GPS Tracking ROI

OK,GPS Tracking haters, this guy didn’t die, and didn’t lose his feet.  Ho hum.  I do however think that my many privacy reactiobnaries who come here every day to find the ’solution’ to the ‘problem’ of GPS ’spying’ on their theirevy (stealing time from the boss), ‘recklessness’ (driving 80 mph in a schools zone) and adultery (sneaking off to the girlfreind/boyfreiend’s hosue while the spouse takes care of parenting) would enjoy asking David Roberts how badly GPS has ‘invaded’ his privacy.

You know from time to time I have thought about settng up a gambling or a porn site.  That’s where the real money is online.  But I hate the thought of promotoing eaither of those segments of commerce.

Considering the continual barrage, though, of ‘how to defeat GPS’ searches I get here every day [erhaps I should think about a ’sin site’.

Certainly it seems the averge person online is much more interested in ‘getting away;’ with something than in learning about and using one of the greatest utilites for humanity every implemented by man … the free for all to use GPS.

GPS distress call connects Aussie over 3,000 miles

TEXAS RELAY: Hiker in Brooks Range OK, flown to Fairbanks.

By GEORGE BRYSON
gbryson@adn.com

Published: November 30th, 2008 12:18 AM
Last Modified: November 30th, 2008 03:23 PM

A distress call from a backcountry hiker in northern Alaska led to a long distance rescue over the weekend, spanning more than 3,000 miles, the Alaska State Troopers reported Saturday.

It began when a personal locator beacon control center in Texas received a call for help Friday from a transmitter registered to an Australian named David Roberts. According to the GPS signal, Roberts was in an isolated area of the Brooks Range…..

Today I saw some troubling new news regarding the Federal Hours Of Service (HOS) regulations for commercial trucking. The law was changed at the beginning of the year, with wrenching results to some areas of the industry. The reason for the change in the law was trumpeted as a step to reduce drivers working too many hours and having fatigue and sleep related accidents. Well, as recorded in the Electric Trucker:

Not only are more drivers suffering drowsiness and sleep incidents at the wheel, but at least 25% are violating the law, to drive longer, make more money and put themselves and others at risk. For years the law has been enforced by self-recorded paper log books, maintained by the drivers themselves. See an excellent example and explanation here:

It’s no coincidence that for years these books have carried the name “swindle sheets”. Sometimes this appellation is earned by cheating people but much more often it’s a case of everything being so darned complicated and hard to check up on. You would think, giving the huge costs and serious safety issues involved that this would be handled by computers. Well, you’d be wrong. Exactly 1 (yes one) major long haul carrier keeps their drivers safe and legal solely by means of on-board GPS tracking and a computerized log program. (The company is Werner Enterprises and their GPS tracking partner, Qualcomm, and hats off to them for doing it). There are tons of logging programs that keep the “swindle Sheet” electronically, but the data is still dependent on the drivers memory, integrity and ability to code with the ever more complex regulations.

The purpose of today’s rant is to wonder why more companies don’t make use of simple, cheap GPS logging systems that could save lives and millions of dollars per year? Perhaps they are waiting for even more government regulations?

Dave
www.satviz.com

A great many people come here looking for information on defeating GPS tracking or some other aspect of real or imaginary privacy concerns.

Other people, and buy do you see them every day, keep track of every hangnail and runny nose their kids have and threaten to sue to government or someone over every scraped knee.

We have become a nation developed world polarized, not along political party lines but by the zealous guarding of privacy on one side and the incessant demands that “the government” or at least someone do something about each and every hazard we face in life.

Just to add complexity and turmoil to the situation, the most rabid advocates of one issue are often the same people strongly opposed to the other side of the coin.  This article should really turn someone’s crank:

Future Nissan cars will keep an eye on more than just the road

If Nissan has its way with a technology that it is about to trial in Japan, it could lead to the ultimate in privacy invasion – a giant computer network that tracks all pedestrians and all cars all the time.

The Intelligent Transport System is part of a long-running project at Nissan that aims to vastly improve the safety of its vehicles and the number of collisions they are involved in.

GPS phones

Its latest element calls for car computers to be linked to a central server via a wireless network and pedestrians to do the same through GPS-enabled mobile phones.

As you may have guessed, the system keeps an eye on pedestrians as they wander around – presumably, like headless chickens – and beams warnings to drivers when it thinks car and pedestrian might cross paths… more on Nissan GPS spying.…

The part that really gets me regarding this item on an innovative use for GPS tracking?  Considering that it is a Nissan proposal one would think that at least some of the design staff have driven once or twice in Tokyo.  I have, I lived there three years.

“Kon bon wa, Warning …7,011 pedestrians approaching from the left, 6256 pedestrians approaching from the right and one suicide attempt now on his way down from the 65th floor, domo arigato, ku da si.”

