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GPS is a tracking device that uses a global positioning system to transmit data through cellular (GPRS), radio or satellite signals to determine the precise location of a vehicle, person or object. It’s a system that has been strongly adopted by fleet management organisations to allow them to efficiently track their company vehicles. While its implementation has been somewhat controversial, with some arguing it is an invasion of employees privacy, this article looks at the many benefits introducing a GPS tracking system can in fact bring to fleet management organisations and argues that ultimately the need to protect company assets outweighs the need to protect employee privacy during business hours.

GPS tracking has allowed for a great deal of improvement within fleet management starting with increases in fuel efficiency. In an era where fuel prices are rocket high, maximising the number of deliveries made in relation to the amount of fuel used is a much more efficient form of business. GPS allows fleet managers to create accurate route plans, meaning they can fill each fleet to their maximum capacity before departure, which reduces the number of trucks out on the road and helps reduce fuel consumption.

The capabilities of GPS tracking allows for a significant more than just organising route plans however. Not only do they supply drivers with directions, helping speed up deliveries in unfamiliar territories, but they also provide an invaluable resource of driver whereabouts, vehicle condition and ETAs to a variety of destinations. This means fleet managers are able to effectively measure the activities of their drivers.

By recording the direction and speed of the vehicle it’s tracking, GPS is highly efficient if the need to file an insurance claim becomes an issue. Discrepancies over incidences become factually recorded and reduce time wasted on dealing with these inevitable claims. Similarly GPS fleet management systems have also helped reduce insurance premiums for many companies. In the event of theft to your fleet, tracking the vehicles becomes much easier. Drivers also tend to take more care when driving; keeping to speed restrictions and ensuring vehicles are always locked when unattended for example. When they are aware they are being monitored, the impact on driver behaviour is positive, driving more considerately, which in the long term, helps reduce premiums.

Fleet Management teams have an option to install two types of GPS tracking, real time or passive and the choice will come down to how rapid you will need your information updates. Both provide details of vehicle speed, direction, stops, routes and location however there is a difference in how quickly you receive this. Real time fleet management tools allow users to monitor their information as it happens, as live updates where passive tracking does not produce live feeds.

Instead, passive tracking involves a GPS recorder being fitted to the fleet vehicles to record all the relevant data, to be downloaded to a main terminal at the end of each working day, either manually or wirelessly. While this option is not a common as real time feeds, it still allows managers to increase efficiency of their fleet by collating the data built up over time periods.

Some have questioned whether GPS fleet management tracking could be seen as an invasion of privacy however it could equally be argued that just as employees are monitored in a working office, drivers can equally have their whereabouts monitored at all times. By having procedures in place for example to monitor drivers who take excessive detours, companies are able to maximise their efficiency and reduce time wasted. There really are very few disadvantages to installing a GPS tracking system, if your long term goal is to maximise efficiency and minimise costs.

Tips and Guides: Dominic Donaldson is an expert in Fleet Management Find out more about Fleet Management and why GPS technology is so beneficial to the industry.

Car buying has an entirely new dimension added to it when you will be spending that quarter of your waking life which represents your working hours in it. The need to pick the right vehicle is multiplied when you are an owner-operator, and repair money, as well as fuel money comes out of your own pocket or profit. Here we examine the best heavy duty trucks in Hong Kong, according to customer satisfaction and other features.

JD Power and Associates have been running a study on vocational truck owners for twelve years now, measuring customer satisfaction with the engines in their heavy duty trucks in Hong Kong and elsewhere. Several factors of these trucks for sale in Hong Kong are measured, including engine quality, engine performance, cost of ownership, and warranty.

Mercedes Benz vehicles have ranked highest among the manufacturers in satisfying their customers in this latest edition of the study.

The engines Daimler trucks of North America are supplied by Mercedes Benz. These engines received an index score of 760 on a 1000 point scale, with the second and third ranked engines as Cummins and Mack engines. Cummins engines scored 733 on the scale for heavy duty trucks in Hong Kong, while Mack, one of the biggest names, received 727 out of 1000.

