Rural First | Assessors

Is there a better way of tracking employees?

Tracking assets for construction A few years ago I owned a small route service company, Nature Scent Environmental Services, each day my employees would come into the warehouse get their route for the day and load up their business trucks. Then they would set out to take care of our customers. We had done things like this for years, and it seemed to work well. One morning one of our employees was in an accident on his way to the office. I told him to take care of himself and that I would jump in the truck and care for his customers exposing a weakness in our model that I hadn’t realized existed.

You see the company had been growing rapidly since our inception, it had started out as just my wife and me, but due to our success, we had been adding customers and employees. My employees were loyal and hardworking, and almost never took sick days. This day as I was filling in for my employee, I realized that we had grown to the point that I know longer knew where all of our customers where. This success was a good thing, but as I struggled to find customer locations, I knew this was a weak point that had to be addressed.

I decided that we needed a GPS tracking solution, but those were the early days of the internet and tech as we know it today. Mobile data networks barely existed, and AVL was prohibitively expensive, so I had our system built. It was a simple system we couldn’t see anything live it would only update over wifi when the trucks pulled back into the warehouse at the end of each day. Our goal was not to catch employees doing anything wrong; I had good employees. I just needed to make sure if someone called in sick or quit that we knew where all of their stops were and could easily fill their absence.

Free white paper on improvements to driver safety with in-vehicle GPS.

What I learned from this shocked me! Sure I could now see our customers locations, and that was invaluable, but the back and forth driving to see customers looked like a preschooler scribbling on a map. We optimized the routes our employees were driving and saw an immediate bump in the number of customers each employee could see by 30%. We were getting ready to hire another employee to keep up with demand, but with this new found efficiency we didn’t have to. Not only that but we were able to grow considerably more again without adding the expense of another salary, truck, fuel and everything else it took to make that employee satisfied.

Today we have an amazing system that allows you to manage your team from any location. Whether from your office or on the road we have the tools to make your company more profitable. Here’s to a fantastic year for your business. We would love to leverage our experience in GPS and AVL tracking to help you fill in the gaps. Whether that’s improving your employee’s safety, improving your customer impressions with on-time arrivals or adding money to your bottom line. Contact us today to for a no pressure demonstration of our GPS tracking software.

The Problem With Rural American Roadways

Rural American Roadways
America is covered by over 4 million miles of road, and 3 million of it is rural and small town routes. In addition, only 130,000 miles are under the jurisdiction of the federal government, this leaves 97% of all roads in the U.S. being managed by state and local governments. Factoring in that 65.4% of roads are paved, and the rest unpaved, and roads are often created based less on planning and more on personal interest, new and freshly paved roads will often lead to poor mapping and road systems in many rural counties. This is unfortunate because rural America is the leading provider in the U.S. for food, raw materials and manufactured products.

The United States land area amasses 3.6 million square miles, and when 97% of that is designated as rural or small town, we have an obligation to improve mapping in these locations.

Rural Mapping Issues & First Responders

These poor mapping and road planning issues have more than just an effect on moving America’s resources. It also has a major impact on the response time, and even the arrival of emergency services like police officers, sheriff deputies, EMT’s, ambulance crews and fire departments. Sadly, although it is known that these delays are great in number, it is extremely hard to pinpoint the exact amount because most cities, towns, counties and states do not measure performance in regards to overall response time. The information that is available does make it clear that something must be done. If a patient is transported to a hospital within 15 minutes of having cardiac arrest by ambulance they have a 6% chance of survival, reducing the time to 8 minutes increases this to 8% and lowering it to 5 minutes increases the number to 10-11%.

Counties In Need

One solution to the problem, other than a better plan for roadways, is manual GIS map correction by a trained GIS expert. GIS stands for geographic information system, and these experts go through and capture, store, manipulate, analyze, and manage geographical data. In this case, they make sure that what is on the map matches the roads in any given county. Take for example, the GIS experts at Rural First that take select data from each county and then verify that data against county records and other pieces of information to get the most accurate maps available. And like the solutions at Rural First, without a strong GPS software solution that utilizes this new data provided by the GIS experts, counties cannot use the level of accuracy they are provided. Working in tandem, response time is greatly reduced, insuring budgets are kept under control, time is better managed, and most importantly, more lives are saved.

Want to learn more about the GIS experts at Rural First? Watch this informational video by our own sales expert, Jeremy Smart or request a free demonstration.

911 and the Difficulties That Have Arisen

This past Sunday, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, a comedy news show on HBO, discussed a problem that Rural First has been speaking to since our inception. Emergency call centers and first responders are in desperate need of funding and new GPS tracking/GIS mapping technology. The United States makes over 240 million 911 calls every year, and the system breaks down often enough to take notice.

Like this story of GPS and GIS issues affecting 911 operators first reported by CBS46 in Atlanta, GA.

The pond Shanell Anderson drove into.

