GPS Insight

Allied Glass & Aluminum Products, a company based in Victoria, British Columbia, was facing challenges in managing its wide range of services. The company, which has been in business since 1960, provides a variety of services including installation, replacement, repair, and maintenance of commercial doors and windows. They also offer emergency repair services, making their day-to-day operations complex. The company was using a paper-based system for work orders, invoices, and other processes, which was proving to be inefficient. Technicians had to physically visit the office to receive new jobs, and coordinating different systems was a challenge due to the manual nature of the processes. The company recognized the need for an automated management system to streamline their operations.

Generator Systems, a company based in Akron, Ohio, that sells and services generators and pumps, was facing challenges in managing its field service operations. The company was keen on improving its efficiency, speeding up customer response times, and delivering exceptional customer service. The company's business model is centered around providing outstanding customer service across all aspects of the business, including the sale, service, and preventative maintenance of pumps and generators. However, the existing system was not efficient enough to meet these demands. The company needed a solution that would streamline its operations, increase efficiency, and enhance customer experience.

Whitton Companies, a residential home construction company, was facing challenges in efficiently dispatching vehicles to customer sites. The process was manual and time-consuming, involving receiving a customer call, looking up the address online, and printing out a map for the driver. The company also lacked real-time vehicle location data, making it difficult to confirm if field supervisors were at the job site when they were supposed to be. Additionally, Whitton Companies needed a GPS tracking solution that could integrate with their enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, which they use to manage all data throughout their organization.

Kennecott Utah Copper’s (KUC) operation is unique in that its vehicles don’t traverse great distances but are spread out across a 25 mile stretch of land, which made it difficult to manage their large fleet of vehicles. The most significant issue they were having was in monitoring and policing their idle activity. Equipment would be left idling for hours on end, and managers knew they were producing large amounts of Green House Gas (GHG) as a result. The excessive idling was also leading to warranty issues. Kenny Harvey added, “As our equipment idled we lost valuable warranty coverage due to the fact that the manufacturers of our Light and Heavy Equipment were basing warranty coverage off of hours run, not miles driven.” Equipment utilization was also an issue. They needed to find a way to track equipment utilization in order to improve efficiency and vehicle availability by right-sizing their fleet. These issues needed to be addressed to ensure vehicles were operating efficiently throughout and completing their contractual or operational lifecycle.

Western Utility had several vehicles stolen, only to be recovered days later stripped of over $35,000 in tools. They needed to find a way to prevent any further thefts of company vehicles and their valuable tools. WUC also needed to know where their vehicles were at any given moment so they could be dispatched in case of emergency situations, such as cable or phone outages, traffic signal outages, or sewer and waterline breaks.

Invader Pest Management, a leading pest control company in Phoenix, Arizona, was facing a significant challenge in controlling fuel costs. With gas prices hovering around $3-4 per gallon, the management was keen on understanding their exact expenditure and whether it was justified. Additionally, they needed to monitor how long their technicians were spending at each job location. This data was crucial in assessing the productivity of their technicians and determining if they could handle more jobs per day.

Cedar Management Inc., a property management company in Minnesota, was facing challenges with its reporting system for maintenance and financial information. The service management solution they were using had limited capabilities and was not able to generate comprehensive reports showing revenue and billing for different property owners. The company also needed work orders that would include detailed information such as location, service request, completion date, technician’s name, and billing amount. The company oversees more than 4,000 units at 75 association properties, 1,100 residential rental units, and 24,000 square feet of office space, making the need for an efficient reporting system crucial.

The Clintar Ottawa team had been using a GPS tracking system for their fleet, but the system was not performing as expected. The system was not updated often, some devices were not working properly, and some were not working at all. Service from the supplier was difficult when adding units or getting billing questions answered. As a result, the franchise had let their fleet tracking program decline to roughly half of their assets. With half the information, they were prone to mistakes when making important decisions.

Jonathan’s Snow Removal and Landscaping has been using AutoConnect GPS for over 3 years to monitor their snow removal fleet’s progress, and to verify customer billing and employee timecards. However, they faced an unexpected problem when one of their snow removal trucks was stolen from their garage. The theft occurred less than 12 hours after they had installed a new device in the truck. The company was shocked to find the garage door open and the truck missing the next morning.

