Jul 03 2012

Unsafe Golf Cart Usage by Rob (with alert follow-up)

Category: Ad Hoc Reports,Alerts,Arizona,detecting unauthorized vehicle usage,Driver Accountability,GPS Fleet Tracking,GPS Insight Employees,GPS Tracking,Identifying and eliminating speeding,Reports,Safety — rdonat @ 5:59 pm

We have a golf cart and our house is near a really steep hill.

Doing 16 MPH up to the top of the hill in my golf cart

Doing 16 MPH up to the top of the hill in my golf cart

The golf cart is limited to 25 MPH, even downhill (it engine-brakes to keep you from going too fast).

Unless you turn the ignition off…

Then you can zoom down as long as you have guts before stomping on the brake or turning the car back on:

racing to the bottom of a hill in my golfcart

racing to the bottom of a hill in my golfcart

But when you turn the ignition off, you lose your speedometer, so you don’t know how fast you’re going.

I was curious how fast I could get it to go down the hill, & realized I could just look it up in GPS Insight:

Running an Activity Detail Report for my golfcart

Running an Activity Detail Report for my golfcart

And I can easily see the max speed of 45:

Going 45 MPH in a golfcart meant for 25

Going 45 MPH in a golf cart meant for 25

The reason the device keeps reporting even though the ignition is off is because I wanted an easy install & just wired it straight to the battery and programmed it to only report when the vehicle is moving.

This helps me to see that my golf cart hit 45 MPH max on the way down the hill.  And notice that it interprets 5 minutes of non-movement in my garage as “Off” and stops reporting.

And the next step?  Create an alert to let me know any time this is happening so that if my kids try it, they’re in huge trouble:

Alert to let me know any time the golf cart goes > 30 MPH

Alert to let me know any time the golf cart goes > 30 MPH

Any time “Rob Gemcar” goes > 30 MPH (only possible down a hill with the ignition turned off — otherwise it hits 28 or so absolute max), WITHIN our subdivision called Forest Highlands, I will get an SMS text message instantly, as well as an email, alerting me to this fact (along with a map of the location in the email).  I included it in our subdivision so that if it’s ever put on a flatbed for transportation to the dealer or something, it won’t alert as it’s going > 30 MPH on surface streets outside our community (it’s not licensed for streets > 35 MPH).

By the way, we’ve worked with companies in the past to prove that their vehicles were going DOWNHILL when they exceeded the supposed maximum set by them in their rig — they did it by putting the truck in neutral and coasting to more than the max allowable speed.  That’s where I got the idea to check GPS Insight to see how fast the vehicle was actually going (it felt more like 50!).  I promise, it wasn’t that unsafe though…  I value my life.

Don’t try this at home!

Rob.

[Update: I was late for dinner last night & at a friend's house, & in a hurry, so I performed the "go fast downhill" trick and predictably, got an alert emailed and via text to my phone -- here they are:]

GPS Insight alert email for speeding down the hill

GPS Insight alert email for speeding down the hill

And here’s the text I got:

GPS Insight SMS alert for speeding down the hill

GPS Insight SMS alert for speeding down the hill

Note that the actual reporting time of the point as 6:47:32 PM, and it was sent at 6:48:30 PM, which is why the alert appears to be 2 minutes later [it was only 58 seconds, which is typical].  We round “down” and the email/sms round “up” with dates:

Raw GPS Data for golf cart speeding event

Raw GPS Data for golf cart speeding event

Running an alert report shows it was sent at 18:48:30:

Running an alert report

Running an alert report

Running an alert report

Alert sent at 18:40:30

Just a good example of how much information we have available to support the alerts we send.

Rob.

 

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Jun 30 2012

More expensive GPS System beats that of a low cost one by $70/month

Category: Extreme Return on Investment,Fleet Tracking,GPS Fleet Tracking,GPS Tracking — rdonat @ 10:10 am

There is a fantastic article written by Chris Wolski which was just published in Automotive Fleet which talks about Telematics adoption and ROI rates over the past several years (2008-2011). [based on a survey taken by ARI, Donlen, and PHH]

The article is here.

It states that the range of MONTHLY ROI for a telematics initiative in 2011 was $185 – $225 (up significantly from $80-150 in 2008):

GPS Initiative ROI 2008-2011

GPS Initiative ROI 2008-2011

What the article does NOT mention is service prices, and the fact that the range in monthly ROI is very likely attributable to the overall capabilities of the GPS tracking solution chosen (e.g. bare-bones vs. high-end).

