The cost of fuel has gone through the roof, and studies show no signs of changes. In recent years, we’ve endured the highest gas prices of all time, and an increasingly erratic oil industry. In fact, 2011 set the record for the highest fuel costs in one year (accounting for inflation). Unfortunately, expensive fuel costs will carry over to 2012, as noted on the chart to the right, with projected costs of diesel to be $3.85 a gallon (40% higher than 2010).

For the majority of businesses, the raised fuel costs are very problematic. Research from Inbound Logistics notes that fuel is the second largest expense in the logistics industry behind employee payroll.

Now for some good news. Using predictive technology (an example being distribution business software) along with solid planning can lower fuel prices and benefit businesses’ bottom line. Companies managing vehicle fleets can cope with increased fuel costs by implementing three general tactics:

1. Streamline fuel procurement
2. Improve operations and fleet management
3. Better plan delivery routes and shipment loads

A great article found here breaks down these three strategies utilizing great research that explains how costs can be reduced if these tactics are properly implemented.

Google has developed a new add-on to their Crisis Response Project called Google Public Alerts.  This new application is designed to inform the general public about emergency situations such as severe weather, disasters, potential harm to the public safety, and more.

The emergency alerts are integrated directly into Google Maps. They provide a general time frame for the emergency, as well as a ranked scale for how severe it is, how soon it will strike, and how likely it is. An additional message is provided which describes the emergency in detail so the general public may react appropriately.

Read the full Google Public Alerts article on Google’s blog.

Saving money is making money, and Safety Track GPS Fleet Tracking System saves fleet companies thousands, even hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. These GPS Fleet Tracking units sport numerous features that make tracking vehicles and streamlining operations simple.

1. With a GPS Fleet Tracking System, You use less fuel and stop speeding drivers
The EPA estimates that reducing speed by 10MPH increases fuel efficiency by 20%. Our HVAC customers report $150 savings per 10 vehicles in one month by keeping their drivers at a maximum of 65MPH. The owner of a towing company saved $4000 over two months just in fuel costs. Do the math for your business and add up your savings. The dollars add up fast—here’s a simple example with a very conservative estimate: 50 vehicles reduce speed and save $10 each per week in gas costs. That’s $26,000 in a year. Slowing down a speeding driver can also limit tickets, accidents and litigation against your company.

2. Limit unnecessary trips and unauthorized use
Customers tell us their employees off-route driving completely ends once they know a GPS fleet tracking unit is installed in their vehicle. No more extended lunches, driving off-route to go home to eat, run errands, etc.

One customer reported that one driver was traveling home 60 miles per day when they should have been working. That’s a potential savings of $15-20 in fuel per day. And that’s just for one driver.

3. Ensure proper work hours, lunch breaks and overtime records
This is self explanatory, and another area where you can save thousands of dollars per year. Employees won’t likely record bogus work, lunch or overtime hours if they know their work vehicle is being tracked. If you can gain just 30 minutes of productivity each day you will save about $3,000 per employee each year.
The more your workers actually work and record correct information, the more your business is operating cost-efficiently. The immediate impact GPS Fleet Tracking units provide in this category is mentioned quite often by our satisfied customers.

4. Monitor company gas purchases/gas cards
Lets face the facts–gas will only get more expensive, and some employees try to cut corners and cut money out of your bottom line. Can you afford even one employee stealing $20 in fuel every week ($1040/year) from your gas account? That’s $1040 you could put in your own gas tank! This is another area where questionable purchases can be tracked and verified with our easy-to-use GPS Fleet Tracking software.

5. Theft prevention
With a GPS Fleet Tracking System, you can track all your vehicles every one, two or five minutes and have alerts sent to your cell phone, email or PDA whenever your vehicle is started or moves outside of a designated area (geofence). This feature gives you peace of mind 24/7/365.