Pool Agency, a pool service and repair company, was facing several challenges. They were unable to verify if/when drivers were on the job site, making it difficult to provide proof of job completion to customers. This was particularly problematic in the pool industry where environmental factors can quickly alter the appearance of a serviced pool. The company was also struggling with unauthorized usage of company vehicles, leading to unnecessary fuel expenses and increased wear and tear. Additionally, the manual tracking of vehicle maintenance was proving to be inefficient and led to overlooked services, resulting in expensive repairs.

ABM Industries Incorporated, one of the world’s largest building and facility services companies, faced challenges in tracking project activities and assuring customers that their employees and equipment were at the right location at the right time. The company often received calls from customers questioning the number of hours billed for, as they didn't believe the technician was on-site for the duration claimed. Prior to the implementation of a new fleet tracking solution, ABM locations never knew for sure where the company vehicles were. When emergency calls came in, it could take 30 to 45 minutes for dispatchers to call the drivers, check the dispatch logs, and identify which technician was the closest who could respond. The company also wanted to improve employee safety by being able to monitor vehicle location and view diagnostic and maintenance information for the company trucks.

ABM Building Services was previously using a GPS tracking software that was not meeting the company’s expectations. The software had slow updates and inaccurate location data as well as inaccurate reporting, which made it tough to audit time cards. They knew they wanted to look for a new provider once their contract expired. Once they were back on the market for a new GPS tracking provider, there were a few new concepts considered. They were comparing cost of purchase vs. cost of rental. They were also conscious of contracts this time around. They did not want to work with another GPS vendor that would lock them into a long contract. The company was also looking for a user-friendly dashboard interface that had the ability to customize views. Each dispatcher needs to view different locations and service vehicles, so the ability for each dispatcher to have their own login with their own custom dashboard was critical.

In 2009, Crescent Electric Supply Company, decided to implement a GPS fleet tracking initiative. They were having a hard time trying to quantify and evaluate their fleet and personnel. Their delivery service needed to make significant improvements in both the number of deliveries made and the time it took to complete the deliveries. They also wanted to track total mileage, cost per mile, and cost per ticket. They knew that a GPS tracking solution would improve their delivery process, uncover unknown issues with their fleet, and provide the metrics they needed to monitor costs.

Plumbing Medic, a plumbing company based in Gilbert, AZ, was facing several challenges related to their fleet management. They needed to know the current locations of their vehicles as they carried expensive equipment and parts. The company also wanted to improve time management and accountability of their mobile workforce. Since their drivers were spread out all over the Phoenix metropolitan area, they had no way to know what they were doing in between jobs. The last major challenge that Plumbing Medic was looking to solve with a GPS tracking solution was eliminating fuel card fraud. They needed a way to monitor fuel usage, when and where their technicians were filling up on fuel, and how many miles were driven to ensure all purchases were legitimate.

Valet Waste, a national provider of doorstep trash and recycling collection in the multi-family industry, was facing several challenges with their fleet management. They had previously used a fleet management system, but it did not meet their expectations. The company wanted to increase efficiency, monitor driver behavior, and validate ‘how is my driving’ calls. They also needed a way to cut the amount of time employees spent logging tasks in the customer service database and increase productivity at each property. Furthermore, they wanted to keep drivers safe by monitoring driver behavior and promoting good driving habits. Lastly, they were aware of the additional benefits that an advanced GPS tracking system could provide such as better fuel, time, safety, and maintenance management.

Quik Pik-All Over Towing had tried three GPS tracking systems prior to GPS Insight. The company was in the market for a product that had superior software and would give them full control of their fleet. The real issue with the other providers was their refresh rate and location accuracy. The refresh rates were too slow for Joe’s business, showing trucks in locations they were no longer in. Accurate GPS tracking technology is extremely important for Quik Pik-All Over Towing, as the nature of the towing business, being primary responders to accident scenes with PD, Fire, and Rescue, absolutely requires them to know the exact location of all their trucks for making instantaneous decisions for dispatching, ensuring quick response times to calls.

