GPS Tracking

In order to protect one’s assets and rein in insurance costs, it is often necessary to outsmart a would-be thief. This could not be more true in the case of armored cars, known by some as the “cash transport industry,” one of the most vulnerable privately-run businesses imaginable, with a huge potential for loss.
Armed guards and an impenetrable bulletproof outer shell on the vehicle were the earliest attempts at safety for the armored car.  This has been true for about a century. But to be sure, they are not the only precautionary measures.

What security steps are taken in armored cars today, to protect their precious cargo? You might be surprised at the innovative ways we are securing our “money in transit.” GPS tracking devices are part of the arsenal.

Paul Jaworski, a Polish-American immigrant, masterminded the first successful armored  car robbery in 1927 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Jaworski’s gang buried an explosive in a dirt road and detonated it under the vehicle. They made off with about $100,000.

Jaworski would not be so lucky today, given the state of technology. It’s very difficult to pull off an armored car robbery. The FBI says only about 40 robberies from armored cars occur each year. Comparatively, there are about 7,000 robberies a year of financial institutions. (more…)

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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…)