GPS Fleet Tracking at HUGE Savings!
Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:10:37
Save $2,500 Annually per Vehicle! Enterprise fleet management features such as GPS dispatching and two-way messaging are available for smaller fleets at affordable prices. A small investment will produce huge savings. Featuring 2-Way Messaging Driver Navigation Garmin Dispatching Route Optimization Visit our website to learn how you can save $2,500 Annually per Vehicle! http://gpsfleetsolutions.com/hugesavings-v212.php Our Website: GPSFleetSolutions.com
Training Tip: Disable Alert in NexTraq
Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:00:18
Alerts can be used to monitor speeding, idling, after hours, zone violations, and many other things in the NexTraq system. Once alerts are created, you do not have to delete the rules to stop the emails. Say you are going on vacation and do not want to receive email alerts on your iPhone while you are lounging on the beach, but you still want employees to be held accountable when you return… Not to worry! Simply disable the alert temporarily. Go to Alerts > Summary. Select the desired alert. Make sure the check box next to “Enabled” is NOT selected. Then when you return, re-enable the alerts. You can run an Alerts Report to see any alerts that were generated in your absence, so no data will be lost during that time. For more training materials, please visit our Trianing Library: http://www.LoginGPS.com. Support: Support@4agps.com, (877) 467-0326 option 2.
7 Milestones that changed Fleet Management
Tue, 21 Feb 2012 13:31:11
The times have changed since the fleet business first came about in the 1930′s. Technology, economic whirlwinds, and customer needs are ever evolving making room for even more change. Below are 7 milestones have dramatically changed the nature of fleet, and have ultimately impacted the way business is done in the fleet world. 1. Higher Content Fleet Vehicles: In the early days of fleets, companies had a choice of three models: Ford, Chevrolet, or Plymouth. The typical fleet car was the standard model with minimal equipment. The biggest selector deliberations were over the economies of installing a radio or adding air conditioning for vehicles located below the Mason-Dixon Line. The “Plain Jane” fleet car became a historical footnote as OEMs bundled options into packages, allowed free-flow option ordering, and proved that higher-content vehicles sold better in the resale market. 2. Creation of the Open-End Lease: Early lessors offering full maintenance leases were R.A. Company, established by David, Harry, and Nathan Robinson, and Four Wheels, founded by Zollie Frank and Armund Schoen in 1938. Changing conditions in the 1950s led to the development of open-end or finance leasing, which PHH offered in 1951. Fleets wanted the ability to replace units after a 12-month period with off-balance sheet reporting. In 1981, the Swift Dodge vs. IRS court decision legitimized the use of the TRAC clause in an open-end lease. 3. Factory Ordering: Before the advent of OEM fleet departments, companies purchased vehicles from individual dealers. Use of dealer ordering codes by
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Fleet Safety Tip of the Week
Mon, 20 Feb 2012 13:23:42
This week’s tip, taken from the California Driver Handbook, concerns steering control and steering techniques. You may want to pass this along to your drivers as a friendly reminder. Look at the steering wheel as a clock face, and place your hands at 9 and 3 o’clock or slightly lower at 8 and 4 o’clock. These are the desired hand positions that reduce the possibility of turning the wheel too sharply. To reduce forearm and hand injuries, your hands should be placed on the lower half of the steering wheel, with your knuckles on the outside of the wheel and your thumbs stretched along the rim of the steering wheel. Pull-Push Steering – Use pull-push steering for most turning maneuvers. Put your hands in the 8 and 4 o’clock positions. Pull down with one hand and push up with the other. This results in smooth steering and reduces the potential for over-steering, which can lead to loss of control. Keep your hands and thumbs on the outside of the wheel. Hand-Over-Hand Steering – Use hand-over-hand steering when steering movements are critical, such as when parking, performing sharp right turns or correcting a skid. Use quick movements on entry to the maneuver, and then use slow, smooth movements when straightening the wheel. One-Hand Steering – Use one-hand steering for backing maneuvers that do not require full left or right turns, or when operating vehicle controls for information, safety or comfort. Click here to learn how you can improve risk and safety
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Houston Resolves Red-Light Camera Legal Battle
Sun, 19 Feb 2012 13:28:47
HOUSTON – The Houston City Council on Feb. 8 approved a plan to pay at least $4.8 million to settle a lawsuit with red-light camera provider American Traffic Solutions. As part of the settlement, the company’s controversial traffic cameras will be removed from city intersections within 60 days, the Houston Chronicle reported. The legal battle began 15 months ago when voters approved a referendum to ban the use of red-light cameras in the city. As a result, the council ordered the cameras to be shut off. But a breach-of-contract lawsuit from Arizona-based American Traffic Solutions prevented the city from taking the 50 cameras down. Last summer, a U.S. District Court judge ruled that the November 2010 camera-ban referendum was illegal because the city had authorized the red-light camera program five years earlier. The city’s contract with American Traffic Solutions was set to run through May 2014. Council members approved the new settlement on a vote of 13-4. The city has collected just $3 million in fines paid by red-light violators. About 240,000 violations have associated unpaid fines. In the next few years, the city hopes to ramp up its fine collections efforts to help pay for the legal settlement with American Traffic Solutions. American Traffic Solutions could possibly get more than $4.8 million from Houston, depending on how much money the city can collect from delinquent red-light violators. Outstanding fines total about $25 million. If all of these penalties are eventually paid – a very unlikely scenario – American Traffic
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Training Tip: Forgotten or Lost Password in LoginGPS
Thu, 16 Feb 2012 14:00:09
http://www.LoginGPS.com is our login portal, and location of our training library. If you forget your password, you can go to our site, and you will see the following link below the login information: Simply click the link, and follow the prompts. A temporary password will be emailed to you, and you will be able to get back into your account quickly. Order your Checkmate Training Workbook today! This 250 page comprehensive text goes over every aspect of the Checkmate system, with additional resources and quizzes at the end of each chapter. Contact Julie.Titus@4agps.com for more information. For more training materials, visit our Training Library at http://www.LoginGPS.com.
