GPS Tracking

A motorist tracks a speeding bus. New players in the car track market are offering prices as low as Sh15,000 to cover a car for a whole year. JACOB OWITI

Competition is intensifying globally in the vehicle tracking market, with increasingly tech-savvy consumers enjoying falling prices and preferring around-the-clock real-time tracking systems to those that are prompted or “pinged” in the event of a vehicle heist.

Business Daily Africa, an online version of the newspaper Business Daily, published out of Kenya, Nairobi, reports vehicle tracking system manufacturers are reviewing their price structures because the world market is being inundated with products from North America, China and Europe.

The main solutions in the tracking system game in Africa are Stolen Vehicle Recovery Systems (known as SVRS) and those that are based on the Global Positioning System and Global System for Mobil Communications (GPS/GSM). (more…)

Attendance was greater than organizers predicted at the 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) Jan. 7-10 in Las Vegas; proof, according to the Consumer Electronics Association, that despite an extended economic recession, consumers are demanding and willing to spend their dollars on electronic gadgetry that entertains them or makes their lives easier.

The square footage of show space was scaled back this year, in light of current economic conditions. Even so, the world’s largest consumer technology trade show drew 120,000 people over the course of four days, which was 6 percent higher from attendance a year earlier. Approximately 2,500 exhibitors showcased their latest technological innovations at the 43rd annual event, including Internet-connected televisions, tablet-sized computers with touch screens, 3D imaging and gaming, and in-car technologies.

Among the attendees was Steven Moehling, Vice President of Sales for LandAirSea Systems Inc. in Woodstock, IL. Moehling has been representing LandAirSea Systems at CES for several years. The vehicle tracking system company executive said that his reason for attending the show was to support several dealer/distributors that are selling LandAirSea tracking products and to network with potential new buyers who are looking for GPS tracking products that provide a competitive edge. (more…)

When GPS Tracking emerged in the mid-90s onto farms, the application was limited:  yield mapping for crops.  Now about 15 years later, this technology has made significant in-roads into the way crops are planted which enhances crop yields even further.

To wit, implement manufacturers are now including the wiring and mounting spaces for GPS devices that are built specifically to hold these units.  Also, these units are performing important functions in the planting process that adds specificity heretofore not enjoyed by the farming community. (more…)

Alzheimer’s can be an insidious disease. It comes on slowly, subtly, and seems almost harmless at first.

In later stages, it commands control of the body, and the victim feels helpless under its tightening grip. Whole chunks of memory seem to be erased. The patient has moments of clarity, only to be robbed the next moment of rational thought.

A Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune feature about the effects of Alzheimer’s disease on a Midwestern couple has recently stirred up debate and powerful emotions. Clarice and Jennings Sunderland, who live and work on a dairy farm, struggle daily with the cruelty of Alzheimer’s. Clarice, 76, often loses her bearings in the house she has occupied with her husband for decades. A mother of six and former registered nurse, she thought she knew what to expect when she was first diagnosed. But today, she spends long periods of time in silence and confusion, until the face of her husband of 50 years pulls her back into reality.

Jennings, 78, was recently put in jail and charged with false imprisonment when authorities questioned his care giving practices. They found out Jennings occasionally draped a chain around his wife and her lounge chair when the two were in the same room watching television. His wife was prone to wandering and Jennings said he was afraid she would disappear on their vast acreage if he dozed off. His tracking system was crude, but effective. If she lifted the chain off, he would wake from the rattle.

The Sunderland children support their father and have turned their anger against a society that they think judges first and asks questions later. Social workers took their mother away to a nursing home, where she stayed for three months while the matter was sorted out. Her health quickly slid downhill in the cold and unfamiliar environment.

The charges were eventually dropped and the couple are back together. The chain security system is replaced with custom door alarms and smoke detectors.

Jennings never harmed his wife, but he now admits there are alternatives to restraint – many of them good ones.
(more…)

Three men in Florida have been arrested for a series of home and vehicle break-ins, after eluding police for months by, literally, staying off the beaten path.

Anthony Thayer, Casey Keith and Nicholas Ayers, three partners in crime, were arrested on multiple theft charges in December near Malabar, FL. Police described the trio as “uncaring kids” because they lived in the area and were stealing from their own neighbors. It is believed that they carried out their crimes mostly under the cover of darkness. They would take off into the woods near the rural community and carry their loot through a network of off-road trails.

In the suspects’ home, deputies found about $10,000 worth of stolen merchandise, including cell phones, computers, GPS tracking systems and two motocross bikes. The stolen items were traced back to 19 homes in the nearby communities of Malabar, Valkaria and Grant.

Rod Vanderjagt said he was thrilled that his stolen Honda CRF 450-R bike was returned. The off-road vehicle is valued at $7,000, but that’s only a number on paper. Vanderjagt said the theft opened his eyes to the true affection he has for his ride.

“It’s like your best girlfriend, after she’s been on a date with someone else,” he said. (more…)

United Kingdom ‘Gritters’ Tired of Being Patsies

Tired of being the pasty for poor drivers year after year, Derbyshire, a city in the United Kingdom, is fighting back this winter with GPS tracking.

Every time it snows, citizens caught in fender-benders point fingers of blame at one the city’s 140 snow plow/salt truck drivers, claiming they are doing a poor job of road maintenance.

