Only one out of every ten companies with vehicles keeps their vehicles onsite overnight. That means nine of every ten companies sends their service trucks or sales cars home with employees each night.*  Quite frequently, those vehicles are used for personal trips after work hours. While this may present concerns for the company owners, many are still hesitant to implement a tracking solution for fear of push back from their employees. But in reality, it is to the benefit of both the company and the employee to employ a location-aware solution during non-work hours as well as work hours. 

Did you know that if your employee misuses your company-owned vehicle during off work hours, your business can be held liable for monetary damages?* Even if your employee stops for a beer on the way home from work Friday night and ends up getting drunk and having an accident, your business may be held  responsible. With this in mind, it makes no sense that an employee should have “privacy” while in your vehicle, on or off hours.  Did you know that company vehicles with a logo or business name on the side can cost more to insure? Many insurers charge more because vehicles with logos are considered moving targets. If your company vehicle is involved in an accident, the public’s perception is that more money is available for a settlement because a business is involved. Not to mention, seeing a company vehicle crashed on the side of the road (or parked in front of a gentleman’s club or liquor store, for that matter) can damage your company’s reputation in the eyes of passers by. This is another reason you should be tracking your vehicles 24 hours a day, seven days a week. 

While some insurance companies do charge more to insure vehicles with company logos, many companies offer discounts for having GPS on board. My insurance company, for example, gives me a discount on my premiums because the Remote Dynamics unit I have hidden in my vehicle qualifies as a theft recovery device. This is well worth looking into, especially if employees will be in control of company vehicles during off-work hours. 

We have several customers that will not put their vehicles into service until GPS is installed and operational. One customer frequently adds to their fleet, and has us install the GPS system into all new vehicles before they even accept delivery from the dealership! These customers have the right idea. Not tracking your vehicles, even those driven by employees you trust, is just asking for trouble. 

*Statistic provided from the National Association of Fleet Administrators 1999 Vehicle Policies and Procedures Survey.

Filed under: REDI News and Info
Comments Off

I was just talking to a friend the other night about gas prices and it reminded me of my own story of moving to Orange County. Leaving North Carolina for California in July of 2000, I paid $0.95 for a gallon of gas. Today I filled up in Southern California for $4.13 per gallon!

While this is quite the ramp in a very short period of time, I think when we look back we will see the warning signs.  Should we have not been worried in 2000 when the stock market valued a company with no revenues at $100 million?  Did we not know that trouble was ahead when we saw homes double in value in 5 years with loans based on hype and promises?  

I have been traveling to Sweden for 10 years and during that entire time their fuel price per liter equaled what we paid per gallon.  It was no wonder that you saw all sorts of transit options and very few large cars.  The largest of the cars were expensive models from Volvo and Mercedes – again those with deep pockets that could afford the fuel.   

Meanwhile in the US the vehicles just kept getting bigger.  Between the minivan and the SUV, folks just got comfortable with these vehicles.  With the car companies always wanting to outdo each other, they kept upping the ante.  Did the family vehicle every really need to max out at the Escalade, the Suburban, or the Excursion?  I think in looking back at Europe and the growth of the size of our vehicles – to say nothing of our driving habits and most military conflicts centered around oil rich nations – it was really only a matter of time before reality hit home.  Just like the housing bubble, and the internet bubble before it, I think common sense lost out and businesses were certainly there to fuel the euphoria. 

So what to do now, and especially what does the company do that owns vehicles and equipment?  I personally have done the math of switching to more fuel efficient vehicles, but the payoff is 5 years or more.  Instead, it really boils down to changing habits.  For the consumer that means fewer trips, carpooling more often, and planning a little better.  Will it save huge amounts?  No – but enough to make a difference. 

For the business, there are options as well.  Most service fleets, sales organizations, and construction companies overspend on fuel for three main reasons.  Excessive idling is a huge problem – when waiting for an appointment or meeting or talking at the site, the vehicles are nearly always left running.  With 6 minutes of idling equaling 1 mile of driving – this adds up in a hurry.  And just like in the 1970’s when speed limits were lowered to save fuel, it works today as well.  Slowing down your vehicles to posted speeds will help.  Lastly, employees using company vehicles for non-work trips will add significantly to the cost. 

Studies from Aberdeen Research Group and others show that a company can save 7-15% of annual fuel costs by addressing these 3 areas.  If a vehicle is used 30,000 miles per year and gets 12 mpg, it will use 208 gallons of gas per month.  At $4 per gallon, this is $833 in fuel alone.  Using a fleet management tool will save somewhere between $62 and $125 dollars per month per vehicle and will pay for themselves within 6-8 months.  For a fleet of 100 vehicles, this is up to $125,000 per year. 