Shanell Anderson, 31, of Atlanta, GA who lost control of her SUV and drove into a local pond while delivering newspapers around 4:15 a.m. one morning. In the released 911 call, Anderson was initially calm as she told the dispatcher she was sinking into the pond while inside her vehicle. The dispatcher repeatedly asked Anderson for an address, telling the woman the information she was giving couldn’t been found in the system. Anderson attempted to repeat her location several times, each time with a more urgent tone, before finally being disconnected with the dispatcher.

After the original 911 call, the dispatcher placed another call to an unknown official, and the two worked together to try to locate the woman. In the second call, the dispatcher advised that she had already sent emergency crews to several areas with water as they tried to locate the woman.

This problem seems to be a surprisingly growing issue as GPS technology and GIS map correction for 911 departments lags behind other private entities. This is why Rural First provides affordable solutions to rural counties that otherwise could not afford them. You can watch the full episode of Last Week Tonight and the problems faced by 911 operators below.

*The following video from Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) does have very coarse language. If you are easily offended, it is recommended you don’t watch.

The Golden Hour: The 60 Minute Difference Between Life and Death.

It was only a few years ago that the founder of Rural First, Rob Woolsey, was forced to grieve the loss of his mother. Due to inaccurate GIS mapping, First Responders were unable to arrive in time to save her life. Unless you are personally affected like Robb, or a first responder serving a rural area, you might not realize the difference a strong and efficient GPS tracking solution like Rural First can make when it comes to public safety.

At Rural First, we believe that GPS tracking solutions are so much more than just a route mapping tool. Our product gives you complete information about your fleet at a glance. Rural First places great emphasis on situational awareness, ensuring that emergency response vehicles are able to respond to calls immediately and arrive on-time. With our accurate mapping data, you will not only be able to effectively route your First Responders to call locations, but you will see the exact location and state of each vehicle, siren and light activity, and vehicle fuel and maintenance status. You’ll be at peak performance, on-time, every time.

The US National Library of Medicine notes that: “morbidity and mortality are affected if care is not instituted within the first hour after injury”. Emergency responders refer to this time period as the ‘Golden Hour.’ It is described as the time between receiving a call, locating a vehicle, dispatching the team, and arriving on the scene. First Responders, the Golden Hour can be the difference between life and death. We have found this to be true time and time again. In the case of Robb’s mother, the EMT should have arrived within 6 minutes of the phone call.

However, due to inaccurate directions, it took them 45 minutes to arrive. In fact, as Mrs. Woolsey was fighting to breathe, the ambulance sped past her home. By providing the most accurate routing and mapping information, ensuring that the closest unit is dispatched, and ensuring that EMTs receive correct turn-by-turn directions, Rural First has significantly increased the odds of reaching the call within the golden hour.

Route navigation for emergency response vehicles is a matter of life and death in many situations. A few years ago I took a trip to the ER by ambulance. I was at home and feeling faint, luckily I turned out to be ok. While we were speeding to the hospital I remember thinking, why on earth are they taking the longest route possible? Are they not from here? Do they have to follow very specific directions given to them by dispatch? Despite my unwelcome attempts to assist with their driving from the gurney, we arrived 7 minutes later than necessary.

Dispatchers using GPS tracking solutions can ensure that first response drivers are not only taking the quickest routes to their emergency calls but the safest routes as well. By being able to determine whether a route is taking first responders thru an area where there are one-ways or road closures, valuable minutes can now be spent saving lives. Our goal at Rural First is to decrease dispatch times to emergency calls, save more lives, and ensure the safety of First Responders and the communities they serve.

What GPS Tracking Can Do

Every morning my loving husband points out the money I’m throwing out the window by starting my vehicle before I get ready, and I have to say this is one of the few times he is right. When it comes to construction sites, were not talking about one wife, were talking about 30 vehicles guzzling fuel. The driver is innocently thinking that it won’t hurt anything, he’s just running in to grab a Dew and Donut, or stopping by to grab a ladder. But these innocent stops turn into a huge fuel guzzler. You probably don’t even want to know how much it is increasing the wear and tear on your engines. With our Idling alert, you will be able to put a nail in this problem, and re-train your drivers to turn vehicles off when not in use.

For construction companies, finding ways to cut costs and improve income is always a top priority. Yet management often loses control over vehicle and equipment fleet costs. Rural First will help guide you back into the driver’s seat of your budget, and give you the tools to better manage your fleet. With our GPS tracking system in place you can cut fuel costs, vehicle wear, and maintenance costs, while improving billing accuracy. You will also be able to better protect your assets and lower your exposure to theft. Anything from unapproved use on the job site, or personal trips being made with work trucks. With more money going out than coming in, you cannot afford to pay for your employees personal rendezvous. You cut them a check every Friday for that. Aside from bulldozing through your fuel budget, it increases your fleets liability. Rural First will give you the tools to protect your fleet, with personalized alerts sent straight to your phone when a unit is not following protocol.

