best way to avoid traffic accidents and keep the roads a safer place.

Avoid Getting Distracted
Distracted drivers are 3 times more likely to be involved in an accident than attentive drivers (CAA Distracted Driving Statistics). Anything that takes your eyes off the road makes your reaction time much slower to the constantly changing road conditions. Cell phone use if a huge contributor, but this can be avoided easily with a Bluetooth device. Cell phone use may be the most commonly recognized form of distracted driving but anything from eating your lunch while driving to fiddling with the controls on your car can be just as distracting. Try your absolute best to avoid any distractions.

Be Proactive
A very common piece of driving advice is to not trust any other driver while on the road. This refers to never knowing what another driver may or may not do. We have all experienced those drivers who forget to turn off their turning signals or those aggressive drivers right on your bumper. Always remember, the only thing you are in control of is your own driving.

Try to look 10-15 seconds ahead of where you are going while constantly checking your rear-view mirrors to stay aware of your surroundings. Anticipate what the other drivers around you will be doing but also envision an escape route in case of an emergency situation. This will greatly increase your awareness.

Being proactive also means avoiding any situation that may increase the chance of a traffic accident. For example: sometimes you may be getting tailgated in the left lane on the highway even when going above the speed limit. As much as you may like to force that person to slow down by staying in front of them, it is most likely not worth the risk. By letting this person pass it leaves both drivers to continue on without conflict.

Smooth & Steady Driving Control
You want to make sure your control operation is done as smoothly as possible. Lightly applying pressure to your gas and brake pedal as opposed to having a lead foot will save you money on fuel and on vehicle wear. It will also give you the most control of your vehicle. This becomes even more important in bad weather conditions where hard braking or accelerating can force your vehicle into the wrong direction. It is also important to be as familiar with your vehicle and its safety features (ABS, traction control, 4WD, etc.) as possible. You want to know how your vehicle will react in all kinds of situations to avoid any surprises while driving.

How can GoFleet help?
GoFleet’s Geotab GO devices are designed to reduce driver interactions. Limiting notifications coming from the device to audible alerts allows the driver to get feedback on their driving while maintaining complete focus on the road. By using driver feedback with accelerometer data, Geotab is able to alert the driver when they exceed a certain amount of force.

Being a proactive driver continues when you are out of the vehicle. You can use GoFleet’s Geotab GO GPS Tracking Device to keep up with vehicle maintenance to ensure your vehicles are in top shape.

To learn more about GPS fleet tracking and how GoFleet can help you improve your driving habits and keep your fleet vehicles in top shape, contact one of our fleet consultants.

Source:

Original Author Piotr Zub in Geotab Blog:
http://www.geotab.com/blog/tips-improving-driving/

CAA Distracted Driving Statistics: http://distracteddriving.caa.ca/education/

Top 8 Heavy Vehicle Driver Safety Tips

Posted on | by Courtney redwell

Heavy Vehicle Driver Safety Tips

There is nothing more important than safety on the road, and it is a two-way street. Most truck, logistics and haulage companies as well as their drivers take it quite seriously.

From the 1980’s to today overall heavy vehicle driver safety has improved. There are multiple reasons for this, including vehicle design and better roads, limiting speeds and many more, but a lot of it probably comes from the development of better safety policies and an increase in safety awareness.

Here are a few heavy vehicle driver safety tips:

  1. Safety is always priority number one
    Heavy haulage is significantly more dangerous than office work.
  2. Defensive driver training
    It is important to teach drivers how to deal with the unexpected and avoid problems before they happen. Our devices offer in-cabin driver feedback to help train your drivers to eliminate bad driving habits.
  3. Know what to do in the case of an accident
    It is crucial drivers are aware of their responsibilities and the safest way to deal with accidents
  4. Regular maintenance and inspections
    Keeping your haulage fleet in excellent working order is critical to staying safe. GoFleet offers many solutions to help ensure your fleet is always in top shape, check these out: Diagnostic Vehicle Data, Maintenance Assistant, Tire Monitoring.
  5. Engage drivers in keeping a safe workplace
    Encourage drivers to report any potentially dangerous situations they encounter. Discuss safety on a regular basis including driver input. If everyone works together and looks out for one another it will make it easy to ensure workplace safety.
  6. Conduct pre-trip inspections
    Make sure there are no leaks and lights, brakes, and steering are in working order.
  7. Avoid tiredness
    Driving while tired is often compared to driving while drunk. There is no cure for fatigue other than sleep, make sure your drivers are getting enough rest.
  8. Check the weather regularly
    Driving conditions can be greatly affected by weather conditions and being aware of the weather forecast before heading out on the road can come in handy.