The study new trucks for sale in Hong Kong was quite large, collating the responses of 2,692 primary maintainers of Class 8 trucks that were around 2 years old. Dump trucks, garbage trucks and concrete mixers were included in the study.

The study also revealed the importance of salesperson knowledge in customer satisfaction with their heavy duty truck engine in Hong Kong. Forty percent of the owners of trucks surveyed said that they either relied on the salesperson to choose an engine for them, based on information about how they would use it, or purchased their truck ‘as is’ from the sales yard. Across all of the brands, satisfaction was around 33 points lower out of 1000 for those who let the dealer choose their engine for them.

However, Kenworth is a brand of heavy duty truck in Hong Kong that has also consistently satisfied customers. An innovative swing out staircase in the Freightliner Argosy cabin gives the comfort and useability scores a boost.

The stairs have also been improved by being made wider and being given non-slip surfaces, and LED ilklumination is another plus. However, Kenworth still failed to make the top three list when it came to engine satisfaction.

Mack is another name synonymous with truck dealers in Hong Kong and heavy duty trucks in Hong Kong. Some of the benefits users mentioned with regard to the Mack Trident model included the pulling power of the 12L, 470 hp engine, as well as its fuel economy and reliability.

It comes with a choice of steer axle position, and has some very versatile features; city runs and interstate jobs can be completed with equal ease. However, Mack’s Trident still came up underneath Mercedes vehicle engines and Cummins engines in the customer satisfaction survey.

As one of the world’s most exciting and prestigious brand, Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong offers luxury passenger cars and commercial vehicles extensive choice of Vito, Sprinter, Viano, Actros, Axor and Atego to the customers in Hong Kong and Macau.

Your pickup truck is used for everything from recreation to serious hauling. A bed mat is one of the best accessories you can get to protect your truck from damage during all that heavy use. If you’re like most truck owners, you have a pickup because you haul home improvement supplies, grills, and don’t forget how many times friends have asked you to move furniture or pick up a delivery for them! But everything you toss in the bed of your truck has the potential to either be damaged or cause damage, even when your truck is simply sitting on the curb in the elements, rain and snow can do a number on your pickup’s bed.

There are plenty of reasons to invest in a high quality bed mat for your truck, all of them a convincing argument for spending the extra money:

Preventing extra abrasion: Whether you’re hauling logs for the fireplace, lumber for that weekend project or mulch for the flowerbeds, the abrasion you’ll get when you put materials in your truck bed can seriously scratch the paint. Loads like gravel can cause deep grooving and overall dulling of the finish that can lead to damage to the finish and ruin the look of the truck bed. This extra abrasion also leads to other problems that a good truck mat can protect against such as rust.

Extreme weather: is an enemy of any vehicle, but in a pickup bed rain and snow can collect and pool. Over time this slowly eats away at the paint in your truck bed, which can lead to bubbling of the paint and premature rusting of the underlying metal. Any rust at all in the bed of a pickup truck can lead to a quick 25% decrease in resale value —not something you want when you’re ready to sell or trade in your vehicle.

Decreasing cargo slide: is another great reason to have a good rubber bed mat. Hauling furniture, company cargo, great flea market finds or anything else requires gentle handling. It doesn’t matter how smooth the ride is if everything in the bed of your truck is sliding from side to side as you round the turns. A rubber bed mat does double duty as a shock absorber and a skid-resistant matting material so everything stays in place. You’ll be protecting both your truck bed and the cargo you’re hauling from damage.

Protection from spills: If you have to put something messy in the bed of your truck, a bed mat will save you a lot of clean up time and protect your paint finish from possible chemical damage. You can simply hose off the rubber mat or, if it is damaged, remove and replace it. You don’t have that option if you damage the actual finish of your pickup bed! Being safe is much better than being sorry.

