Analysis of customer’s payroll finds 30 hours a week saved by using Eagle Eye Tracking.

Mike Lucht, President of Eagle Eye Tracking, Inc., developed a GPS event tracking system for his own use at Progressive Sweeping in Toledo, Ohio. He wanted something that would help his company work more efficiently on a job by being able to track exactly how long a particular job was worked automatically. Being able to do that would allow him to bid jobs more efficiently and allow him to save on payroll, too. He quickly realized that others may benefit from the software.

So he created Eagle Eye Tracking, software that includes both GPS and event tracking technology, plus management software that helps employers book and complete jobs in the most efficient way possible. In addition, the system provides input for payroll based on the time the system indicates was actually worked.

Eagle Eye Tracking has many customers. However, one in particular has taken the time to quantify his benefits in payroll. This specific customer has analyzed his business and has documented savings of 30 hours a week on payroll by using the Eagle Eye Tracking software. When you take your hourly employee rate of pay and multiply that by 30 hours times 52 weeks a year you come up with significant savings. The software has timestamp capabilities allowing this payroll function. The system also includes sensors on various parts of the sweeper. An employer is able to tell when an employee is sitting in the driver’s seat or if they are working outside the truck and can track when brushes are up or down. That information is transmitted to the GPS, which collects the data and, from there, is transmitted to a receiver via Bluetooth technology. Employers are then able to review reports that tell them exactly what was done and when.

Debbie Jacketta of Jacketta Sweeping Service in Salt Lake City, Utah loves the routing part of the Eagle Eye Tracking software. She has been using the software for more than two years and says, “We don’t miss any jobs. The way we were doing it before—there was a lot of room for human error.” Eagle Eye Tracking’s software acts as a double check against that. Prior to using the software, Jacketta says there would be instances when jobs would get missed. Now, as long as they run a report, all of her trucks get where they’re supposed to be.

Jacketta chose Eagle Eye Tracking not only because she liked it but because it was easy to get technical support if she needed it, “None of us in my office are particularly tech savvy. It was easy to get help if I needed it.” She said the GPS software was something she had always wanted to get into and even tried other kinds before settling on Eagle Eye Tracking.

Perhaps that is not only because it is easy to use, but it offers a large menu of capabilities. The software can print a report to see if your company is losing or making money on a job, allowing for better job bidding and costing. “Geo fences” can be established based on GPS coordinates and boundaries set up for a particular job. The tracking system creates a time stamp when a truck enters and exits the parameters pre-set for a particular job previously set via the geo fencing.

Eagle Eye Tracking’s software provides a ‘bread crumb trail,’ meaning the software will display the actual route that the sweeper took as well as display the speed at the specific points during the route. For example, the system displays and measures the speed operators are driving on the lot as well as provide verification of the details of a job. Most notably, however, the software can assist with driving records. In the unfortunate event that a truck is involved in an accident, the software can measure, down to the second, the path, driving pattern and speed the truck was going.

For example there was an instance in which a sweeper truck was involved in an accident with a woman who said that the sweeper was driving erratically. Because the sweeper was equipped with the Eagle Eye Tracking software, the sweeper truck’s company was able to provide the police with an accurate account of the path the truck drove, which proved the woman’s accusation to be incorrect.

The software can run an array of reports to assist with making a job run more smoothly. The system is set up to run exception reports. The company creates acceptable parameters and the system identifies instances outside of these pre-set parameters. This exception report allows management to only focus on the issues, thus saving them significant time and effort. One parameter could be allowing for no more than a two minute stop on the route. This is certainly enough for a red light. If a sweeper stops for over two minutes, it shows up on the exception report, and management then can find out why.

Eagle Eye Tracking allows employers to pay employees for the job they actually do, not the job they say they do.

In today’s challenging business environment, companies need help in managing their business. Debbie Jacketta is just one example of the customers using Eagle Eye Tracking software to improve their operating efficiencies, thus putting more money in their company’s pocket.

Source: Business Corner at N.A. Sweeper
Story by Megan McClure

There were several factors that led the city of San Angelo to look for a GPS tracking software application to monitor the performance of their street sweeper fleet. They wanted the ability to track the number of miles their sweepers traveled per year, per month and per day, as well as have the ability to use that data to compare the productivity, or number of miles swept, of one operator compared to others in the fleet. The city settled on Eagle Eye Tracking and couldn’t be more pleased with the results.

The GPS software also acts as a measure of accountability for San Angelo, which has a population of 90,000 and 1,100 of linear miles in need of sweeping. The work is done by four—soon to be five—sweeper trucks. Doug Kirkham, Storm Water Superintendent for the city of San Angelo says, “A citizen calls and says they haven’t seen a sweeper in X amount of time. We can use Eagle Eye Tracking as a measure of accountability and productivity, which turns into customer satisfaction.”

Arthur Gonzales, a supervisor and overseer of San Angelo’s street sweeping operation, agrees that the software is extremely helpful when it comes to addressing the concerns of the citizens of San Angelo. “They want to see what kind of bang they’re getting for their buck.” Eagle Eye Tracking makes it easy to verify services to citizens who have concerns and issues with proof that the work had been completed. Eagle Eye does this by utilizing a tangible breadcrumb trail of data to ease their minds and pinpoint on a map exactly where a sweeper truck had been and when.

Gonzales finds Eagle Eye Tracking easy to use and easy to navigate the different options. Reports are easy to maintain, and he says, “You hit a button and everything’s right there.” Kirkham agrees, “It’s so easy to maneuver through and export data to Excel.” Kirkham adds that Eagle Eye Tracking makes it easy to compare data from the past and present, and unlike other systems, there is no time limit on how long the data is stored.

“We look at Eagle Eye Tracking as a management tool, as well as a GPS tool,” Kirkham says. Gonzales adds, “We can use the software to determine why it takes one person the same amount of time to sweep five miles when it takes someone else the same amount of time to do fifteen miles.” In addition, they present a report to the city council each month to show how many miles have been swept in a given timeframe. Gonzales says the software has made his job of compiling those reports exponentially easier, “I used to sit in the office for two to three hours trying to figure out the data. Eagle Eye Tracking calculates it in three to five minutes.”

Kirkham says the city looked at six different GPS tracking software systems before settling on Eagle Eye Tracking and says there is no need to look at any other product, “The legwork’s been done. These guys are the best.”

View the issue online: http://www.nasweeper.com/magazine/2011/october-2011/