There is likely no end to the uses for GPS tracking technology, the challenge on this one will be to get a GPS Tracking ROI.

As I have mentioned a number of times, a semi-depressing fact of life with this blog is the number of searched that I get regarding the defeating of GPS tracking, the legalities … grasping at straws to find ways to make GPS tracking of vehicles on public highways illegal … and handwriting about the rights of privacy of employees who don’t chose to do their jobs or spouses who feel that their vows of fidelity mean nothing.

Here’s a sad story that puts privacy into a strong light.  Properly used it could have saved an innocent young girl’s life.  As is, it at least trapped her murderer.

All readers, of course, are privileged to hold you own views and beliefs, but I urge you to read this report in full and think through exactly who had their privacy violated here, and why the suspect would have truly justified his supposed ‘right to privacy’?

What appeared to be a tragic accident in the early hours of July 8th,
2007, turned into possible murder as the LandAirSea GPS Tracking Key
provided unprecedented evidence for the Chenango County Sheriff’s
Department. George Ford Jr., 42, of Piscataway, N.J., told police he was
taking their babysitter, 12-year old Shyanne Somers, home the night of July
7th but took a detour to show her some horses. He then claimed that he
accidentally ran her over as he turned his truck around on a rural road in
central New York.

    Chenango County Sheriff Thomas Loughren said that Ford’s routes of
travel, times and speed were all recorded by the LandAirSea
(http://www.landairsea.com) GPS Tracking Key that Ford’s wife had installed
a few days earlier because she suspected he was having an affair. "Wherever
he drove; the locations, the roads, the times, the speed — it’s all in
there," Loughren said in an interview…. full report here.

I’m particularly glad to see this report came directly from one of our advertisers/sponsors here at the GPS ROI tracking blog.  LandAirSea is truly an innovator in this business and their products can fill many needs.  In this case it’s sad that the perpetrator’s wife felt the need to track her husband, and that the situation turned out as tragic as it did.

But if you have any suspicion about a loved one or partner … think of this … at least the woman won’t spend the rest of her life with a murderer and likely child molester.

let me add one point from the other side of this situation.  If I had occasion to transport young girls, with no other adult along, I personally would love to have a GPS on my vehicle.  It just provides a much better level of safety, either for the children, or for the driver who could, after all, be the victim of suspicion that is unfounded.  But if an older man and a 12 you girl were to go missing in the year 2008, how long do you think it would be before the word "pedophile" or ‘child abuser’ came to the forefront … and whose word would be believed, hmm?

I sometimes get a bit depressed at the number of queries I get here about defeating GPS tracking systems and about how invasive GPS is when tracking vehicles on the public roads … where there is no right or expectation of privacy, under the Constitution or any other law.

GM has been selling and very effectively using a GPS tracking system called OnStar for several years now.  I really wonder why other auto companies have not taken up similar offers.  OnStar has considerable benefits to the owners of GM vehicles … didn’t, very few would pay the annual subscription costs for the service.

It has some significant benefits to other motorists from time to time as well, as this article clearly shows:

The On Star Navigation System proved helpful for one local motorist during the early hours of March 15, when sleet and rain caused some dangerous driving conditions.

The system came to the aid of not just the subscriber, but four other motorists, after three vehicles collided at the intersection of Tehachapi-Willow Springs and Highline Roads. With snow and sleet falling, a 2006 Toyota Prius driven by a Bear Valley resident slid through the intersection striking a 2008 Chevrolet pick-up truck, traveling southbound on Tehachapi-Willow Springs Road. The pickup truck in turn was knocked into a 2005 Honda Accord which was traveling northbound.

When the airbag was activated by the collision, it sent an alarm to an On Star dispatcher who tracked the vehicle’s location and notified local CHP officers…

So what do you think?  Should the owner who was smart enough to have OnStar active on his vehicle be thanked and congratulated for getting help on the scene immediately, or should he be sued for "violating the privacy" of the others involved in the accident?  You be the judge.

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Yesterday I posted about some pioneering programs, long overdue, that airlines, the FAA and other agencies are using to take huge amounts of data about non-accident airline flights an "data mine" to find close calls, inherently dangerous practices, and just plain craziness that can be corrected in advance, before the metal meets the mountain.

What about ground-based transportation?  Accidents are deadly and costly for trucks and cars and school busses as well, aren’t they?

Here’s one small effort I have noted … and hat’s off to the California AAA and the DriveSync folks for getting this effort underway:

Pilot to Promote On-Road Safety and Improved Driving Habits

Waterloo, ON – July 25, 2006 – Intelligent Mechatronic Systems Inc. (IMS), a world leader in telematics systems, is pleased to announce the selection of DriveSync™ for a driving safety pilot program by the California State Automobile Association (CSAA).  CSAA is the AAA affiliate for Northern California, Nevada and Utah.