“Across the pond,” the chore of salting or sanding roads with trucks is called “gritting” with “lorries.” And in that particular town, the gritters are getting a bit grumpy.

It doesn’t snow much in the U.K., so when it does happen, claims pile up about the city failing to clear roads adequately. Before vehicle tracking, the city council had no real way of telling which complaints were valid and which were just attempts to shift blame.

That will change this snow season, as all 47 of the council’s front-line gritting vehicles will be equipped with GPS vehicle tracking systems.

The Derby City Council will address constituent complaints and determine the seriousness of the problem, once it starts seeing the results of a vehicle tracking system, purchased through a local vendor. (more…)

Every year, about a million cars are stolen in the United States, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. That’s a staggering number. But the good news is that over the last several years, the number of vehicle thefts is shrinking, ever so slowly. Comparatively, in the mid 1990s, 1.5 million cars went missing annually.

Every year, about a million cars are stolen in the United States, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. That’s a staggering number. But the good news is that over the last several years, the number of vehicle thefts is shrinking, ever so slowly. Comparatively, in the mid 1990s, 1.5 million cars went missing annually.

Experts in the insurance industry say the trend is caused by more diligent police work, and the growth of anti-theft devices available on the consumer market. Vehicle tracking systems based on Global Positioning System technology top a list of effective devices for loss prevention and recovery.

By installing vehicle tracking devices on their cars and trucks, people can save a lot of time and money associated with theft investigation. A residual benefit to the pocketbook is the lower insurance premiums GPS tracking users often are given.

GPS tracking and theft prevention systems have become immensely popular in urban areas, according to the FBI. Ninety percent of all vehicle thefts occur in metropolitan areas. Car thieves do some of their best and quickest work in plain sight. (more…)

Consumers fret that their carton of ice cream or cold cut turkey might spoil during the trip home from the grocery store. That anxiety is only a fraction of what is experienced by long haul truckers with refrigerated trailers. Imagine being responsible for the cross-country transport of tons of East Coast lobster. You’ve got three days to deliver the delicacy, exactly on schedule and at exactly the right temperature.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has the authority to make sure that happens. In addition, trucking companies are spending billions of dollars on their own equipment, personnel and infrastructure systems to make sure the shipments entrusted to them arrive at their destinations as fresh as possible.

Today’s two-way locating, navigating, communications and control systems utilize GPS tracking, radio frequency and cellular wireless networks, or a combination of those technologies.

Government Involved in GPS Tracking and Temperature Management

The health department, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Center for Disease Control and any number of other government agencies are very interested in what’s traveling in the back of that truck trailer cab. Millions of people are sickened every year by bacteria in food. An open door on the lobster shipment, somewhere en route from dock to distributor, can change the interior temperature of a truck by several degrees. That can be a catastrophe on a load of refrigerated cargo.

While transporting food items from one place to another, special consideration must be made regarding the packing and temperature maintenance of the truck. It is imperative that the driver, as well as the fleet manager, work to protect the contents. Fortunately, with the latest developments in the field of science and technology, GPS tracking, in concert with other wireless communications, can make every truck delivery reliable, efficient and cost-effective. (more…)

Youths sometimes complain that their home life is like a prison. Mom and Dad want to keep an eye on them all the time, and there are too many rules.

Ask a parent to comment about his or her teen, and you’ll likely hear that they are secretive and get involved in risky behaviors.

It’s an age-old conflict with no true winners. Each side just seems to concede to the other once in awhile.

Vehicle Tracking is a Compromise

Vehicle tracking is one of those compromises.  It allows young people to enjoy a little freedom and independence and it lets parents know where their children are going and if they’re acting responsibly.

The driver’s license is a rite of passage. While teenagers are excited to drive soon after they reach the legal driving age, it is a nervous and worrisome time for most parents. Teen drivers are young and want to explore the thrills in life, but they lack skills and experience behind the wheel. Inexperience makes a driver prone to accident. And as the name implies, accidents are unintended events. There is little a parent can do to stop them.

Parents are more concerned about safety than their children are. A teen driving thinks that there is little that can harm him. A parent has seen and heard all the horror stories about what can happen. Adults will usually insist that their young driver tell them where they are going and what time they will return.  But are they telling the truth?

One of the best and innovative ways to keep a virtual eye on teen driving is to have a good GPS tracking system installed on all the family vehicles.

LandAirSea’s GPS Tracking Key, for example, is a fully integrated and portable vehicle tracking solution. It logs vehicle location, date, time, speed, direction and the addresses and duration of all stops. It runs on just two AAA batteries. Parents can download the daily trip information whenever they are ready. (more…)

Electronic data loggers are a perfect GPS tracking solution when details are important, but immediacy is not an issue.

Most people shopping for a GPS tracking device will think that they want a live or real-time GPS tracking system, probably because it is the type they are most familiar with. A gadget that immediately shows the user its location on a computer seems to make the most sense; until the consumer investigates price.

Real-time GPS tracking devices are about twice the price of an equivalent passive model, plus most of them will have ongoing monthly charges from a wireless carrier ranging from $20 to $60.

Choosing passive GPS tracking would be the cost-effective solution, but the decisions don’t end there. A search of online GPS tracking dealers will yield a wide spectrum of GPS data loggers at different price points, with different features, and definitely with different looks. (more…)