The Location Powered Enterprise
Part Four: GPS for Vehicle History Tracking
..AKA “Breadcrumbing”

Welcome back to LinksPoint’s series on the location powered enterprise. In previous entries in the series, we’ve examined aspects of how GPS can be used to track assets and verify transactions. Now we turn our attention to one of the least known, but possibly most valuable and cost effective uses of GPS – tracking where vehicles went and what they did, after the fact through a process commonly referred to as “breadcrumbing.”

It is well known that real-time GPS tracking of vehicles for dispatching has a proven value proposition in a number of industries. In these real-time solutions, “black box” GPS receiver/wide area radio devices in the vehicles broadcast their location at fixed intervals over a wireless network (usually cellular or satellite) and dispatchers can see the locations of the vehicles on a computer map. Dispatchers can then send the closest vehicle to a service call or other task.

“Breadcrumbing” is something that may seem very similar on the surface, but is very different in terms of what it can do and what it costs. Simply put, breadcrumbing is the process of recording very detailed vehicle travel histories (or “breadcrumb trails”) in the field for later analysis. These breadcrubm trails are typically uploaded to a back office system at the end of a shift to avoid unnecessary wireless airtime charges. The data can then be reviewed to identify opportunities for improvement over days, weeks, months and even years. While many enterprises need to be able to react in real-time to changing conditions, an even larger number can benefit from breadcrumbing’s more sophisticated, longer-term ability to analyze fleet activity and provide lasting improvements to productivity in the field.

Using breadcrumbing, there is a wealth of information that can be gleaned from vehicle travel history that can be used to improve field performance, enhance fleet safety and give managers an unprecedented view into what actually happens in the field. And all of it can be done after the fact by recognizing patterns and events in the GPS breadcrumb trails that have a negative impact on field worker efficiency.

Monitoring GPS breadcrumb trails that accurately depict minute by minute, mile by mile and stop by stop where a vehicle went and what it did can help organizations unmask inefficient routing, identify patterns in how different types of customers are serviced and help combat unsatisfactory driver behavior. In the location powered enterprise, “breadcrumbing” can help save fuel and maintenance costs, increase productivity, improve safety and provide insights into field activity that can improve overall service. 

There are many examples of the advantages of using GPS “breadcrumbing.” By recording driving speed, companies can deter speeding and gain valuable documentation in case of accidents or insurance disputes. This alone is a significant benefit since, according to the US Federal Highway Safety Administration; excessive speed is a major factor in 30% of fatal commercial vehicle accidents. The ability to measure stop times can serve as a “supervisor in the field,” protecting the organization against unauthorized or excessive work breaks by drivers and helping control out-of-hours use of equipment and moonlighting. GPS provides an effective “time clock” that can be compared to time and attendance system data to verify actual worker time on duty. GPS information can also provide documentation to show compliance with union agreements or hours-of-service rules for truck drivers.

“Breadcrumbing” goes hand in hand with route optimization and work order management, where GPS data can be used to analyze route activity and plan the most efficient routes and workforce assignments. To put it simply, Route optimization plans the most efficient routes and “breadcrumbing” shows if they were followed. The GPS system provides data such as travel times between stops, slowdown areas and wait times that route planning, fleet management, dispatch and other software applications can use to perform at their best. By basing calculations on actual, accurate data from the field, route optimization systems can create “real-world” routes that reduce miles driven, improve utilization of fleet equipment and raise mobile worker productivity.

Examples of the benefits that “breadcrumbing” can provide the location powered enterprise include:

• A large food producer that uses GPS to monitor vehicle activity and speed to increase delivery fleet productivity, improve fleet safety and decrease insurance costs.
• A home delivery company that wants to use GPS-based stop information to develop customer-specific stop profiles with personalized stop duration expectations to fine tune its route planning system.
• A business services company that is verifying driver hours and monitoring actual vehicle travel to “audit” the routes created by their route optimization system.
• A public safety agency that uses GPS to monitor that its officers are patrolling their assigned areas in an appropriate manner.
• A construction company tracking pick-up and delivery activities to reduce theft of construction materials.
• A municipality that is tracking its inspectors to discourage unauthorized stops between inspections.

With the current focus of “real-time” management of businesses it may seem counter-intuitive, that GPS-based Breadcrumbing can provide a powerful tool by monitoring what happened “yesterday.” But, the facts are undeniable that, for most enterprises, the ability to finally see into the activities of workers in the field and gain better operational control of their fleets make breadcrumbing a mobile “killer app.”

Up until now, I’ve resisted the temptation to include any references to Hansel and Gretel, the original breadcrumbers. Their ineffective use of breadcrumbing led to a series of intriguing (and nearly fatal) adventures. In contrast, your enterprise can use breadcrumbing to keep your workers from having their own “adventures” and add significantly to your bottom line, which is no fairy tale.

Mike Forbes
LinksPoint, Vice President
Products & Marketing