Amortizing the survey’s stated cost of the hardware over 4 years makes a $3.13 monthly difference between low and high-end.

Today’s service prices tend to range between $25 and $33 per month per vehicle and correlate to hardware costs (e.g. higher priced hardware tends to have higher priced service and ultimately higher ABSOLUTE ROI).

I did some basic math in Excel and calculated the PERCENTAGE ROI (vs. the ABSOLUTE ROI of $185-$225 provided in Chris’s article).

I found the percentage ROI was 734% for the low end solution, and 733% for the high end solution.  The percentage ROI is the SAME between low and high end solutions!

ROI % for high end and low-end GPS are both ~733%!

ROI % for high end and low-end GPS are both ~733%!

Therefore, companies are going to save an EXTRA $70 per month, per vehicle, according to the survey (taken by ARI/Donlen/PHH), by purchasing a higher end gps fleet tracking solution.

Within 2 1/2 months, the extra cost of the better solution has paid off for the incremental $150 in hardware and $3.13 per month.

And over the next 45 1/2 months (assuming a 4 year life on the hardware), an extra $3,185 flows to the bottom line PER VEHICLE.

For 100 vehicles, that’s $318,500.  And that’s ON TOP OF THE LOW END ROI — a total ROI of $1,224,000!

Obviously your exact savings will differ, but if you trust ARI, Donlen, and PHH, 3 of the biggest fleet leasing companies in the space, the message is clear:

Buy a higher end GPS Tracking solution and SAVE MORE!

I always use the following analogy when talking about ROI between a low end and high end GPS tracking solution (e.g. one which has more reports, more adaptability, better alerts and maps, and more API’s, etc.):

If you can buy a bar of SILVER for $25, that’s a great deal, and will give you fantastic ROI.

If you can alternately buy a MORE EXPENSIVE bar of GOLD for $40, your ROI is VASTLY more than if you purchased the bar of silver.

Better ROI for paying extra for a bar of gold vs. silver

Better ROI for paying extra for a bar of gold vs. silver

The bar of gold costs more, but will yield significantly more ROI if you pay the small premium.

We hear this ALL THE TIME — “we went with the lower cost solution.”

Unfortunately it’s not about absolute cost — it’s about the OPPORTUNITY COST of not going with a solution that will really fit your costly business challenges in a way that a higher end (and slightly more costly) solution does.  And by the way, those customers usually cancel and go with higher end solutions later on once they determine this for themselves.  I hope this article helps companies from making the wrong “penny-wise, pound-foolish” decision.

Thanks again for the great article Chris.

Here is a link to the charts in that article.

Thanks,

Rob.

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Jun 24 2012

Powerful new capabilities for Custom Categories and Attributes

Category: CUSTOM APPLICATIONS OF GPS INSIGHT,Custom Categories and Attributes,Fleet Tracking,Fleet Tracking System,GPS Fleet Tracking,GPS Tracking,Mapping,New Features,New Features — rdonat @ 12:57 pm

We recently added new custom categories and attributes to GPS Insight for any customer to add highly business specific data to their vehicles, drivers, users, landmarks, and hierarchy nodes.

There are some new ways to utilize this feature, as well as custom filtering coming soon to the 2D map screen.  These filters will eventually support report, alerts, API’s, etc.

For instance, you will be able to click the new “attributes and categories” button on 2D mapping (shown below) and add HIGHLY CUSTOM filters for which vehicles are shown:

New Attributes and Categories in GPS Insight 2D Mapping

New Attributes and Categories in GPS Insight 2D Mapping

In this example, I am filtering on only vehicles which EITHER are Route Number less than or equal to #15 (e.g. 1-15) OR BOTH a Corporate Vehicle with BOTH a Compressor AND Winch:

Highly Custom Filter in GPS Insight

Highly Custom Filter in GPS Insight

Once I save that filter, only some of the vehicles remain, and when I choose one (Andrew PNP) I can tab to the “Custom” tab in 2D mapping and see how that vehicle matches our filter:

Since it was EITHER [any] (not both), the fact that the route #8 is less than/equal to 15 which causes this vehicle to be chosen, not the Specialized Equipment, since it doesn’t have a Winch in addition to the Compressor and Corporate ownership.

