The technological levels of fleet management software, or GPS vehicle tracking units, continues to advance at staggering levels and it has long since become a trend for medium to large sized companies who make use of it en mass. In January 2011 it was announced that a major provider had completed and installed a new application called Fuel Card Reports. These units are capable of monitoring fuel consumption and correcting inefficient driving trends. On a further note, it even manages to detail a fleet’s carbon footprint which, for the mindful corporation, offers significant opportunities for the improvement of its public image.
As it turns out, even government institutions are modernising by applying the technology. In this case, Lehigh University of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley region of the United States was subject to a major upgrade which has delighted many hundreds of students. This new system allows for students to actually track the progress of their school busses as they roll out on their morning collection routes. It may not sound like a life and death matter but it certainly does prevent them from needlessly standing outside in the cold for hours on end.
The entire fleet of school busses was equipped in this fashion to improve the over all service according to Christopher Christian, director of fleet Transportation Services. “It’s all about improving quality of service. Additionally, the University’s GPS fleet tracking system will help the university go ‘green’ by increasing ridership, plus reducing fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Improving safety was also a big consideration”. To add, no one enjoys standing around aimlessly and this application is just one of the modern additions to fleet management which seems geared to improve efficiency greatly, though the school’s aim was clearly also to add some quality comfort to its students.
The students are able to access the busses travel details from their cell phones or PC’s (so long as they’re connected to the internet). Lehigh may not be the first school to have its transport system make use of vehicle tracker technology but theirs is one of the more advanced systems and they’ve left the option for future upgrades entirely open, such as instant SMS feedback. As the trend towards complete fleet management upgrading continues the options seem limitless.