For more information on GPS fleet tracking and/or information on how GoFleet can help with heavy vehicle driver safety, contact us today.

Source: Fleet Safety & Efficiency. Top 12 Heavy Vehicle Driver Safety Tips

Waste Management Industry Clean Up With GPS Technology

Posted on | by Devin Johnson

GPS Technology and the Waste Management Industry

The importance of the waste management industry cannot be understated. That trash piled up in your lunch room or office space has to go somewhere, and we are certainly glad to see it leave when the familiar sound of a trash truck rumbles down the street. Getting rid of annoying daily trash, however, isn’t the only service this industry provides. Waste management companies provide environmental services that eliminate hazardous materials that come in the form of liquid and solid wastes. They collect these wastes from businesses and residential locations so that our environment can remain safe. With this kind of burden on the shoulders of businesses in this industry, it’s important to be assured that trash trucks are completing their routes on time, and correctly cleaning up the neighborhoods. It is also important to make sure that drivers are safely executing their work, and hitting every stop on their route.

New Ways to Clean

GPS tracking technology has infiltrated this industry in a grand way, letting companies manage risk, maintain efficiency, and even lower spending. With the installation of a simple device, the waste management industry has found a brand new way to clean up the earth. With GoFleet’s Geotab GO GPS tracking device, GoFleet is helping these companies implement cost-savings, safer drivers, and more efficient measures to assist in their daily routines. With the ability to track fleet vehicle locations, GoFleet is able to provide our waste management clients with significant amounts of useful data. Companies can utilize this service to ensure efficient routes are being taken. This not only saves time and billable hours by identifying more efficient routes, but also saves on fuel costs. With the reporting features of the latest GPS tracking devices, vehicle maintenance needs can be identified ahead of time, instead of costly towing services being called once the vehicle breaks down.

The Benefits Just Keep on Coming…

Saving money is a great motivator, but reducing liability combined with the ability to track and train drivers is better! GoFleet’s GPS vehicle tracking devices show theft protection measures, as well as protection measures that include accident re-creation. These lead to lowered insurance costs for your company, but with an added benefit of reducing your liability. Fleet Managers are consistently searching for ways to keep their drivers safe, as well as ways to make sure their drivers are keeping other drivers safe. Our Audible Driver Coaching GPS Trackers offer just one of the ways to help this issue. By providing an accelerometer built into the system, the tracker can provide feedback on how drivers are taking care of their vehicles. Hard braking and harsh acceleration are two of the types of information this feature tracks. By observing these types of behaviours, waste management companies can ensure their drivers are completing their work in an appropriate manner, keeping them, the vehicle, and the surrounding public safe. In addition, compliance issues can be significantly reduced with the utilization of this technology. Hours of Service, as well as Driver Vehicle Inspection Reports are easily created and maintained, never leaving the paperwork to collect uncompleted on a desk.

With so many unique features and benefits available with GPS technology at GoFleet, why wait to try it out? Check out a demo and try the program free for 30 days!

Distracted Driving: Road Rage & Texting While Driving

Posted on | by Courtney redwell

Road Rage & Texting While Driving Result in Distracted Driving

Texting while driving has become a rising concern across North America. The Province of Ontario in Canada has implemented increased fines, and in the USA President Barack Obama has signed an executive order formally forbidding federal workers from texting while driving government vehicles. However, the road has been a dangerous place way before cell phones/smart phones were introduced, and road rage is still a major ongoing issue.

What’s Causing Distracted Driving?
Leasetrader.com conducted a survey including over 3,000 American drivers in order to determine the most dangerous distractions during driving. 18.3% of men agreed that the most dangerous distraction today is road rage, followed by eating/drinking (14.7%), checking out other drivers (10.9%) and other passenger conversations (9.5%). The women involved in the survey had different opinions. They ranked the primary distraction in driving to be kids in the car (26.3%), putting on makeup was the second highest ranked (16.6%), and navigation (9.5%), all above texting.