Filter Vehicles in GPS Insight Mapping

Filter Vehicles in GPS Insight Mapping

Note that there is a convenient “Edit: Attributes” link which takes me to the proper screen where I can add that winch, or something appropriate:

Edit Categories and Attributes in GPS Insight

Edit Categories and Attributes in GPS Insight

You just need to click the “green check” between “Specialized Equipment” and the vehicle icon at top to bring up the options available.  Then edit the vehicle to include a Winch and next time you check, that data has changed:

New Category assigned to Andrew PNP

New Category assigned to Andrew PNP

I also went and changed the “Any” to “All” so now ALL 3 restrictions must be met.  Now very few (5) vehicles are shown, as the filter is much more restrictive:

GPS Insight map filter

GPS Insight map filter

Some of these capabilities exist already, and some will be released shortly.  Filters will eventually be something you can save, and use with reports and alerts.  We’ll keep you posted on when these capabilities make it to GPS Insight.

Thanks,

Rob.

 

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May 17 2012

How Custom GPS Tracking Reports are made

Category: Custom Reports,Fleet Tracking System,GPS Fleet Tracking,GPS Tracking,Landmarks,New Features,New Features,Reporting,Reports — rdonat @ 8:48 pm

We received a request today from a Government customer which I think is both a great idea, as well as something worth documenting in the blog.

At first glance, it’s a “simple” request:

“We want to report on driver take-home miles since that benefit is taxable to the driver.”

Here is a diagram of how “complicated” that request really is:

Personal Usage Report Complexity

Personal Usage Report Complexity

Here’s why it gets so complicated quickly:

  • Need to define work sites
  • Need to define homes
  • Need to assign homes to each vehicle
  • Need to specify what hours are “allowable” for work
  • Need to specify how long a vehicle must be at a work landmark for it to be part of the “workday”
  • Need to allow for automated or manual “personal or business” status for each trip
  • Need to Schedule on a semi-monthly basis to correspond to payroll for tax withholding to be made

Thankfully, we have all of these capabilities built already — just not 100% integrated for the purposes of this report.

Taking seemingly unrelated aspects of a GPS Tracking product and combining them is the way to succeed — both for our customers as well as for us against other products — and a core aspect of how we approach our product and custom requests.

Taking these separately:

  • Need to define work sites
  • Need to define homes

You can both import spreadsheets as well as organize landmarks into meaningful groups and hierarchical structures in GPS Insight:

Grouping and Import of Landmarks in GPS Insight

Grouping and Import of Landmarks in GPS Insight

  • Need to assign homes to each vehicle
  • Need to allow for automated or manual  “personal or business” status for each trip

We recently launched user-specified, highly customizable attributes and categories. All we need to do is add support for two things — a landmark to be assigned to a vehicle or driver, etc. to specify their “home” (and to keep it highly flexible, we will generically support any GPS Insight object of any sort, such as vehicle, group, hierarchy node, etc.), as well the ability to categorize trips and stops (currently announced, just not yet officially supported).

  • Need to specify what hours are “allowable” for work
  • Need to specify how long a vehicle must be at a work landmark for it to be part of the “workday”

These parts of this new report already exist in other standard report parameters, shown here in our Drive Time Summary Report and Begin/End of Day Reports, which already partially solve the problem this customer has:

Time Restriction on vehicle activity

Time Restriction on vehicle activity

Exclude first and last trip from payroll report based on stop time

Exclude first and last trip from payroll report based on stop time

  • Need to Schedule on a semi-monthly basis to correspond to payroll for tax withholding to be made

Our Schedule creation tool for Scheduled Reports allows you to be highly custom in the dates for which a custom report is run.  Plus you can always combine two separate schedules (e.g. the first Monday of every week plus every 15th and last date of the month) when scheduling a report:

Defining a custom report schedule within GPS Insight

Defining a custom report schedule within GPS Insight

So, the pieces are all there!  There is a little bit of new development necessary, and then a fair amount of integration in order to complete this report for production usage.  It is really helpful to be able to draw on prior capabilities in order to create highly custom reports which help not only this one customer’s needs, but many current and future customers’ needs.

I’ll keep you posted on the progress of this GPS tracking report, and aspects we develop for it will then become pieces of future development efforts.

Rob.

 

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Apr 24 2012

GPS Insight exhibits at NAFA 2012 in St. Louis

Category: Conferences,GPS Insight Employees,Uncategorized — bbarker @ 10:02 am

We just got back from the NAFA 2012 conference. NAFA is the National Association of Fleet Administration (also known as the “Fleet Management Association”). This was our 6th consecutive year exhibiting and it was even bigger and better than previous years.

