The City of Pampa, Texas, Public Works division has been able to improve routing as well as reduce idling on 55 of its vehicles through the use of GPS tracking.

Donny Hooper, director of Public Works, began looking into technologies designed to improve routing for sanitation trucks before expanding to look into GPS systems. He realized GPS could also help save the fleet money in other areas as well.

"Time is money and I knew that once we were able to implement the system into our process that it would pay for itself," he said.

City staff ran a trial with different GPS systems from various companies on the vehicles before selecting GPS Insight. According to Hooper, the division realized savings early on after installing the tracking units.

"We have already, in just a few short months, reduced our idle time stops, slowed down visits to convenience stores, improved route efficiency, and defended complaints from the public concerning city vehicles," he said.

By optimizing routes, the city has reduced fuel costs and increased productive work time from its staff, including eliminating overlapping routes.

It has also reduced idling violations (when Pampa's acceptable limit of idle time is exceeded) by about 70% and decreased average idle time by 55%. This equates to about $9,000 in fuel savings from reduced idling in the first year, according to GPS Insight.

Staff members have also been able to keep up with vehicle maintenance with telematics. Department managers set up a maintenance schedule so they receive reminders when a vehicle is due for maintenance, which ensures maintenance is completed without relying on word-of-mouth, Hooper said.

Hooper commended the company’s user-friendly product and the company's assistance in implementing the software system.

The City of Pampa's Public Works division’s fleet consists of 60 vehicles for Street, Parks, Sanitation, Landfill, Code Enforcement, Engineering, Water Distribution, and Waste Water Collection.

Go to the GPS Insight website to view the full case study.