Twice the dent protection: that’s what you’ll get with a bed mat over a spray-on bed liner. Lots of people are surprised to hear this, but rubber truck bed mats are thicker and have more shock absorption than spray-on liners, so they offer superior dent protection for the bed of your truck, which means you’ll be preserving the look and value of your truck at a minimal cost.

With five solid reasons to invest in a high quality bed mat for your pickup truck, your next step should be to shop around and compare features. There are contoured and universal styles as well as a variety of thicknesses. Just don’t neglect to get one if you want to get the best use out of your pickup and protect your truck at the same time.

Truck Customizers offers an array of products aimed at customizing your truck for all the harsh elements. The durable bed mat and truck liners are both stylish and useful. For more information please visit TruckCustomizers.com.

We as citizens of this country and you of yours really need to put our feet down about these rising costs. Our living expenses continue to get more expensive. The cost of food, water, heat and of course gas is getting to the point where we have to scrounge up every bit of change to make it every month. In the past couple of years, everything that we use in our daily lives has started to go up, except, of course, our wages.

If you live in a small town or community that doesn’t have a lot of good paying jobs, then you are forced to have to drive some distance, which can cost you a lot in gas. If you live from paycheck to paycheck this can become very expensive, and more and more people are looking to cut corners. Some have to cut their expenses by cutting out extras. With gas prices on the rise you will find that you will be taking more out of your check.

The truck drivers are really the ones that are being hurt the worst. They have been hit the hardest because of the distance they have to drive. The trucking company that they drive for will put more trips together as one longer drive instead of several different ones to save on gas. The independent driver, however, will be hit even harder.

They have to buy their own fuel. These independent drivers are looking for something that will cut their fuel costs. Because they have much bigger engines, it takes a lot more fuel to keep them running. These engines are like a small power plant under the hood of their truck. It has an internal combustion engine like all cars do, but these are a lot bigger.

People and truck drivers alike have been trying to find cheaper ways to travel for years. Electric cars, for example, are a good alternative, but the batteries don’t last or keep a charge very long and are very expensive to replace. Also, theses cars are not very big. Most can only hold one or two persons.

Some have tried using water, but please don’t because all you will end up with is a big headache and a much bigger repair bill. To be able to use water as a fuel saver, you need to also use hydrogen gas. It is a great alternative to fossil gases because it burns as much as three times hotter.

It is also more potent. Your truck can get a much cleaner and bigger output in mileage with this fuel than with our old fossil fuels. It can also do this without consuming more costly fossil fuel. It can also increase your mileage output and save you up to 57% of your fuel costs. Most of these components for this modification can be purchased at almost any hardware store.

You can get or order a step-by-step guide or booklet on how to do this conversion process in any store that sells auto parts or on the internet.

Rachel Yoshida is a writer of many topics, visit some of her sites, like
Water Damage and Flood Damage Cleanup.

In need of a pickup truck to help your business needs, yet bounded by limited budget? Then, buying used pickup truck is a great money-saving option. Trucks, like any other vehicles, depreciate in value once you used it on the road, thus you can squeeze your allotted budget by buying used pickup trucks.

However finding used pickup trucks may be far more difficult than looking for a recently built truck, hence, seeking for Mr. World Wide Web’s help is an excellent option. There are many websites that are specifically selling vehicles such as trucks. Nevertheless, it is advisable that you visit reputable websites such as Ebay Motors so you won’t fear getting swindled online. Ebay Motors is an eBay site that is particularly created to sell vehicles such as cars, trucks, boats, and motorcycles.

First off, you have to know what you are looking for. In buying a pickup truck, first thing to take note is the size. It is, of course, essential to know just how big the truck you need. Another consideration and perhaps the most important that you need to look for when buying used pick-up truck is its engine. V6 engine is what most pickup trucks have. This is so, because V6 engine consumes just a fair amount of fuel, which is dependent on the items that you will be shipping. On the other hand, V8 engine, which consumes fuel faster, is used by full sized pickup trucks, which is advisable if your shipment requires lots of power.