While we will certainly not be able to completely solve the fuel problem for our customers, at least we can feel good about helping to ease the pain a bit.  In hindsight we should have known better, but unfortunately I think this pain is here to stay. 

Filed under: REDI News and Info
No Comments »

I read an astonishing statistic the other night. So astonishing that I had to re-read the sentence twice to be sure I was reading it right. Ready? An estimated 95% of all construction companies in the US are victims of theft at least once per year¹. Those thefts range from a drill left out at a construction site overnight, to a stack of lumber hauled off piece by piece, to entire trailers, bobcats, and scissor lifts being towed away from unattended sites. Thieves are becoming more sophisticated about what they steal, targeting newer, bigger, more valuable equipment that they can resell to unsuspecting buyers later. 

Construction equipment is obviously a hot commodity, and most construction companies recognize the need to protect their assets. The question is how. Check out the 2002 report from National Equipment Register (NER), Loss Prevention and Security Techniques for Equipment Owners at http://www.nerusa.com/includes/WebLossPrevention.pdf. It provides numerous tips for protecting your equipment, along with procedures to follow if your equipment ends up stolen. Also, consider an active asset management system that uses GPS, such as REDIview. Remote Dynamics is a step ahead of many of the other GPS vehicle tracking systems in that we’ve customized our service to be asset-friendly. We record your asset’s year, manufacturer, model, color, complete PIN, etc – all information that the NER recommends providing in case of theft. We can also provide real time, up to the minute tracking in the event that your asset is stolen, allowing you to work proactively with police to track down your equipment. Even in the middle of the night, you can access REDIview from any computer with internet access – no need to lose time driving to the office to use a stand alone system. 

Of course, you can and should consider other security measures, such as cameras, locks, warning signs, and even on-site security. But a GPS tracking system gives you another level of security other measures can’t match. Even if you are fortunate enough to never have a single piece of equipment stolen, an asset-friendly GPS system can pay for itself by providing maintenance reports, billed hours verification, proof of service, etc. The benefits of mobile asset management extend far beyond the reach of asset recovery. But when you consider that the cost of one stolen excavator could have paid for your entire system for the life of the contract, it’s almost a no-brainer. 

¹Protecting Your Jobsite From Theft, Maureen Silber, Product Manager, Security Business Group, DeWalt Power Tools.

Filed under: REDI News and Info
No Comments »

Being the National Sales Manager allows me meet so many business owners and help them solve real problems with our products.  This week my daughter Amanda tells her story of how I was able to use REDIview at home and get through the teenage years.  Now Amanda works at our office - I guess the apple does not fall far from the tree… 

Everyone should remember what it’s like to be seventeen years old. You’re rebellious, frustrated and longing for freedom. You’re almost an adult, but not quite. You’re stuck in limbo, and you’re just searching for a way out.  

This is exactly what I was going through last year at age seventeen. I was certain I was being slick and getting away with it every time. It was like clock work. The clock would strike 11:00 pm, and I would be sure my mom was asleep, and I would crack the window to my bedroom. I would listen for any sound from my mother, and when I knew the coast was clear…off I went. I kept my car in neutral until I rolled off the driveway, and as soon as I was far enough, I started it and sped off. I was a teenage master! I was admired by my peers.  

You can imagine my surprise when one morning my mother wakes up with the EXACT knowledge of where I had been the night before. She told me exactly what time I left the house, where I went to eat, and the exact location of where I stopped. I was floored. I was SURE she had followed me out that night and spied on me the entire time. When you hear something like this, the first thing that pops into your head is NOT, “OH, GPS TRACKER! HOW SLY!”. It took me a minute to figure it out, ok?  

My mom had installed a Remote Dynamics GPS tracker on my car once she got suspicious of my activity at night. She wasn’t born yesterday. Now that I look back on it, I’m happy that she caught me. I’m not sure what would have happened if she didn’t. Plus, I mean, it all worked out in the end. Now I’m working here with her and going to college, and Mom has peace of mind at night.

Filed under: REDI News and Info
No Comments »

I love my job. I love working with installers and with our incredible customers. In my position, I have the privilege of talking to everyone from company presidents to drivers, giving me a unique perspective on what GPS vehicle tracking can do for businesses. Among other things, I’ve helped a donut delivery company track down a stolen truck full of donuts. I’ve heard stories about honest drivers getting out of speeding tickets by proving not only the speed at the time of the incident, but also a history of driving at reasonable speeds. I even coordinated a covert install into a college student’s vehicle so her mom could “catch her in the act.” The mom was astonished and amazed when the only thing she caught her daughter doing was driving safely. 