I know it’s hard to imagine, but GPS tracking can actually reduce maintenance costs. Now that you have put a stop to excessive idling and unauthorized use, you will see less vehicle damage and fewer miles driven which turns into less maintenance. This is not the only way Maintenance costs drop. With the Rural First system in place. you will be able to set up automatic maintenance notifications. I have a device in my car and this is one of my favorite features because like most people I put it at the bottom of my to-do list. With automatic notifications, you won’t have to put it on a list at all, and your vehicles will live longer, healthier lives. Which means you will have to spend less on fixing, and replacing them.

It’s been a long hot day and your worker leaves the truck idling and air conditioner blowing as he runs in the quick trip for a Big Gulp. What he doesn’t see is the guy standing by the pay phone looking lost. Instead, he sees the back of the truck as its screeching out of the parking lot. At one time this would have been a huge loss for you, but not anymore, because you have installed Rural First GPS tracking you know exactly where this stolen truck is. Being able to see the vehicle is not the only benefit. You will also be able to send a starter disable command to the unit, so that once they shut-off the vehicle, it will not restart. You will now be able to recover your property safely without a high-speed police chase that results in nothing. An added benefit of this is that insurance companies often offer reduced premiums to fleets that use GPS tracking.

When it comes to billing your customers, you should be as accurate as possible. The Rural First system will not only aid with this, it can seamlessly connect with your accounting software. You will be able to pull or schedule a report showing you where your equipment and team have been, enabling you to bill down to the minute. You will also be able to put settings in place that tell you how much time your crew spent at a prevailing wage site, making it easier to add up your employee hours and eliminating over reporting of prevailing wage hours.

Get Your Profits Back

Recently, we met with the owner of a construction company, battling some pretty significant timecard issues. He was struggling with employee time cards that were showing 80% of their hours as prevailing wage. He knew for a fact that the prevailing wage hours should be averaging no more than 50% of the work. With the company paying close to $15 more per hour for prevailing wage, he knew something had to be done.

Rural First was able to provide a unique yet simple solution. Employees are now automatically clocked into prevailing wage when they enter the site and then returned to their regular hourly wage the moment they exit the job site. With the ability to build a virtual geofence around the prevailing wage site, the workers are now paid down to the second for the time they spent on a prevailing wage job.

If you are still having your employees report time on a sheet of paper they turn in, then you are most definitely leaving a lot of cash on the table. With today’s advances in technology, this process has been streamlined.

Construction companies, along with many other commercial enterprises often battle over reporting of hours. Even if it’s not intentional. Small “fudging” of hours adds up. Let’s say the employee worked from 8:17 am to 4:36 pm, but logged it as 8 am to 5 pm. That’s almost an hour being reported that was not worked. This can add up very quickly.

Many contractors loathe payroll, and the shuffling of time sheets. A good time and attendance system can end those headaches. You may not care if a good worker arrives a little late as long as the work gets done. But if you saw the actual, factual totals, you’d be shocked by how many work hours you’re losing each week to fudging and rounding.

The American Payroll Association states that as much as 8% of total payroll costs are lost due to errors in the recording of hours worked, employee theft, and time spent by payroll/admin staff gathering and calculating time cards. And these numbers go up with mobile employees keeping their own time manually. That is equal to 38.4 minutes per 8 hour day. At $20 per hour, that equates to $3200 per year per employee or $64,000 per year for 20 employees.

How much can we save you? Let me show you what this can mean for you when you switch from paper time sheets to a web-based time tracking system such as Rural First. Your labor costs will shrink by 5% or more. Take your monthly payroll, multiply by 5%, then multiply that by 12, and those are very conservative numbers.

With our RFID feature, employee time is easily tracked, and time cards are a thing of the past. Essentially it is an onsite time clock. Each employee will have a key fob that they swipe in the vehicle, recording their hours on site down to the minute. Not only does it cut down on over reporting. But you will no longer be spending money on man hours for someone to go thru handwritten time sheets, and try to make sense of them. The RFID time clock feature and Geofence ability are just 2 ways of many that Rural First can make a difference in the way you do business. We offer the correct turn by turn directions, reports, alerts, maintenance, and tracking.

The American Rural Mapping Initiative

As you may or may not know, 97% of the country is classified as small town rural America. And the current commercial mapping in those areas is incredibly inaccurate. Many of the address points, especially residential do not exist, and the street names in the maps do not match the street names on the road signs. In order for the American Rural Mapping Initiative to be successful and provide first responders with the accurate data, they need to arrive on scene quicker and save more lives we need your local data. To date, we have worked with and mapped 128 counties throughout the states of Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, and Missouri. The tracking and routing services utilized by our First Responders through the RuralFirst web map application relies heavily on accurate road centerlines with address ranges and 9-1-1 address points.

Please contact us if you are able to provide any mapping data for your county, so that we can better serve the First Responders in your area.