DriveSync™ is a GPS vehicle tracking system that securely tracks vehicle location including the route, mileage and speeds of each trip. As a complete turn-key solution, IMS manages all aspects of driving data collection, storage, consolidation and reporting using fraud-prevention technology and military grade data encryption to ensure customer confidentiality. However the most beneficial feature of DriveSync™ is its consumer-centric reports; turn-by-turn trip logs, color-coded route maps and driving statistic reports provide drivers with a clear picture of driving behavior and habits … read the rest of the release here

If you are not yet using GPS tracking on your business … or personal vehicles, get it.  This very month.  It will pay for itself, even in non-commercial use.

Once you do have tracking, what will you do with the data?  My suggestion?  Mine it … it’s like gold ore, mine it for all it’s worth.

The strength of GPS tracking data isn’t always just the up to the minute reports … catching a driver who isn’t following the rules, avoiding speeding and idling fuel wastes, etc.  The hidden value if the ‘how things happen’ and ‘why they happen’ data.

Are certain trucks always late?  Even if you change drivers?  Sounds like a re-route opportunity to me.

Are trucks often speeding in certain areas?  Sounds to me like the road isn’t clearly marked and/or some education … always preferable to discipline is in order.

Does one driver always finish deliveries sooner than his peers?  Find out how he does it and have him teach the rest of the crew … catching people doing the right thing is a very effective management technique.

Does one of your busses always come back with more fuel in the tank?  Ask the driver … she obviously knows something everyone else doesn’t know.

Two thoughts you may have heard from me before.  If you don’t measure you can’t manage … and there are none so blind as those who will not see … take a closer look and profit.

Here’s an interesting article that has kept me busy for a couple days. It’s really a breath of fresh air to me and I’m hoping I can write a lot more about it in the future. It’s on the Washington Post web site, which does require free registration … I advise you take the time to read it, even if you aren’t a regular Washington Post reader … the registration is no hassle, I’ve been a member there for years.

Avoiding Plane Crashes By Crunching Numbers

Data Mining Helps Identify Subtle Flaws

By Del Quentin Wilber Washington Post Staff Writer

Sunday, January 13, 2008

PHOENIX — For decades, aviation authorities played the role of homicide detectives. When an airliner went down, they scoured the crash site and flight recorders for clues that often showed how to avert future accidents. But with so few crashes in recent years, air carriers and regulators have been trying to find other ways to identify potentially dangerous trends. Instead of digging through debris, they now spend far more time combing through computer records, including data downloaded from thousands of daily flights and scores of pilot incident reports. … Read the full accident prevention article here.

The gist of the article finally tries to make plain to the public what I have been trying to communicate for years … or present methodology for so-called accident prevention is not accident prevention at all … it would be much more accurately called accident forensics.

After an accident occurs the NTSG and many other agencies sift through the wreckage and records and find all kind of causal factors.  real ‘needle in a haystack’ work, and I certainly applaud all those who devote their careers to this work.

But they are applying their efforts in the wrong direction.  Primitive forms of flight recorders have been carried on some airliners since the late 1930’s.  After people have been splattered all over the face of a mountain the latter-day descendants of these black boxes’ can tell us what we already know … the plane was flying too low to avoid the granite.

I don’t want to sound too rude or too trite, but I’ve read literally thousands of accident reports and I did some accident investigation field work when I was in the military.  Most of it inspires the phrase, "No shit, Dick Tracy, what gave you your first clue?’ when I read it.

The time to find out why pilots are going wrong come before the aluminum strikes the rocks, not after.  Time and time again records have shown, after the fact, that certain approach procedures or certain pilots or certain airline operating practices are flawed. 

By studying records en masse before a crash happens we can not only save lives, but we can save huge amounts of money.  The records are there, the computing power is there, the proven ROI is there … it just requires that airline operators and the government get busy and do it.

The only part that’s missing, sadly, from this chain are accurate records as to the aircraft’s location and path across the earth.  We already spent billions to provide such a system … it’s called GPS.  For a trivial amount we could equip every aircraft … yes I said every, from A-380’s down to Super Cub aerial applicators with a device like this company sells and prevent even more accidents … as well as retiring a ,lot of antiquated radar and mainframe technology that the FAA persists in keeping around in the operating museum they call an Airspace Management System.  When will we insist that the FAA make proper use of GPS?  It’s so much more than navigation.

It all boils down to something we call ROI (Return On Investment) in the business world … spend a small amount, reap a fortune.  If you are an aircraft operator, a pilot, if you fly on aircraft and/or aircraft fly over your head 9pretty much everyone, isn’t that?) then you need to get educated and interested in this idea so that we can make the 21st century a lot safer and more profitable than the 20th.

And if you think your interests are strictly surface-based, like trucks or cars or boats?  Tune in tomorrow and I’ll tell you why the exact same techniques can save you a fortune also.