Busted by Big Brother Notes from inside the world of AVL
Written by Shawn Millar GPS Fleet Solutions
Friday, 01 April 2005
GPS fleet tracking is becoming more prominent in the service industry. Business owners are opting to use this new technology to monitor their employee’s hours on the job as well as keep track of company property. Employers are seeing the benefits in their bottom line with savings on overtime hours and insurance reductions, but they are also collecting funny stories as employees try to hang on to their old habits.
If you ask your typical employee how they feel about the new GPS system installed in their company truck, they will usually respond with, “I don’t mind at all. I do what I am supposed to do” But there is a certain group of people who have fought these new systems tooth and nail, and have ended up being busted by Big Brother.
One of my favorite stories from a client involves busting his drivers before he had even bought the system for his entire fleet. We were on a sales call, and the boss spoke about how much he trusted his employees. He was in for a surprise. We convinced him to buy one unit and to put it on the driver’s vehicle that he most trusted; the one employee he was sure would never do anything he was not supposed to. We installed the unit without the driver’s knowledge.
Three days later, the client called and said the system doesn’t work. He said it stops working everyday between 1pm and 3pm at the same location. We looked online for the address that was being reported, drove over and picked up the boss, and then drove him to that address. As we pull up to what we now realize is a local strip club, the owner notices not just one, but five of his vans parked out front. When we entered the building, he saw five of his drivers with a beer in one hand and dollar bills in the other. Needless to say, it was a little embarrassing when he ordered everyone back to his office right away.
Another funny story comes out of a large HVAC company in Atlanta. We installed their entire fleet the week before, and the manager called a Monday morning meeting to disclose this to all his drivers. Monday morning comes, and one employee isn’t there. With everyone watching, the manager went online and noticed the tardy employee was still sitting at home. He called the driver who explained over the speakerphone that he was finishing up a job from the week before and that he would be at the office as soon as he could. Then his boss dropped the news.
Over the years I have seen drivers unplug antennas, blow fuses, and cover GPS antennas with tuna cans only to have their boss drive out the their house and see it duck taped on the roof. I’ve seen drivers unplug the power to the tracking units on the weekends and I’ve heard drivers tell their bosses they were on the freeway heading to a job when they were in fact sitting at home. No matter how honest your work force is, there will always be someone who will try to take liberties with a time sheet, or try to cheat a newly installed system not realizing these systems have built it tamper reporting as well. This revolution in fleet monitoring may be unsettling for some employees, but GPS vehicle tracking has arrived and Big Brother has put himself to work for the small businessman.
About the Author:
Shawn Millar – GPS Fleet Solutions – Keeping People on Course
Shawn has been working in the AVL industry for four years as a technical support specialist. More information about GPS vehicle tracking can be found at GPS Fleet Solutions. Shawn frequently writes about the up and coming state of GPS application development and welcomes all questions and comments to shawnm[at]gpsfleetsolutions.com
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