Another County Tries To Figure GPS Out
By Amanda Iacone
The Journal Gazette
Allen County officials are considering installing Global Positioning Systems in some vehicles to gauge use and possibly get rid of some that aren’t needed.Allen County officials are considering installing Global Positioning Systems in some vehicles to gauge use and possibly get rid of some that aren’t needed….
… The idea is the county can better track the use of the vehicles, where they are, how much fuel is being used and to reduce potential abuses of the vehicles….
… But using GPS trackers to meet those goals will also cost the county money… Read the full Journal Gazette article here:
I know, I know you have seen this sort of write up here before on the ROI of GPS Tracking site. Back in the past I used to sell these systems. Now, I don’t … so what will I get out of taking the time and editorial space to write about yet another country who doesn’t know how to track their vehicles? My only remuneration, if you will, is the knowledge that perhaps someone in one of the 90-odd percent of US counties who still haven’t “gotten it” about GPS tracking will wake up and smell the coffee. There’s a lot of taxpayer’s money, air pollution and out and out safety benefits going to waste and this blog is me doing my bit. If you’ve read this far you have some interest, go read Amanda’s well-written article and then come back for my thoughts.
I liked this article because Amanda Iacone did a really decent job in covering both sides of the issue. Sadly, so many reporters have a lot of problem in presenting the picture without going off on tangents about space technology trivia or esoteric issues about pubic employees right to privacy. But there’s one point I certainly will dispute … the cost to the county. It will not cost Allen County to underrate tracking all their vehicles, it will pay them big dividends.
It appears from the research the county has done that they have been talking to one or more vendors who sell GPS vehicle trackers that come with a monthly cost for data transmission from the vehicle to the counties designated tracking center. I urge Allen country and others considering such a move to look into systems that provide management information with no monthly cost. www.geotab.com is one such vendor … I used to handle their products and they are excellent … but this isn’t a commercial for my old business associates, there are others in the market and the county needs to look further before they do a cost/benefit analysis on invalid cost data.
Secondly, any vendor worth their salt provides no or very low down leasing plans that allow governments or commercial users to “earn” the cost of the system back in the savings it will provide. And provide savings it will. I have never yet seen a government of commercial fleet operation that did not have a positive ROI (Rate Of Return) on their GPS Tracking investment in less than a year. I’ve had business customers who earned back 3 times the cost of their system in 6 months, but then, as with all other investments, YMMV.
Finally, the issue of employee trust, employee resistance and downright employee revolt is often the real “make or break” part of go/no go decisions in many of these cases. It is unrealistic to rush off and spend the time and initial investment on a GPS fleet management system while ignoring the very real issues that will arise with employees. The way this is presented to employees (emphasizing employee benefits … and there are many) and de-emphasizing the “big brother” aspects will go a long way toward making the system succeed. Employees should be involved from day one with the specification and testing of candidate systems as well … there is no system better than one which management and rank and file all agree upon. Best of lick, Allen county, we’ll be watching.
How about you county? Are they tracking? Are they managing, or just along for the ride? Got a story, want to tell me about your GPS tracking experiences? The comment lines are open.