Here are photos of our booth and Team GPSI:

GPS Insight booth at NAFA 2012

GPS Insight booth at NAFA 2012

Team GPSI (from left to right -- Ryan, Alissa, Rob, Chelsea, Harry, Elliot)

Team GPSI (from left to right -- Ryan, Alissa, Rob, Chelsea, Harry, Elliot)

It’s always great to meet new people and see familiar faces at these conferences. We appreciate everyone who stopped by our booth – see you next year in Atlantic City, NJ!

-Rob

 

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Feb 21 2012

View Garmin Message/Stop status within the Garmin Dashlet

Category: Garmin Integration,Garmin Messaging,GPS Navigation,New Features,New Features,New Garmin Features — rdonat @ 11:04 pm

I send myself test and actual messages/stops all the time in my car.  I have a Garmin in my cars (even the one with the in-dash Garmin) so I can easily use and test our Garmin capabilities, which are really useful.

I looked at the Garmin Dashlet on our account today and noticed I had a number of unread/inactive messages/stops which I KNOW I read.  But in order for them to show up as read or allow the driver to reply to them, you need to actually click on them, which I hadn’t done.

Garmin Dashlet shows several unread/inactive messages and stops

Garmin Dashlet shows several unread/inactive messages and stops

I went out to my car, turned it on, and did a couple things.  I read the “Good Evening” message from 11 days ago and responded “Yes It Is!”  I also deleted the Desert Ridge (a mall) stop, as I already went there, but deactivated it before arriving, since I got tired of listening to the Garmin tell me how to go once I was close.  I also responded “Ok” to the “We have a meeting…” message which I also hadn’t clicked on.

When I came back into my office, the screen had changed (as it’s supposed to…) to this, reflecting the changes I had made by interacting with the Garmin in my car.  Note that the messages have changed from “Unread” to “Read”

Updated Garmin Dashlet

Updated Garmin Dashlet

The red lines are to indicated new messages (they turn white once you acknowledge them by clicking the message).  If you like, you can have a pop-up message appear by turning on this option within the edit properties screen, and you can see that once I clicked on the top line, it turned back to white:

Click on a new message to clear the "new message" color

Click on a new message to clear the "new message" color

When clicking on each of the various statuses, the history and timestamps show up for each line, such as the time I just now read the “good evening” message:

Timestamp for when a message was read

Timestamp for when a message was read

Here we can see what time the stop was received, read, selected (Active), de-selected (Read Inactive again) then deleted (just now):

Full history of a stop sent to my Garmin

Full history of a stop sent to my Garmin

And if more information is required, there is a dedicated Garmin interface under the “Custom-> Garmin” menu option.  It gives more details and may be more suitable than a dashboard dashlet for a full-scale dispatch operation, depending on your requirements:

Full information in the main Garmin screen

Full information in the main Garmin screen

It is highly configurable, and better suited to historical queries about past messages/stops and their history.

Rob.

Feel free to contact us if you are interested in seeing a more in-depth demonstration of our GPS fleet tracking solution.

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Aug 06 2011

Waiting (shortly…) for the Trolley in Branson MO in 111 degree heat!

Category: cell phone capabilities,GPS Insight Employees,mobile mapping — rdonat @ 8:53 am

So I didn’t want to wait very long in the 111 degree humid, sunny, disgusting weather for the Branson Trolley (which we happen to track using GPS Insight).  so I pulled up their location on my phone and was able to wait inside Bass Pro Shop (stop #3) until it was close, then go out and get on:

Waiting for the Branson Trolley

Waiting for the Branson Trolley

I had some pictures of it closer on the map, and of my kids and I waiting as it pulled up, along with the stops map.  I deleted them rather than sending them from my iPhone.  One wrong push…  You’ll just have to trust me.

Anyway, it’s nice to have GPS tracking on public transportation vehicles and be able to pull them up on Smart Phones.  I’m not sure if Branson makes this available or not.  They should, & we will let them know about that capability so they can advertise it to their riders.

They claim the trolley makes it around all stops every 15 minutes.  I may investigate that and make that a future blog article.  With the kind of traffic I experienced in Branson (worse than LA !!!), I am not sure I believe that claim.  We’ll see, and GPS Insight has all the data to prove (or disprove) that claim.

Rob.

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