Wright Tree Service’s initial interest in GPS tracking was to be in compliance with contractual obligations. It is common in larger contracts that utilities require GPS tracking. In addition, since Wright Tree Service is nationwide, many of their field supervisors work independently without direct supervisor oversight. The regional offices had no way of knowing what their fleet was doing at any given time and needed reassurance that their fleet was being fully utilized and efficient. They realized they needed GPS fleet tracking to ensure personal accountability of their field supervisors in order to accomplish this. Wright Tree Service looked at other companies, from cell phone GPS tracking, to other systems that use a mounted tracking device. After extensive research, they found that what they needed was accurate location data, reliability of the devices, and widespread data network coverage.

Sanford and Hawley, a family-owned supplier of lumber and building materials, faced several challenges. The company needed to improve driver safety by enabling communication with drivers without the distraction of cell phone use. They also needed a safe way for drivers to access directions without having to read printed maps or directions. The company's fuel expenses were high, and they needed to reduce their fleet's fuel consumption. They were aware of excessive idling by their drivers, which resulted in wasted gas, but they lacked a way to monitor and reduce idling time. Additionally, Sanford and Hawley needed to prevent unauthorized use of vehicles. They knew that their drivers were using company vehicles for personal errands, which cost the company money and put the company at risk in the event of accidents or other problems.

Dunn Lumber, a lumber yard and delivery service for homeowners and professional contractors in Washington State, was facing high vehicle costs and needed to find a way to reduce them. They needed to know where their assets were at all times and how they were being handled. As a delivery fleet, they needed to ensure they were as efficient as possible. In the lumber industry, safety is a high priority. They needed to select a technology that would help the company monitor employee and asset safety at all times.

Isaac Heating and Air Conditioning, a company in business since 1945, faced challenges as they started opening new branches. They needed to become more efficient and streamline their business. One of the biggest areas that needed to be addressed was the efficiency of their dispatching as they added more dispatchers and technicians to the company. They also wanted to be sure that they were sending the closest technicians to calls using the best possible route, which was proving to be a challenge. Prior to implementing GPS tracking, zip codes were being used to dispatch drivers to calls, only to find out that in some cases, out of zip code technicians were actually closer. Given the lack of accuracy in dispatching drivers, this also affected their response time to emergency calls involving water and gas leaks, something that was a huge priority to improve.

The City of Worcester, Massachusetts, wanted to modernize and improve its fleet operations, particularly for its sanders, contracted sanders, street sweepers, and garbage trucks. Some of these vehicles needed to be tracked year-round, while others only required seasonal tracking. During the winter months, the city would receive numerous calls from citizens reporting that their streets had not been cleared. However, there was no way to verify when a street had been sanded or if it had been sanded at all without sending an inspector to the location. The city then put Jim Kempton, Assistant Director of Street Operations, in charge of the GPS tracking initiative.

The City of Pampa, Texas, was facing challenges in managing its fleet of 60 vehicles used across various departments. The Director of Public Works, Donny Hooper, identified that the fleet needed to be managed more effectively, particularly the routing of sanitation trucks. He began researching technologies designed to improve routing and expanded his search to include GPS fleet management solutions after realizing the potential cost savings. Hooper was aware that every day without a GPS fleet management system was a loss for the city.

West Coast Sand and Gravel, a company servicing the construction industry, faced challenges in tracking productivity, customer service, and verifying deliveries due to heavy reliance on communication via radio/phone with drivers. The company sought a more efficient solution to relay information from drivers back to the office and a method to confirm deliveries and pickups that would not consume much time for the driver or employees back at the office. They also needed a GPS tracking solution that was user-friendly so that employees would be able to use the software company-wide.

Singing Hills Landscape, a commercial landscaping installation and maintenance company, was facing a challenge with excessive vehicle idling, especially while crews loaded up equipment and materials. The company suspected that if the vehicles were left running in the yard, they were likely also left running at job sites. Singing Hills also wanted to verify and improve the efficiency of routes taken to job sites to help decrease miles driven and fuel costs. They were also aware that there were many unknowns that GPS fleet tracking software could help them uncover.

Dayton’s Pest Control, a family-owned business in Knoxville, Tennessee, was facing challenges in increasing driver accountability and verifying job completion. They wanted to ensure that their technicians were at the correct locations and were utilizing company trucks appropriately during work hours. Additionally, they faced customer disputes where customers claimed that their technicians had not serviced their accounts. Without a GPS tracking system in place, Dayton’s had no way to verify whether their technicians had completed the jobs or not.