What exactly is Road Rage?
It is important to have a strong understanding of aggressive driving and road rage in order to execute fleet management policies focused on this topic. The AAA Foundation defines road rage as “violent anger caused by the frustration and stress involved in driving a motor vehicle – a motorist’s uncontrolled anger that is usually provoked by another motorist’s irritating act is expressed in aggressive or violent behaviors with an intention to cause physical harm.”

Frequent characteristics of an aggressive driver include:

  • High-risk drivers, more likely to speed, drink and drive, or drive without a seatbelt
  • Drivers with high levels of frustration and low to no concern for others on the road
  • Motorists who disobey red lights, run stop signs, tailgate, speed, weave in and out of traffic, honk their horns, make facial or hand gestures, make unsafe lane changes

What Causes Road Rage?
As a motorist, you may have driving habits that are linked to other motorists’ aggressive driving. According to the 2014 Road Rage Report by NorthStar for Expedia, texting has surpassed tailgating in terms of behaviour that provoke the most anger in other drivers. Almost 7 of 10 American drivers surveyed agreed, ‘The Texter’ is viewed as the most aggravating driving behaviour, followed by ‘The Tailgater’ (60%), ‘The Multi-Tasker’ (54%), ‘The Drifter’ (43%) and ‘The Crawler’ (39%).

How to Avoid Road Rage:

  • Avoid communication with an aggressive driver
  • Do not engage with an aggressively acting motorist; do not respond with further negative behavior which may escalate the situation
  • Drive responsibly, steer clear of aggravating driving behaviour
  • Follow traffic laws including not texting while driving
  • Report unsafe motorists to authorities when necessary

Along with a fleet safety policy, GoFleet’s sophisticated GPS fleet management system can help organizations develop company-wide management polices to enhance driver safety, improve driver behavior, and increase on-road productivity. GoFleet’s Geotab GO GPS tracking device offers reporting and driver notification on harsh braking, acceleration, and cornering, as well as if seatbelts are being worn and speeding above posted road speeds.

We are not simply a GPS fleet tracking company, we offer a fleet management solution. Contact GoFleet to learn more about how you can help your drivers avoid road rage, schedule an online demo, or get a copy of our fleet safety policy.

 

Original Article From Geotab:
http://www.geotab.com/blog/distracted-drivers-road-rage-texting-driving/

 

Fleet Management GPS Will Increase Sales Team Productivity

Posted on | by Courtney redwell

Increase Productivity of Sales Team With Fleet Management GPS

Sales is all about spending more time selling and less time dealing with the administrative aspects.

When being faced with constant meetings back-to-back nearly everyday it is easy to let the paperwork pile up. Hours of careful planning before hitting the road is a luxury not many people in sales can afford.

On the sales end of things, many of you might be thinking you don’t want anyone tracking you but, fleet management GPS works FOR you not against you:

Wouldn’t it be great if you could send all your appointment locations to your Garmin device so you don’t have to input them when you get in your vehicle? Get a report of your visited locations to put your day of work into your CRM (Customer Relationship Management) for automatic follow up? Do your expenses quicker than ever by providing you with a comprehensive report of your mileage at the end of each month? With fleet management GPS you can.

On the management side of things, you could go one step further and build an API to integrate into your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to make your team be even more productive. If you want to know more about how this can be done, send an email to [email protected] or call 1-888-998-1122.

The main intention of a fleet management GPS system is to make life easier. Whether that be for fleet managers to monitor their vehicles, HVAC company owners to dispatch workers to specific jobs, or sales reps with very limited time, fleet management GPS can help. For more information on GPS fleet tracking and how fleet management GPS can help you whether you are in sales, are a fleet manager, or own a business, contact us.

Our amazing support team will help guide you along the way and continue to guide you throughout your time as one of our clients. We want to work with you to stay organized and make your life easier.

Original Article From Geotab:
How Telematics Can Help Make Your Sales Team More Productive

Expand Your Telematics Solution with Third Party Device Integration

Posted on | by Courtney redwell

Third Party Device Integration With Existing GoFleet Solutions

We integrate with a large variety of different third party devices. Some of the most popular applications include the following:

  • Garmin device integration to deliver notifications to your drivers.
  • Iridium Satellite to enable connectivity when traveling out of cell coverage.
  • Hours of Service to log how long your drivers have been on the road to help keep them safe.