Emergency Management and Vehicle Tracking
Wed, 15 Feb 2012 14:36:15
GPS Tracking is as much about public safety as it is about fleet management. GPS tracking technology can help to ensure an emergency response vehicle responds to a call on-time, is efficiently routed to a call location, and can report any siren and light activity. Response Time is critical for emergency responders. The time between receiving an emergency call, locating a vehicle, dispatching call information, and arriving on the scene, can mean the difference between life and death. Dispatching is changing. It is no longer about sending the vehicle that covers a territory but sending the closest vehicle based on the current position. GPS tracking technology provides dispatchers actionable intelligence to make good routine dispatching decisions. Dispatchers can now see the location of all vehicles, regardless of territory, which enables them to decide how to respond to situations. SIREN AND LIGHT ACTIVATION GPS tracking technology can also be used to help eliminate the abuse of siren and light activation with first responder units. Emergency first response vehicles equipped with a GPS tracking device can be monitored by dispatch to establish when a vehicle turns on their siren and lights in response to an emergency being dispatched to their unit. Establishing a GPS solution for your first response fleet can improve emergency response times, route navigation, and monitor siren and light activation. Read more about GPS Tracking and Emergency Services Visit us online at www.GPSFleetSolutions.com
Nominations Open for 100 Best Fleets
Wed, 15 Feb 2012 14:18:03
TORRANCE, CA - Government Fleet magazine and the 100 Best Fleets are now accepting nominations for the annual awards, recognizing the top public sector fleets in North America at the municipal, county, state, and federal levels. Sponsored by INVERS, winners will be announced at the Government Fleet Expo & Conference (GFX) June 18-20 in Denver and recognized in Government Fleet magazine. <a href=”http://oascentral.government-fleet.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/governmentfleet/news/L20/1252965285/Middle1/Bobit/DriveCam_GF_News_Sep_11-Jul_12/DriveCam_250x250_20120111.html/53454443425538355958514144444476″ target=”_blank”> <img src=”http://imagec10.247realmedia.com/RealMedia/ads/Creatives/Bobit/DriveCam_GF_News_Sep_11-Jul_12/Drive-Cam_250x250_20120111.gif/1326319372″ width=”250″ height=”250″ alt=”" style=”border:0px black solid;” /> </The deadline for submissions is March 15, 2012. The 100 Best Fleets award program, founded by industry veteran Tom Johnson, rewards peak-performing public sector fleet operations. The program also identifies and encourages ever-increasing levels of performance improvement within the fleet industry. The purposes of the 100 Best Fleets program are to: Identify outstanding operations for others to emulate. Provide recognition within the larger organization and the community that the winning fleets serve. Promote pride in the industry and provide recognition within the national fleet community. Promote ever-increasing levels of productivity and operational effectiveness. Encourage more individuals to consider fleet operations as a career choice. The City of Portland, Ore., was named No. 1 among the 100 Best Fleets in 2011. Click here or copy and paste the URL below into your browser to start the nomination process. Link to nomination form: http://www.government-fleet.com/100BestFleets/Content/100-Best-Fleets-Submit-Nominations.aspx Source: http://www.government-fleet.com/News/Story/2012/01/Nominations-Open-for-100-Best-Fleets.aspx?ref=eNews-Monday-20120213&utm_medium=Enewsletter&utm_source=Email Visit us online at www.gpsfleetsolutions.com
AAA Fuel Report Shows Gas Prices Inching Up Despite Steady Oil Prices
Tue, 14 Feb 2012 14:09:36
A new report on gas and oil prices from AAA explains that although oil prices remain steady, around $100 per barrel, gasoline prices are moving up due to refinery shutdowns in the U.S. and Europe. The U.S. Department of Energy issued a report last week that showed refinery utilization dropping to 82.2% from 83.7%. The current national average retail price for a gallon of self-serve gasoline is $3.43. This price is up five cents from the prior week, up 15 cents from late December, but up 33 cents from the same period a year ago. As for oil prices, the price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil dropped at the beginning of the week as opposing market forces canceled out any major changes in price. Although concerns about the European debt situation push prices down, tensions with Iran and signs of a U.S. economic recovery are pushing prices up. In addition, although there are concerns about supply chain disruptions, a Department of Energy (DOE) last week showed an increase in stocks of crude oil of 3.6 million barrels, but only a slight increase in demand, at 8.098 million barrels per day. Although demand is up from the previous week, the year-over-year demand level shows a decrease. Automotive Fleet Visit us online at www.GPSFleetSolutions.com
Training Tip: NexTraq Location Report
Tue, 14 Feb 2012 14:00:12
The Location Report in the NexTraq system is a great tool to see how many times a vehicle has entered a Location over any time period. First, go to Reports > More Reports > Location. You must enter: Time Frame Mobile or Fleet Location or Zone (one single location, or all locations) Only Include Stops?: If you would like to see when vehicles entered locations, but did not stop inside of that location, you can include those incidents. Select “View Report” when ready. Then, you will see the vehicle name at the top of the report, the Time the incident began, the Driver assigned to the vehicle at that time. This report is slighly different than the Location Summary report (below) The Location Summary will tell you which vehicles entered each Location. You will see the total hours spent inside of that location, total moving hours, stopped hours, idle hours, sensor hours, and stops in total. This report is more useful when you want to analyze a Location, rather than a Driver’s activity. For more training materials, please visit our Training Library at: http://www.LoginGPS.com. Or, contact supprt at Support@4agps.com.