After knowing what kind of engine your pickup truck needs, it’s time to determine the size of the truck’s bed or the part of the truck that is used for shipping things.

Also, you may want to take into consideration if you would be using the truck to transport people. If so, then consider how many people the pickup truck can carry. Extended and crew cab pickup can carry at least five people. However, if you intend to transport things rather than people, then a regular cab pickup truck will do. It can carry at least two people.

You should also know what drive train option you want for your pickup truck–do you want manual or automatic transmission? You may also want to think about if you want a two-wheel or four-wheel driven pickup truck.

After deciding what you need to buy, you may want to do a little research first. If you can know the price range of the pickup truck you have in mind, then it would be a better buying experience for you. Afterwards, it’s time to consult Mr. Web. From online selling sites such as Ebay, you can find loads of pickup trucks, and your problem now would be the many options you have. The site is easy to use, you can enter the keywords “used pickup truck,” then specify the features you want, and if possible the price range, so you can lessen your choices.

One good quality of online buying is that you can immediately get feedback and read past reviews from past costumers, thus you’ll at least gain an idea of your seller. Online, you’ll be bombarded with a lot of choices, what’s important is you get what you paid for.

Heather recommends looking online for used pickup trucks and used 4×4 pickup trucks online for the best selection and prices.

Are you in need of a fill up, but just can’t stomach the rising cost of gas or the guilt from adding more pollutants in the ozone? What if you could just hook your car up to the kitchen sink whenever you needed gas? Would you drive a car that ran on water?

In this time of rising pollution and fuel costs, science is expanding into territories of research to alleviate the issues facing automobile drivers today. Many have suggested biofuels, even green fuels like electric cars, but science is now looking into water as a source of energy.

Water to fuel a car?

It seems to simplistic to be true, but yes, science is exploring water as a fuel source. With the addition of a hydrogen system to your car’s engine, your car can emit water vapor into the air, rather than harmful pollutants. Research has shown that only a small percentage of gasoline is used for energy, while the other is simply wasted by simply running your car’s engine. That’s it! You waste more gas starting and running your engine than actually driving around! Remarkable! So why shouldn’t cars run on hydro power, and why aren’t they?

The concept is easy: as a car pulls the water into the engine’s combustion unit, it forces the water molecule to separate into a HHO gas. This gas, also known as hydroxyl, is then pulled into the car carburetor and fuels the engine. The resulting emission is water vapor.

This process makes the engine not only cleaner, but more fuel efficient. Some reports from drivers who have the hydrogen system state that their car gets a higher mileage rate than the standard gasoline engines. This small change allows drivers to save hundreds of dollars in gasoline or diesel when they pull up to the pump.

Yet it is what water can do for the automobile which needs to be seen. Gasoline is harmful not only to the environment, but to the components of your engine. The resulting byproducts from gasoline combustion remain under the hood, coating valuable and necessary parts and inhibiting from functioning properly. However, with water, the components remain clean, as water molecules collect carbon and keep those carbon molecules from binding to the engine. It removes any current carbon particles and helps keep future carbon particles from adhering. This helps keep the engine functioning at optimal levels.

Other benefits found with water as fuel are a quieter, cooler engine, more torque and better acceleration. Water allows an engine to maintain a cooler temperature, which in turn, helps eliminate harmful greenhouse gases. This assists with global warming on an individual level. Imagine getting behind the wheel of a car and know that the engine is actually assisting the environment, instead of shouldering a solid portion of the responsibility.

While it is quite possible to run a car using water, there is still a small need for gasoline and diesel. The technology is not available to fully rule out the use of gasoline and diesel, but the hydrogen system does bring the automotive driver closer to having a more energy, fuel and cost efficient means of driving.

Did you know that you can convert your car to a water-burning car? You can run your car on water, supplemental to gasoline, to increase your car’s fuel efficiency and reduce your fuel costs significantly. Works on gas or diesel powered cars, vans, trucks, and SUVs.