Las Vegas Business Press :: News : High-tech tracking of vehicles grows

High-tech tracking of vehicles grows

BY VALERIE MILLER

BUSINESS PRESS

Tracking through global positioning systems (GPS) is becoming a popular way for local governments, utilities and construction companies to manage their vehicles and workers.

City of Las Vegas Management Analyst Ebony Folk watches the movement of city-owned vehicles on a GPS system.

Some vehicles are equipped with computers that can be tracked by the technology. Others have antennas.

Mover Blue Ribbon Bekins could add tracking system on its local 10-truck fleet within the next year, said dispatcher Craig Santti. The company's Hillside, Ill.-based corporate headquarters already tracks its interstate trucks through a satellite system.

"You know exactly where your load is unless (it is) sitting under a bridge," Santti explained.

Sprint has an automated dispatch system that is capable of GPS tracking, but is not using the function, said company spokeswoman Vicki Soares. Next year Sprint will be tracking its vehicles to provide quicker response times, she added.

Nevada Power is looking at the feasibility of employing GPS tracking on its vehicles.

Cement ready-mix companies are welcoming the GPS tracking into their time-sensitive industry. One of those is Rinker Materials, in Las Vegas.

"Every one of our delivery mix trucks has GPS devices on it," said Antonio Tores, the company's local dispatcher. The Las Vegas operation, which has 230 trucks, uses the system to calculate overtime charges for customers. That usually runs $1.25 per minute, Tores explained.

Other systems go further. Nextel Communication's Timetracks by Xora is a GPS system that is marketed to the construction industry. It provides for electronic tracking of workers outside of their vehicles, with the aid of handheld devices.

The practice of closely monitoring the whereabouts of workers has raised concerns from some Nevada labor leaders.

"In the absence of any incidents or complaints there's a little bit of a Big Brother thing going on," said Steve Kreisberg, director of collective bargaining for the Association of State, Federal, County and Municipal Employees, which represents some state employees in Nevada.

"We'd never approve a contract with that (stipulation) in it," added Tommy White, business manager for Laborers International Union Local No. 872, which represents 4,000 laborers in the Las Vegas Valley. "It's like wearing an ankle bracelet."

According to the numbers for regional governments:

* At least three Clark County agencies have adopted the technology, spending about $200,000 to place the technology on street sweepers and trucks.

* The Las Vegas City Council approved an annual contract of $300,000 for the installation and servicing of municipal vehicles with GPS services. The city has since put tracking devices on 213 of its 900 city vehicles, at a cost of about $640 apiece.

* The city of North Las Vegas uses GPS on its street sweepers to ensure they comply with local and state air-quality regulations.

* The city of Henderson spent about $100,000 to rig cars and street sweepers with the technology. The GPS system maps out the location of city vehicles and cuts down on response time.

"The public-works trucks, at any given time, because they deal with flooding, can be pulled into an emergency if they were called," said Cindy Herman, a Henderson public information officer.

Mary Ann Sosa, a management analyst for the city of Las Vegas, said the GPS tracking system can also make the roads safer for local residents by monitoring the speed of city vehicles.

"So, it makes them a little more aware," Sosa explained about the technology's speed-monitoring abilities. "We pull up reports on a monthly basis."

vmiller@lvpress.com | 702-871-6780 x331

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