Winterizing Your Fleet: Are You Prepared?

Colder months are fast approaching, and we are trading our T-shirts and shorts for long-johns and parkas. Remember that, along with ourselves, our vehicles withstand this frigid weather as well. And if you are not careful, your car can take a physical and financial beating.

The chill in the air can affect everything from tire pressure to fuel. Certain precautions can be taken during this time of year. Here is a simple checklist for “winterizing” your vehicles:

• Make sure your tires are properly inflated.
• Never mix radial tires with other tire types.
• Keep your gas tank at least half full to avoid gas line freeze-up.
• If possible, avoid using your parking brake in cold, rainy and snowy weather.
• Do not use cruise control when driving on any slippery surface (wet roads, ice, sand, etc.)

(Excerpt from AAA’s Winter Driving Tips)

After checking off these items, you’re ready to hit the road once again. But as you know, the streets can be unpredictable. The next step to surviving – no, thriving – in the colder months is to help your drivers find the most efficient routes possible. You can do this by implementing GPS systems on your fleet of vehicles.

Check out this video for more tips.

Cracking Down on Unauthorized Use of Vehicles

What’s with that piece of aluminum foil over the vehicle's antenna?

That’s weird, but it must be what kids are doing these days.

Why are some of these trackers unplugged?

My drivers know that these are to stay plugged in and connected to the network at all times. Why are some GPS trackers “working” better than others? I check the hardware and software; there shouldn’t be any problems.

Why am I getting a scrambled signal? Are they trying to jam to GPS tracker?

Have you ever considered that your employees could be tampering with your systems? These are strong accusations, and this probably won’t apply to a lot of employees. However, can you afford NOT knowing what is happening around you?

What can you do if it is happening to you? Do you know how much money or fuel you could be losing out on because of dishonest employees?

It is an increasing problem with fleet managers, and it isn’t getting any better. But with these tips, you should be able to figure out what’s really going on.

• Hide an extra device in the vehicle. If the device the driver knows about "doesn't work" and the hidden device does, you have a pretty good idea that something is going on.
• If things just don't seem to add up write down and match odometer readings to mileage reported by the tracker. This will help you figure out whether the device is being turned off or otherwise disabled.
• Drive the same route yourself with the same device. See if there are reporting gaps due to lack of coverage, canyons, mountains, or other obstructions.

Avoid Fleet Management Horror Stories with GPS Tracking

With Halloween upon us, we thought we would share some horror stories three FoxTrax GPS customers have experienced. The catch is that these stories would have been more frightening than watching The Exorcist during a thunderstorm had these folks not implemented GPS tracking systems on their fleets’ vehicles.

Instead, FoxTrax GPS Tracking Systems helped these customers mitigate an otherwise nightmare situation.

A customer in Kansas City noticed something strange on his computer’s GPS system when a truck that wasn’t scheduled to be driven that day started slowly moving down the road. The customer immediately called the police and a few minutes later noticed the truck dramatically increase its speed to the triple digits. After a few more minutes, the truck slowed to zero -- because it had crashed. Fortunately, the customer recovered the tools in the truck, and police were able to apprehend the truck thief. Without a GPS system, however, the thief very well could’ve gotten away – along with the truck and the valuable equipment inside it. Learn more about real-time vehicle tracking >>

One customer in St. Louis equipped his fleet of trucks with new GPS systems on a Sunday, then left town that Monday. When he returned on Tuesday and checked the GPS report, the customer noticed that his drivers had all stopped working at 3:30 – even though they had all punched out at 5 p.m. for that day. The customer even noticed that one of his drivers had taken a 45-minute detour to a North St. Louis watering hole after calling it a day at 3:30. Thanks to GPS, the customer was able to put an end to his fleet’s behavior before it spun out of control. Learn more about GPS tracking reports >>

One customer’s truck was stolen on a weekend. Because that customer had set up a geofence around his parking lot (a useful tool for nights, weekends and other times when none of your vehicles are scheduled to be driven), he received a text message alert when the vehicle left the premises. When police tracked the vehicle down, they found the truck on blocks and ready to have its wheels stolen. It was recovered without any loss of property. Learn more about curbing unauthorized vehicle use >>

Have your own fleet management horror stories to tell? Share them in the comments section.

Fleet management horror stories happen every day. To be sure that you’re doing all you can to limit liability and other problems fleet managers face on a daily basis, visit http://foxtraxgps.com/ today.