I’d been working for this company for over a year before I realized the benefits this tool I support all day could provide for me as a Service and Installation Scheduler. If a customer called to ask why my installer was late, I didn’t have to put him on hold and call the driver for an answer. I could pull up a map and have an answer in 30 seconds flat. Having an answer for a customer that is anxious to get his truck installed is a nice convenience, but GPS fleet management is an even better tool when it saves money. 

One afternoon, I received an email from our Billing department, stating that a customer was refusing to pay a service charge because “there is no way the installer was onsite for three hours like he said he was.” I checked the installer’s service record, and he had indeed recorded three hours as the time onsite. I called the installer and asked what was up – was he really there for three hours? His answer? “Check my GPS.” As my kids would say, “Duh!” 

I pulled up the date of the appointment in question and printed a trip report. I could see that the installer arrived 10 minutes early, was onsite not three hours, but actually a little more, and had left the site at the exact time his service record stated. We forwarded the report to the customer, no further explanation needed. 

These are fun little success stories, yes, and I could go on and on. But I suppose I should get to the point. While many people consider GPS vehicle monitoring to be a little too Big Brother for them, or an unnecessary expense for companies with trustworthy employees, I tend to disagree. Every instance above proves that GPS fleet management has benefits that extend well beyond just watching drivers to see if they will “mess up.” It can protect a company’s profits from customers trying to get out of paying legitimate bills. It can protect drivers from erroneous accusations. It can protect vehicles from theft. And yes, it can even help recover such precious cargo as donuts.

Filed under: Blogroll
No Comments »

What a summer it has been for Remote Dynamics.  When Greg Jones & I started with Remote in February of this year, we knew there would be a lot of work in front of us.  What we didn’t fully understand was how exceptional our team and our customers are.  While I needed to concentrate on structuring the company for long term success, the customer care & development teams stayed focused understanding and delivering the necessary enhancements needed by our customers. 

The team has been working hard to map REDIview to the needs of our current customer base as well as the needs of our new and emerging markets.  Between our new market research and our prior customer requests, we laid our plan for this new release. 

Our customer service group worked diligently with the developers to insure the specifications met the intent and acted as test customers throughout the development and test phases of our effort. Hats off to the development team as there were once again driven to deliver a great product.  The team worked some crazy hours in order to meet the deadline of the Q3 release. 

There are some great new features in this release.  One of my personal favorites is the directional icons which show movement on the map view.  We have numerous customers that use our map projected on a screen in a dispatch room.  The new maps will allow them to visually separate different types of assets and show them if the asset is off, idling or what direction it is moving.   For more about the release see - http://www.remotedynamics.com/newsEvents/press_release_templ.php?id=21

Individually and as a company we are very excited about our new software release.  While the software itself is very good and we hope and expect it to be good for business, there is more to the story.  In the weeks ahead, I will continue to share my thoughts and observations in this space as well as the rest of the story.  Be sure to stay tuned and check back often. Remote Dynamics is a great company with a great service and I appreciate your interest. 

/g  

Filed under: REDI News and Info
No Comments »

“Trust but verify” ¹.  Most of you who lived through the 1980’s like me will recall this quote from President Reagan.  He was, of course, referring to our country’s relations with the

Filed under: REDI News and Info
No Comments »

Welcome to the Remote Dynamics blog (yes, so new it has no catchy name yet) and I hope we can keep this site interesting, informative, and entertaining enough to gain your frequent reading.

Remote Dynamics is fortunate in that our business operates across a wide variety of industry segments and uses some very interesting technologies.  These vary from trucking and limousine companies to general contractors and equipment leasing companies. What ties all these companies together is that they gain efficiencies from their personnel and assets by using wireless data and GPS. 

The intent of this blog is to share a variety of information that is pertinent to the industries in which our customers and partners participate.  Only by gaining understanding of these business issues will we continue to deliver value.In addition to these topics, I am excited about the people that make up the Remote Dynamics team. This will be a place where we can give you insight into what it takes to offer our service. 

Remote Dynamics has been in business for over 10 years and in doing so, we have learned a great deal about the telematics industry and will use this platform to share these insights to the community in hopes that by our small input the industry will continue to grow and offer greater value to the companies in which we serve.

I also want to put forth a little commercial for one of our first entries, from Terri Malone, one of our star regional sales managers.  In her first post she will describe a very personal story in how these technologies dramatically affected her family.Again, thanks for visiting. /

Filed under: REDI News and Info
No Comments »