Nubilt, a restoration and construction company based in Denver, Colorado, was facing several challenges related to their fleet management. They were struggling with high fuel costs and needed a tool to monitor how their vehicles were being used. They also needed a way to track when employees arrived and left job sites and their overall whereabouts throughout the day. Most importantly, they needed to improve their dispatching process to ensure that they could uphold their two-hour response time guarantee. The company was looking for a technology solution that could help them address these challenges and improve their operations.

AlliedBarton Security Services, the largest American-owned company offering security officer services, recognized a need for increased patrol and alarm response services for clients and prospects. As the demand for patrol and alarm response continued to grow, AlliedBarton realized they would need an efficient way to track the location of the vehicles and the amount of time they spent at each property. This need for efficient tracking sparked AlliedBarton’s interest in GPS tracking.

MedCare Equipment Company, a medical equipment delivery company, was facing challenges in finding the most efficient way of delivering items from point A to point B as quickly as possible. The company's mission to improve the health and well-being of every life they touch added a unique challenge as their customers' lives often depended on the items they delivered. The company's IT department understood the value of GPS vehicle tracking and how it could help them complete deliveries faster, but their current provider did not offer the reliable data needed to improve their business. The GPS data they received was strictly in real-time and did not provide them with any historical data, making reporting impossible. As the company grew to service more areas, an increased level of logistical insight was required to meet their standards of excellence.

East Central Energy, a member-owned electric cooperative, was facing challenges in managing its fleet of over 75 vehicles across a large service area of 14 counties. The company needed to optimize its resources and improve its outage response time. The company also had a strong emphasis on safety and wanted to prevent scenarios where technicians or apprentices were unaware of their location during emergency situations. The company also wanted to integrate GPS data with their existing mapping system, MapWise, to improve their outage management system.

Parks & Sons, a waste and recycling hauler in Sun City, Arizona, experienced substantial growth over the past 10 years, significantly expanding their footprint across the Phoenix area. Prior to tracking their fleet with GPS technology, the dispatchers and area supervisors were relying heavily on CB radio and cellular devices to communicate the physical location and destination of their drivers across 50 to 65 varying routes. This led to an unnecessary level of calls throughout the day relaying simple, yet vital, location information. As new stops were added to routes, assigning them was a manual process; one that did not account for inefficient route overlaps. Inefficiencies add unnecessary cost to any organization. Not only do route overlaps extend the amount of time it takes to complete area pickups, it extends the usage of the vehicle and the fuel it takes to operate the vehicle. Parks & Sons needed a better system to understand which vehicles needed servicing and a better way to get them back on the road as quickly as possible.

Cal Building and Maintenance (CBMI) was facing frequent disputes from customers regarding the number of hours their service technicians claimed to have spent on the job. There were also internal suspicions that the service technicians were inflating the hours worked on their field reports. The company needed a solution to eliminate the doubts of the customers and to verify if they were overpaying their workers due to inaccurate time reporting. The challenge was to find a way to hold the service technicians accountable for their time and to provide concrete evidence to the customers about the time spent on their job.

1-800-GOT-JUNK? Toronto, the largest franchise in the network, employs young drivers, often college students, who lack professional driving experience. While these drivers are personable and work well with customers, their lack of experience can be a concern. The company needed a solution to manage these inexperienced drivers and ensure efficient routing to customer locations. The company also wanted to improve its dispatch responsibilities, such as sending the nearest truck to a new pick-up location and re-routing others as needed. Additionally, the company wanted to ensure the security of their vehicles overnight.

J.F. Kitching & Son Ltd., a third-generation family business providing aggregate transportation services, faced a significant challenge in accurately billing its customers. The company bills customers based on the time it takes to deliver the product rather than by weight. This method of billing was complicated by the use of a local toll highway, which has tiered rates based on the time of usage. The company needed an accurate way to measure the hours it took to deliver its products and services to customers.

ServiceMaster of the Valley, a commercial and residential carpet, furniture, and insurable loss cleaning company based in Kentville, Nova Scotia, faced a significant challenge when one of their trucks was stolen. The vehicle was eventually recovered, but it had been damaged and there were no security measures in place to prevent such an incident from happening again. This incident prompted Harry Harmes, the franchise owner, to look into telematics software as a solution to this problem. Several telematics companies approached Harmes, but he chose Geotab because they are a Canadian company and they offered the most seamless and streamlined installation process.