10 Plumbing & HVAC Product News – September 2008 www.plumbingandhvac.ca

Two things have changed in the twoyears since P&HVAC last reportedon GPS tracking systems for service

vehicles. Competition in the market-place has reduced the cost while thetechnology has improved significantly.

“The whole GPS industry haschanged. Everybody’s in it now,” reportsMark McKibbin, vice president andgeneral manager of Applewood AirConditioning, Mississauga, Ont.

When he installed it about threeyears ago, there were only two compa-nies. The cost was about $3 per day pertruck for leasing and monitoring. “Nowyou can get everything all in for about$50 per month.”

A global positioning system (GPS)can bring enormous benefits to a com-pany in terms of quicker responsetimes, fuel savings and better manage-ment of both employees and equip-ment. The detail on the dispatcher’sscreen is substantially better today thanit was just two years ago.

There is one thing that hasn’tchanged though – employees are leeryof a device that virtually puts the boss inthe passenger seat.

But tracking employees, in itself, isn’tthe primary reason for using GPS.Contractors want to achieve a greaternumber of calls per day. “In order to dothat, you’ve got to get a handle on wherethe inefficiencies are… If the companycan get more calls per day with the sameassets and the same number of employ-ees, their profitability goes up,” reportsVince Arone, P.Eng., vice president,business development, for PinPointSolutions Inc., Mississauga, Ont.

“It’s a service tool,” says Ed DeMarco, service manager for DeltaMechanical Ltd. (a division of PlanElectric) in Richmond Hill, Ont.“When a customer has an emergency,now you can look at the screen and seewhere the (technicians) are.”

Getting the employees onsideWhen a contractordecides to install GPS,the way in which hebreaks the news toemployees will make abig difference in howreadily they accept it.

“It’s how youapproach it,” says DeMarco. “You have totreat the guys likeadults.”

It’s important to beup front about it, headds. Delta Mech an ical

brought their refrigeration and plumb-ing staff in for a meeting, told them thatthe company was planning to installGPS, explained the reasons why andanswered questions. “We knew weeks

before,” reported plumber KevinDeSousa.

“An open and honest approach” isthe best path to get employees onside,agrees Arone. “When I meet withclients or prospects that say ‘I’m notgoing to tell my employees,’ I put up thered flag… Secrets eventually becomeknown and you really have a biggerissue on your hands about mistrust atthat point than you would have hadwith just putting GPS in to start with.”

One of the key factors in convincingemployees is pointing out the directbenefits they will enjoy – particularly inareas like safety and dispute resolution.“It’s not his word against the client’sword anymore. The office knows whenthe technician arrived and how long hestayed there,” says De Marco. On the jobsite, there are fewer disruptions becausethe dispatcher no longer needs to call tofind out where they are.

Safety is substantially improved too.“A lot of our guys work alone, so if youcan’t get ahold of them you can driveover and see where their vehicle is,” headded.

DeSousa notes that one of the rea-sons that some technicians have such aproblem with GPS is because they areused to working alone – in fact that’s akey part of the job’s appeal for them andthey take the “big brother” aspect ofGPS very personally. And there are

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GPS tracking becomes affordableGetting the employees on board can still be a tough sellBy Simon Blake

Delta Mechanical’s Ed De Marco is smiling now that he knows where his guys are.

And so is Applewood Air Conditioning’s Mark McKibbin.

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always those that don’t like any kind ofchange, added De Marco.

However, as long as the employeedoesn’t feel that he is being micro-man-aged, they get used to it quickly,remarked McKibbin. “I wasn’t playingbig brother and chasing them aroundwith it, so they got comfortable with it.”

De Marco had the GPS installed inhis own truck, which, among otherthings, means any of the employees can

take a glance at the big screen when theyare in the office and see what the boss isup to. “The guys are more comfortableif they know management is doing ittoo,” he says.

Dealing with incidentsThe way the contractor handles theincidents that do occur is critical aswell. During the first few weeks of oper-ation, the employer will quickly learnwhich drivers habitually speed, which

ones idle their trucks excessively, and allkinds of things about their routes towork and to job sites.

“Don’t sweat the small stuff,” applies.There’s no point in confronting anemployee unless it’s about somethingimportant, says McKibbin.

And it’s critical to have all the facts,adds De Marco.

