GPS to track your vehicles?

[WastefulMiser]

Do any of you track your vehicles with GPS to keep your employees honest?

There are services out there that will give a real time and history of your employees whereabouts and I was curious if anybody does this.

[brian john]

NO...might tryt it with new employees existing get insulted at the mention of it.

[WastefulMiser]

NO...might tryt it with new employees existing get insulted at the mention of it.

How dare you cut into their afternoon side job ... :roll:

[Energy-Miser]

Do any of you track your vehicles with GPS to keep your employees honest?

There are services out there that will give a real time and history of your employees whereabouts and I was curious if anybody does this.
With all that a contractor has to do in a day, I don't think you will find the time to review the logs enough to make it worthwhile. Last I looked into it, the service was quite pricy.

[WastefulMiser]

With all that a contractor has to do in a day, I don't think you will find the time to review the logs enough to make it worthwhile. Last I looked into it, the service was quite pricy.

I can see in some situations when employee X is absent ... or takes much longer than what you expected ... or weekends ...

Big Brother. :grin:

[SiddMartin]

company I work for is now having us clock in/out with our phones. The phones log our location every ? min. We have to task in & out with each job. Their reasoning for all of this is to eliminate paperwork at the shop. Doesn't bother me any.

[electricmanscott]

Do any of you track your vehicles with GPS .

Nah, I just look out the window to see where I am. :grin:

Seriously, if I had employees and vehicles, knowing what I know, you can bet I would have a tracking system. :wink:

[WastefulMiser]

company I work for is now having us clock in/out with our phones. The phones log our location every ? min. We have to task in & out with each job. Their reasoning for all of this is to eliminate paperwork at the shop. Doesn't bother me any.

Pretty cool.

[WastefulMiser]

Nah, I just look out the window to see where I am. :grin:

Seriously, if I had employees and vehicles, knowing what I know, you can bet I would have a tracking system. :wink:

From experience, eh? :grin:

[benaround]

Do any of you track your vehicles with GPS to keep your employees honest?

There are services out there that will give a real time and history of your employees whereabouts and I was curious if anybody does this.

Would you like to work for someone who tracks your whereabouts all day?

[WastefulMiser]

Would you like to work for someone who tracks your whereabouts all day?

It cannot be any worse than marriage -- just do what you are told and everyone is happy.

[RHJohnson]

Some look at that as an evil EC, checking on them. I am sure some EC and a few employees can relate to this:
Worker leaves shop in AM for all day job up on the mountain. Stops at home and picks up rifle to hunt deer. Gets a little work done, also completes very successful deer hunt.
Worker on afternoon shift seen at football game during work period by company owner, GF called on carpet next day to answer for poor employees.
Worker takes truck from job to run to bank, "emergency", doesn't come back for 2 hours. Time sheet has same hours as others on job..
I think we could go on and on. Having employees ain't all it's cracked up to be. What is it - 10% of the employees cause 90% of the problems. You klnow who you are!

[LLSolutions]

As the owner you have every right to track them. If you don't want the back talk or hurt feelings get a model that acts as a navigation unit also. It will keep the maps out of the hands that are supposed to be driving and seems less big brotherish.

[LarryFine]

NO...might tryt it with new employees existing get insulted at the mention of it.Honest people don't complain. :wink:

[LarryFine]

Would you like to work for someone who tracks your whereabouts all day?Why, you got something to hide? 8-) (:D)

[ItsHot]

Why, you got something to hide? 8-) (:D)

Yep! That is why he's benaround!!:D

[Rewire]

As long as the men are productive and I show a profit I could care less about the occasional side trip.My rules for the vans are spelled out in our hand book and it is clear what violating them will get you. I treat my guys like adults.

[SmithBuilt]

I treat my guys like adults.

I have done the same. But now it seems I can't find any that will act like adults. I think it's the mentality of today's young people that bother me. I plan to start tracking.

[Greg Swartz]

My new guy has been around the block too.

He has a company van, but the company credit card has not yet come!

So, I get fuel receipts to re-imburse... got 2 of them in 1 week. $40 each.

I did a pretty thorough questioning on him... he made sense. I trust him. It is why I hired him.

If you don't trust them, then why did you hire them?

I have over 50 applications right now... and I stopped taking them too!
It's not like we are not getting quality applicants...

well...

some are quality...

anyway!

[Greg Swartz]

As long as the men are productive and I show a profit I could care less about the occasional side trip.My rules for the vans are spelled out in our hand book and it is clear what violating them will get you. I treat my guys like adults.

I whole heartedly agree!
We just implimented our handbook.

Everyone signed it.
No questions.

Hire the right people and treat them like adults.

[George Stolz]

GPS is easy enough to foil. Anybody with a microwave in the back of their van can pitch their Nextel in there and avoid it. I knew a guy who walked in at 10am, threw his phone on the mantel, chatted for a few, and hopped into his girlfriend's car to head out for a three-hour lunch.

Track productivity, not whereabouts. It's a better use of resources. That's the bottom line, IMO.

[benaround]

I have done the same. But now it seems I can't find any that will act like adults. I think it's the mentality of today's young people that bother me. I plan to start tracking.

As they say, don't forget who raised those young people !!

[220/221]

We have it. It's a great tool to have.

[benaround]

How much per month per truck does it cost ?

[LarryFine]

There are two kinds that you mount in the vehicle: one that offers live tracking via internet with a subscription fee, and the other simply records its movements, and you upload the data later.

The former type you may have seen on Sears service vans, utility trucks, etc. To me, the latter would suffice for our needs, and you'd keep its existence a secret from the guys you're watching.

[SmithBuilt]

As they say, don't forget who raised those young people !!

That's a whole other topic, we better save that discussion for another thread.




I admit I micro manage too much. Even if I have a productive employee they are still on my time when they are at work. I do let some things slide. IMO when you let something like that slide it just becomes a breeding ground for more problems.

[buddhakii]

If you don't trust them, then why did you hire them?

It's not about trust, it's about the bottom line. Sure you may have an employee that is productive, but if you install this device and find out that this empoyee and five others, if they change their routes and the way they drive, can earn you an extra 100 dollars a day would you use it? My guess is you would. We had them on our vans the last place I worked and it never even entered my mind. I just kept doing what I always did and never heard anything about it.

[220/221]

[QUOTE]How much per month per truck does it cost ? [/QUOTE


Leased equipment plus air time for 5 trucks = $179 per month.

Like I said, it's a great tool but it is on the chopping block along with lots of other non essentials.