The IOX platform was developed as a modular solution to the integration problem. The platform allows for flexible product support while keeping individual costs down. The Third Party Protocol was designed to easily allow the integration of external devices. By utilizing the IOX platform & Third Party Protocol, starting the integration process is simple.

Step 1: Request an External Device ID
Our software needs to know who it’s talking to. Contact GoFleet to obtain an External Device ID unique for your product. We will save a record when we see your device to indicate it was found.

Step 2: Request Status Data IDs
It is always beneficial to know what data you’re sending and its format. You can apply a different offset and conversion factor for each type of data. Request a distinct ID for each type of status data you want to send.

Step 3: Implement Third Party Protocol
It is important all devices involved speak the same language. The Third Party Protocol attempts to link with the device connected and expects messages to be structured in a certain way. A checksum is included to help ensure the integrity of the data during the process of transmission.

Step 4: Use the data
Once GoFleet has the data, what can be done with it? Take a look at the Software Development Kit (SDK). With this powerful tool you can create new applications, custom reports, or integrate the data into your own systems.

Could integrating your device with GoFleet add value to your products and expand the capabilities of your current solution(s)? Contact us to learn more.

Original Article From Geotab:
Expand Your Telematics Solution: Third Party Device Integration

Senate bill sets e-log (ELD) deadlines for FMCSA

Posted on | by Victoria Gole

ELD | Electronic Logging Device | E-Log Deadlines for FMCSA

The Senate’s version of the yearly appropriations bill for the Department of Transportation contains language that would stop the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) from dragging its feet in producing a final electronic logging device mandate rule (ELD rule).

Also, the bill sets a deadline for the agency to make its long-awaited Safety Fitness Determination rule, the timetable for which FMCSA has continued to push back.

The Senate’s Transportation, Housing and Urban Development bill gives the agency 592.3 million dollars in funding for the 2015 fiscal year and came out of the Senate’s Appropriations Committee this past Thursday, when an amendment was added to suspend the 2013 hours-of-service (HOS) rule for at least a year until more study can be done to justify its restart provisions.

If passed the bill would need FMCSA to publish a final electronic logging device (E-log/ELD) rule by January 30th 2015. MAP-21, The current highway funding bill, required the agency to produce a proposed rule by September 30th of 2013, but the agency did not publish the proposal until March of this year.

The public comment period on the rule ends on June 26th 2014, after which the agency will start work on a final rule, taking into account feedback gathered during the 90 day commenting period.

The agency usually makes a final rule within 2-3 months of the end of public comment periods on proposed rules, and the January 30th 2015 deadline would give the agency 7 months to publish its final electronic logging device (E-log/ELD) rule.

Though the bill’s language would not seem to set an impractical target, the FMCSA has missed several self-set time-frames on its calendar.

Citing “excessive” delays on a CSA-based Safety Fitness Determination rule, the bill would also need the FMCSA to begin a rule-making “no later than December 2014.”

The SFD rule is the agency’s next step in its Compliance, Safety, Accountability program. The rule would permit the agency to use a similar data set it uses in CSA’s Safety Measurement System rankings to produce an actual fitness score for carriers. The scores could then be used to target carriers for intervention.

The THUD bill text calls the SFD rule “the cornerstone of CSA,” and that until the rule is executed, “FMCSA continues to depend on an enforcement and rating system that fails to place enough emphasis on both driver and vehicle qualifications, resulting in compromising safety on our nation’s highways.”

In its most recent monthly report on significant rulemakings, the Department of Transportation projected December 17th as the publication date for the SFD rule, which was delayed from the prior month’s September 16th projected date. September 16th was however also delayed from months prior: At points last year, the rule was projected to be published May 2014.

In another provision, the committee directs the Department of Transportation (DOT) Office of Inspector General to perform an audit of FMCSA’s mandatory compliance review process “to ensure motor carriers flagged for investigation are being investigated in a timely fashion.” The “high risk carriers” report is due by April 2015 for the preceding fiscal year.

The House will come together this week to take up its version of the THUD bill.

Original article: Commercial Carrier Journal