One day, when looking over the GPSreports, he noticed that one technician

had been idling his truckoutside a job site for overan hour. However, uponchecking, he found thebuilding owner hadn’tshown up and the techni-cian had phoned the dis-patcher five minutes afterarriving. The owner hadforgotten the appoint-ment and asked that thetechnician stay, promis-ing to cover all costs.

De Marco also quickly realized thathe had three employees with lead feet,often driving at 130-140 km-h on thefreeway where the speed limit is 100.

“Nobody does 100,” he added. “Youhave to be reasonable with the guys and,at the same time, when they get theinformation they have to look at it andsay: ‘You know what, you’re right, I can’t(drive like that).’”

“We have the speed limits for roadsall over North America in our system,”

explained Arone. As a result, the contractor’s report shows the speed

limit and the actual speed the truck was

“Probably 90 percent ofour calls in the last threemonths are as a result of

trying to manage andmaintain fuel costs.”

GPS is not a big deal for technician Kevin DeSousa.

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traveling. “Everyone speeds from timeto time, but you can see whether it’s therule or the exception.”

Saving fuelHigh fuel costs have become a key issue.“Probably 90 percent of our calls in thelast three months are as a result of try-ing to manage and maintain fuel costs,”says Arone.

Reducing speeding, idling andimproved routing can result in signifi-cant savings.

Contractors are typically surprised tofind out how much their trucks idle, saysArone. De Marco found that in the win-tertime a couple of his guys would starttheir trucks and then go for breakfast,leaving the trucks idling for 30 to 45minutes. “Their average came down afterwe made them aware of it. Now theywarm up their vehicles for five minutes.”

(NRCan estimates that just letting avehicle with a five-litre (302 cubic inch)engine idle for 20 minutes a day willconsume 366 litres of fuel over thecourse of a year.)

As well, he used to have all the tech-nicians visit the shop every Monday tohand in paperwork. It didn’t take longto realize that bringing 18 trucks fromall over southern Ontario was costingabout $400 per week in gas. Now he hasthem fax in their time cards on Mondayand drop off their paperwork whenthey are in or near the shop, which theytypically are at least once a week.

Like many companies, Delta hasestablished an electronic “box” aroundeach employee’s home. If the truckmoves beyond that area when theemployee is off duty the dispatcherreceives an e-mail alert.

Today’s technologyThe latest GPS systems allow the serv-ice manager to zero in on a particularbuilding or rooftop, a considerable aidin both estimating and supervising ajob. He can direct the techniciandirectly to the correct piece of equip-ment. The satellite images on DeMarco’s 42” screen, which has its owndedicated computer, are as clear as aphotograph.

“We deal with a lot of new construc-tion and often the streets didn’t havenames yet. They wouldn’t show (withthe old system),” said McKibbin.

Today contractors are asking thatGPS be integrated with existing businesssoftware. “The challenge with it is thereare so many different systems used fordis patching, accounting, etc.,” says Arone.

Different GPS companies offer dif-ferent methods to accommodate this.PinPoint, for example, offers automatedreports that can be e-mailed weekly ordaily and in many different formats.The contractor can burn these to a CDfor a permanent record.

Many contractors use their GPS sys-tems to schedule maintenance. E-mailsare generated automatically when atruck needs an oil change or other pro-grammed items. Today’s GPS systems

even keep track of battery voltage andcan send out an automated e-mail if thevoltage falls below a certain level andthe truck is unlikely to start in themorning.

And if a truck goes missing, GPS willbe a big help in bringing it back andapprehending those responsible. In theU.S., this has resulted in insurancereductions up to 25 percent on GPS-equipped vehicles. So far, Canadianinsurers haven’t given their customersthe same break, lamented Arone.

From a technical standpoint, in stall -ing the equipment and software is prettystraightforward. The GPS supplierinstalls their unit under the dashboard,hard-wired into the truck’s electronics.

It won’t likely be long before GPS sys-tems become standard. The companies

that have had it for sev-eral years automaticallyput it in new vehicles,reports Arone. Andeach of those compa-nies adopts it to theirparticular needs.

“Once they get pastthe barriers (the costand employee objec-tions), it’s a no-brainer.It’s a lot cheaper thanpaying someone full-time to keep track ofvehicles and, because ofthe automation, therecords are alwaysthere…

“The bottom line is that the ownersare trying to grow their business while

remaining profitable and they needtools that can help them manage theirbusiness better,” he says.

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The ability to zoom in on rooftops has proven key forDe Marco.

GPSContinued from page 11

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