Businesses to deduct the full purchase price of qualifying equipment purchased or financed during the tax year

Invest in GPS and Fleet Management and receive a generous tax break designed specifically to help companies invest in technology and their business. Section 179 of the IRS tax code allows businesses to deduct the full purchase price of qualifying equipment purchased or financed during the tax year.

What is the Section 179 Deduction? Most people think the Section 179 Deduction is some arcane or complicated tax code. It really isn’t, as the following will show you. Essentially, Section 179 of the IRS tax code allows businesses to deduct the full purchase price of qualifying equipment purchased or financed during the tax year. That means that if you buy (or lease) a piece of qualifying equipment, you can deduct the FULL PURCHASE PRICE from your gross income. It’s an incentive created by the US Government to encourage businesses to buy equipment and invest in themselves.  

Essentially, Section 179 works like this:  When your business buys certain pieces of equipment, it typically gets to write them off a little at a time through depreciation. In other words, if your company spends $50,000 on a vehicle, it gets to write off (say) $10,000 a year for five years (these numbers are only meant to give you an example.)

Now, while it’s true that this is better than no write off at all, most business owners would really prefer to write off the entire equipment purchase price for the year they buy it.

In fact, if a business could write off the entire amount, they might add more equipment this year instead of waiting. That’s the whole purpose behind Section 179.

Limits of Section 179: Section 179 does come with limits – there are caps to the total amount written off ($250,000 in 2009), and limits to the total amount of the equipment purchased ($800,000 in 2009.) The deduction begins to phase out dollar for dollar after 800k, so this makes it a true small and medium-sized business deduction.

However, in 2009, businesses that exceed the $250k deduction limit can take a bonus depreciation of 50% on the amount that exceeds the limit. And then also take normal depreciation on the rest. Nice.

Who Qualifies for Section 179? All businesses that purchase or finance less than $800,000 in business equipment should qualify for the Section 179 Deduction. In addition, most tangible goods qualify for the Section 179 Deduction. Also, to qualify for the Section 179 Deduction; the equipment purchased must be placed into service between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009. The deduction begins to phase out if more than $800,000 of equipment is purchased – in fact, the deduction decreases on a dollar for dollar scale after that, making Section 179 a deduction specifically for small and medium-sized businesses.

Leasing and Section 179: Did you know that your company can lease equipment and still take full advantage of the Section 179 deduction? In fact, leasing equipment with the Section 179 deduction in mind is a preferred financial strategy for many businesses, as it can significantly help with not only cash flow, but with profits as well.

Non-Tax | Capital Lease: The main benefit of a non-tax capital lease is that you can still take full advantage of the Section 179 Deduction, yet make smaller payments. With a non-tax capital lease you can acquire and write off $250,000 worth of equipment this year, without actually spending $250,000 this year. A small business that is managing cash flow can leverage a non-tax capital lease and still take the Section 179 Deduction

Examples of non-tax capital leases include a $1.00 Buyout, and a 10% Purchase Upon Termination (PUT) Lease. In many cases, the amount you save in taxes will be MORE than the total of your first year’s payments.

Equipment Financing: You may also obtain an equipment loan using an Equipment Finance Agreement (EFA) and still take the Section 179 Deduction.Advantages of Leasing and Financing:

The obvious advantage to leasing or financing equipment and then taking the Section 179 Deduction is the fact that you can deduct the full amount of the equipment, without paying the full amount this year. The amount you save in taxes can actually exceed the payments, making this a very bottom-line friendly deduction (you are reading this correctly - in many cases, the deduction will actually be profit.)

  American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 has officially extended the Section 179 Deduction increases made available in the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 through December 31, 2009

  Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 and Section 179 

In order to address concerns regarding a slowing economy, President Bush asked Congress to come up with an Economic Stimulus Plan that would benefit both consumers and businesses, and Congress responded with a comprehensive economic stimulus package.