GPS Tracking - Knowing What to Look For

Many people who visit the FoxTrax site go directly to the home page. They know what they are looking for and go for it. What about those who do not know about FoxTrax? Why should they be left in the dark? Let’s try something. Search for “GPS tracking devices” in Google.

The first thing you may notice is where FoxTrax is located on the list. It is right at the top. Now take a look at the bottom of the page for related search results.

Covert GPS tracking devices? We are not a big brother program. We provide a service to fleet managers to ensure that drivers are maintaining safety regulations on the road, completing jobs in an efficient manner, and taking fuel-efficient routes to save money on mileage.

Tracking children, husbands, and wives? Our GPS tracking is not meant for spying. FoxTrax enables the tracking of drivers’ vehicles in order for operations to run smoothly. We track drivers to be certain the best routes are taken to and from jobs.

Do not get lost in the clutter of search engines. Check us out today at http://foxtraxgps.com and be sure to bookmark the page for future visits!

Safety in Numbers: Protecting your Assets with GPS Tracking

Have you ever found yourself wondering what it would be like to have eyes in the back of your head? Sure, a wider peripheral would allow you to see more of what’s right in front of you. But what about what goes on behind you? Because of advances in tracking technology and effective logistic plans, businesses seem to have the upper hand. But what option do parents have?

Enter Amber Alert GPS. Partnered with AT&T, this GPS tracking technology aims to ease the very worst fear of every parent. Realizing a child has gone missing can put any parent in a desperate state of panic. In order to prevent these occurrences, parents are now able to set up “safe zones” around their homes, the child’s school, or even a soccer field. If the child strays away from the “safe zone,” the parent is immediately notified.

Many industries have already integrated the benefits of GPS into their own company. GPS tracking allows employers to keep a close eye on the fleet, monitor each vehicle’s speed, and ensure the safety of everyone. Have you had the chance to look into GPS tracking and how it could benefit your company? Are you under the misconception that this kind of software is financially unrealistic for the small business owner? FoxTrax offers affordable GPS tracking to small to medium-sized businesses. And even though the uses may differ from industry to industry, the capabilities are constant. They instantly track what is important to you and provide quick solutions should things ever go awry.

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Refer-A-Friend and Save Money with FoxTrax GPS Referral Program

Have you ever met someone who you suspect could benefit from a GPS tracking system? Do you know a guy, who knows a guy that needs help managing his fleet? Maybe you’ve thought about bringing it up, but didn’t want to sound like an infomercial character. If so, you could be earning valuable service credits toward your own FoxTrax GPS tracking services.

Allow us to introduce the FoxTrax Referral Rewards Program. Here’s how it works:

→ STEP 1:  Submit your referral to FoxTrax.

→ STEP 2:  We will reach out to them to learn about their GPS tracking needs.

→ STEP 3:  Once your referral pays for their first month of FoxTrax GPS tracking service, you will receive one free service credit for each device the referred party purchased for their first order. 

→ STEP 4:  Service credits will automatically be applied to your next month's total service cost. (One credit = one device worth of monthly service.) The savings can add up quickly and reduce the cost of tracking your fleet.  

In other words, if your referral purchases and activates service for 20 FoxTrax devices, you will earn 20 service credits. If you have 10 devices yourself, that works out to 2 full months of FoxTrax service, absolutely free! Best of all, there is no limit to how many service credits you can rack up.

So what are you waiting for? Click here to submit your referrals and start earning rewards today!

FoxTrax GPS Fleet Tracking Clever solutions for vehicle tracking http://www.foxtraxgps.com/

Track Your Most Important Assets

What are your most important assets? In your personal life it is probably your family, especially your children and parents. You would not want anything to happen to the most precious people in your life. Thankfully, two innovative companies have created solutions that use GPS technology to help keep an extra eye out on the very young and the very old.

GTX Corporation has recently rolled out GPS-enabled shoes. The latest product in their line of GPS solutions is designed specifically for Alzheimer’s patients. Family members and caregivers can now rest easier knowing that they can locate their loved ones at any time.

The same week, Swedish company Purple Scout signed a contract with a daycare in Malmoe to provide GPS tracking devices to students on field trips. When the children leave the building, they will wear small devices attached to reflective vests. The machines will report the location of each child to one central mobile phone, so as not to lose any stragglers.

You certainly want to keep an eye on anyone worth protecting, so what about your employees? Although not related by blood, you are responsible for them while on the job. FoxTrax follows your vehicle’s every move in real-time and lets you keep your assets – both human and material – safe!

Learn more about clever solutions for vehicle tracking at FoxTrax.