Practical Uses for GPS Technology - Fetch GPS Fleet Data

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Practical Uses for GPS Technology

Since the US Department of Defense established the worldwide Global Positioning System (GPS) network, it has been put to a very wide variety of uses by governments, corporations, organizations, and individuals alike.

It has been put to good use for many years in its original, and most obvious, purpose of coordinating military operations. In fact, if it weren't for GPS, many modern military operations and practices would simply not be possible. It is also frequently used in search-and-rescue missions as well as disaster relief efforts.

In addition to this, GPS technology has proven to be instrumental in numerous scientific research expeditions, especially in very remote regions such as mountain ranges and the north and south poles.

The other side of GPS functionality, which is sometimes forgotten, is the many uses it can be put to by individual consumers. GPS handhelds and other GPS devices are available for sale through many ordinary retail channels, and can be very useful for a variety recreational purposes. For example, having a GPS device handy when camping, hiking, hunting, fishing, or boating can be an excellent way to ensure that you don't get lost, even if you somehow manage to wander off course.

Another common consumer use of GPS technology is for safety security purposes. Using a GPS tracking system can be an excellent way to combat crimes such as theft and kidnapping.

About the author: Jeremy Maddock is the webmaster of TeleClick.ca, a trusted source of telecommunications industry news.

Author: Jeremy Maddock

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Examples of GPS Fleet Tracking

A couple of years ago, when Jim Oswald was an IT consultant for the city of Clemson, S.C., he and his colleagues in the public works department started talking trash. Even before gas prices went to $4 a gallon, they were looking for ways for the city to save fuel on garbage collection. Trucks were burning gas driving around looking for big items too large to be collected on regular routes. Oswald and Taji Richardson came up with the idea for a GPS device that would give drivers who handled the regular routes a touch screen on which they could note where the big items were located. Trucks picking up the large items would know exactly where to go. "When we saw it, we said, Jim you've got a product here," Clemson City Administrator Rick Cotton said. Cotton says the devices, which went live in May 2007, are saving his small college town about 350 gallons of diesel a month. "There's lots of cities just like us that need this technology," he said.

In South Carolina, Mount Pleasant and Newberry have the devices, Oswald said. Spartanburg was expected to install it this month, said city spokeswoman Susan Schneider. The Charlotte, suburb of Fort Mill, S.C., has it in the budget, said Justin Krueger, assistant public works director.

The Georgia Municipal Association just signed a deal to market the technology to that state's 536 municipalities, said spokeswoman Amy Henderson. "There's definitely some excitement among our city officials," she said.

The Toccoa, Ga., city commission recently voted to spend $17,000 for three units, and City Manager Billy Morse said he expects to make that up in fuel savings in three years. "It seemed so simple we wondered why we didn't think of it before," he said.

Tom Spicer, sanitation director for the city of Danville, Va., said his city is looking to start with the devices after the company finishes an upgrade that will allow large debris and garbage pickup on the same day. "I think fuel usage-wise it's a really smart system," he said.

Keith Howard, of the American Public Works Association's solid waste management committee and deputy director of the Lee County (Fla.) Solid Waste Division in Fort Myers, said improving efficiency is the buzz among public and private sector garbage operators, especially in light of higher gas prices. "Given the fuel prices, I would not be surprised if some of the waste companies as well communities that handle waste are looking more seriously at this type of system," he said.

Milwaukee is looking at similar technology to map such things as parking lot code violations and snow and ice on sidewalks, said David Sivyer, of the city's department of public works. Oswald and Richardson originally based the economic feasibility of their system on diesel cost of $2.75 a gallon. "So this is paying for itself more than we ever anticipated it would when we were developing it," Oswald said, with diesel cost jumping by about $2 per gallon since then.

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Barnett reports for The Greenville (S.C.) News

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