On February 13, 2008, President Bush signed H.R. 5140, otherwise known as the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008. The Economic Stimulus Act immediately grabbed headlines because most Americans would receive a check for $600 from Uncle Sam. While the Economic Stimulus Act was a boon for consumers, there were significant benefits in the Economic Stimulus Act for businesses as well.

In fact, Small Business benefited a great deal from the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008. This is because the Section 179 Deduction limits were generously increased, and small businesses across the country reaped the rewards.

How your business will benefit from the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008
The Section 179 Deduction has been significantly enhanced by the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, and now extended an additional year by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, giving businesses an incentive to invest in themselves by purchasing or leasing new equipment.

The specific impact the Economic Stimulus Act has had on the Section 179 deduction is related to the dollar limits of the deduction. The previous dollar limits were a $125,000 limit on the deduction and the total amount of equipment purchased could not exceed $500,000. The Economic Stimulus Act raised these limits significantly. The new deduction limits are $250,000 on the deduction, and the total amount of equipment purchased cannot exceed $800,000.

To recap the new limits:

2007 Deduction Limit: $125,000
2008 Deduction Limit: $250,000

2009 Deduction Limit: $250,000

2007 Total Amount of Equipment: $500,000
(deduction decreases dollar for dollar after reached)

2008 Total Amount of Equipment: $800,000
(deduction decreases dollar for dollar after reached)

2009 Total Amount of Equipment: $800,000
(deduction decreases dollar for dollar after reached) 

Bonus Deduction:  Another change that the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 brought to Section 179 is it offers a one-time “bonus first year depreciation” of 50% on qualifying equipment. This is after the above deduction limit is reached.  In other words, if you buy enough equipment to exceed the $250,000 deduction, you can take a “bonus” 50% depreciation on the rest – this is in addition to normal depreciation.

Everyone Benefits: Most small and medium-size businesses will find these new dollar limits generous indeed. The Economic Stimulus Act helped consumers, and it will also continue to significantly help most small businesses as well by lowering the cost of equipment that they need to purchase or lease to run their day-to-day operations.

Act Now: As of this writing, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 has extended the one-year increase through the end of 2009. Unless it is extended, the Section 179 Deduction phases out completely in 2010, so if you want to take advantage of the higher limits, you need to act before the end of this year.

Always consult your tax advisor regarding this or any tax item. No liability is accepted for errors or misinterpretation. We are not experts.

The Fleet Management System has the ability to track vehicle in real time, with updates of 2 minute standard. The Tracking unit can be connected to a LED screen to give real 2 way messaging to the drivers. You can even connect to a Navigational in vehicle screen giving you the ability to send message and turn by turn message to your drivers. This is the latest release from the Valor System, a leader in GPS Tracking Technology.

With the 0 Down option, you can lease a Fleet Tracking Solution.

But the Valor System has a plan to help small business owner’s take back their business.  Take control over the rising cost of doing business, lower their insurance cost and probably lower their payroll.

The 0 Down leasing program can help small businesses get that GPS Fleet Tracking System installed into their fleet.  With a low monthly payment, which includes the hardware cost, monthly monitoring, installation, everything a business needs to get into a system that can help them lower the cost of doing business.  They even offer two way messaging devises too.

Check out the hardware here: http://www.valorsystem.com/fleet/products/fleet-management-with-dispatch-system

• The VS50 is a small, self container battery powered asset tracking device that locates your equipment, containers or generators everyday, for up to three years on its battery.  Made of impact resistance plastic and with its low profile design the VS50 is an affordable ass. tracking device that will impact your company’s bottom line.
• The VS282 is a small, self contained battery back up device, that connects to your heavy equipment 12 volt electrical system and tracks every 30 minutes when the trailer/equipment is moving and has a 7 day battery back for when the unit is not plugged in.

Low start up cost on both units makes the Valor System the choice for those companies needing to track their equipment.

