While “finding your guy” may be the most direct use for a GPS fleet management system, consider the following tip, strategies and tactics submitted by FleetBoss users across the United States:

•  A western US city installed a simple “button” on the dashboard of their street and sanitation vehicles. An input/event was triggered every time the button was pushed as the driver navigated the city’s streets. Later, a map was printed out with a “dot” located on each area the button was pushed and given to another team. “Start plugging!” they said. The map contained every location of the city’s potholes.

• Ernie, a St. Louis delivery manager, suspected foul play when a box truck produced an unusually high gas bill one month. “It was almost $75.00 more…” Ernie exclaimed “with the economy this tight I knew something was funny.” Ernie edited every gasoline service station the vehicle visited into landmarked zones. “By calling the gas station a name…like Exxon Main/4th, I can then run a report seeing when any vehicle gassed (sic) up.” Ernie then solved the problem. “When I compared the landmark report to my gas invoices, I noticed gas stations where the credit card was used when the vehicle was never there…turns out his friend was using my credit card too when I confronted the driver.”

•  Boston appliance company, a FleetBoss user, found a unique way to control

• speeding and idling policies. “We’ve got automatic paging alerts set up on the vehicles for speeds and idle…” stated VP of Operations James Thompson, “…instead of the alert going to the manager, I’m sending it immediately to the driver with a text message ‘slow down!’ or ‘turn the motor off!’ The drivers think we’re watching their every move when it’s automatic. Later, I’ll pull the report and review it with the driver on the next one-on-one. My fuel bill’s gone down ever since we set the FleetBoss system this way.”

•  A Seattle HVAC company wired the side door to their service van with a sensor to measure when tools are accessed. A newly-hired rookie technician was clocking unusually long service times on residential jobs. When the sensor report was run, the manager discovered an astonishing average of eight door openings per stop. When the rookie was approached as to why, it turns out he was accessing his tools one at a time on separate trips out to the van which subsequently added ten minutes per stop per day. After a bit of simple training, the employee’s productivity magically increased when all the tools were brought in at the same time.

•  A Central Florida electrical contractor turned the tables on police detectives when the driver was accused of stealing stereo equipment during a pool-wiring service call when the owners weren’t home. “My driver was accused of stealing the stuff because they saw our van in the driveway…” claims owner Ted, “…we ran a stop report for the vehicle and it turns out we were never around the house when the theft took place.” It was later discovered that the company hired to put the stereo in came back and stole it later after unlocking a window. All charges against the electrical company were dismissed.