By Antone Gonsalves
InformationWeek

Starting next summer, California teenagers can be fined for talking on their mobile phones while driving.
Signed into law Thursday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the bill by Democratic state Sen. Joe Simitian bans teenagers from using an electronic device, such as cell phones, pagers, laptops, and handheld computers, while behind the wheel. Violators would be fined $20 for the first offense, and $50 for each additional offense.
The law takes effect on July 1, 2008, the same day that a law requiring all drivers to use hands-free devices while talking on cell phones takes effect. The second law carries the same fines, and both provide exemptions for emergency calls.
The law targeting teens is tougher than the hands-free legislation because supporters believe teens are too inexperienced to multi-task while driving, “The simple fact is that teenage drivers are more easily distracted,” Schwarzenegger said in a statement. “They are young, inexperienced, and have a slower reaction time. We want to eliminate any extra distractions so they can focus on paying attention to the road and being good drivers.”
Cell phone use is a leading cause of distracted-driver accidents in the state, according to the California Highway Patrol. Car crashes in general are the leading cause of death among 16 to 20 year olds, accounting for 44% of teen deaths in the U.S. About 6,000 teenage drivers or passengers die each year in car crashes.
While representing 6.3% of the nation’s licensed drivers, teenagers account for 13.6% of fatal crashes, according to the governor’s office. A 2004 study showed that drivers age 16 to 19 have a fatality rate that’s four times the rate of drivers 25 to 69.
Fifteen states and the District of Columbia ban the use of wireless communication devices by new and inexperienced drivers. The National Transportation Safety Board has urged all states to adopt such prohibitions.
Not all studies, however, agree on the dangers of driving while using a cell phone. A recent study by two University of California, Berkeley, graduate students found no correlation between mobile phone use during weekday evening driving and car crashes. The American Enterprise Institute for Regulatory Studies published the findings.

·         13.2% reduction in fuel costs

·         19.2% decrease in miles traveled

·         13.4% reduction in overtime costs

·         27.4% improvement in fleet utilization

·         26.1% improvement in workforce utilization

·         23.8% improvement in service response times

Is it time you look closer at tracking your vehicles?

• Excessive idle times
• Poor driver routing
• Personal or unauthorized vehicle use
• Late start to workdays or excessive lunch breaks
• Gasoline theft
• Moonlighting
• Speeding and unsafe driving practices
• False or exaggerated overtime timesheets
• Theft of company assets
• Liability risk

How GPS Tracking Can Help Your Company

Use digital GPS fleet tracking to see where your vehicles are every minute on your PC screen. Get instant alerts on your email or phone. Set geofences, speed limits and more. Lower your fuel costs and increase productivity. Our easy?to?use web interface let’s managers have all their critical fleet information with the click of the mouse. Companies realize an ROI within weeks of using the system simply by the positive change in driver behavior. Other uses and benefits included:

• Monitor Gas Cards / Gas Purchases: Let’s face the facts??fuel is an expensive business cost at any price, and some employees try to cut corners and cut money out of your bottom line. Can you afford even one employee stealing $20 in fuel every week ($1040/year) from your gas account. That’s $1040 you could put in your own gas tank! This is another area where questionable purchases can be tracked and verified with our easy?to?use GPS fleet tracking software.
• Dispatch: The system allows dispatchers to send drivers to more jobs without the cost of more vehicles. Routing becomes easier and more efficient. The advantages to your dispatchers are valuable and immediate.
• Driver Accountability: Drivers now have a way to verify customer visit times and work completed. This offers them a reliable way to track their progress and protects them (and you!) against customer complaints. Further, there won’t be anymore “gray area” when an employee or customer disputes time spent on the job.
• Customer Service: Your customers will benefit from increased accuracy, faster status reporting, detailed billing information, and fewer delays in arrival time. These are just a few of the ways your customers and your employees will enjoy GPS tracking. “You can’t manage what you don’t measure”. Nothing is more true than when discussing a business with a commercial fleet. Waste and inefficiencies come in many forms including: