SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA – The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Detention and Removal (DRO) has improved operations and efficiencies with the help of the online GPS Fleet Tracking application, according to Fleet Management Solutions, Inc. (FMS).

DRO implemented the system to reduce costs, improve officer safety, enhance mission execution, and streamline fleet maintenance. More than 2,000 of the 4,500-plus vehicles are tracked in real time, providing operational insight not previously available and enabling DRO to make more efficient use of its valuable fleet and personnel resources, according to FMS, a provider of GPS technology with two-way satellite communications, intelligent modems, and Web-hosted application.

DRO uses FMS to monitor its fleet of buses, specialty vans, and law enforcement sedans used to acquire and remove detainees. The FMS intelligent vehicle tracking devices transmit position, direction, speed and other telematic data for user-specified events and reporting. Data is sent via the Iridium satellite network to the FMS Fleet Central Web server, permitting dispatch centers to securely login and closely monitor the vehicles’ location, movements and status.

Federal Prison Industries, known as UNICOR, installs and commissions the FMS mobile devices under an inter-agency agreement to provide life-cycle management for the fleet.

“Implementation of the FMS GPS tracking equipment and Web services integration of FMS’ Fleet Central with DRO enterprise applications are delivering the operational readiness, mission effectiveness and cost reductions anticipated,” says Charles “Chuck” Welke, DRO Fleet Inventory and Communications Unit. “We’re very pleased at the progress that’s been made to enhance our role in homeland security.”

With the annual cost of fuel and maintenance for the fleet at more than $30 million, it is an important area of efficiency improvement for DHS. In addition, the XML feed from FMS Fleet Central provides critical location data to the DRO Flytecomm application and consolidates the visual location of all fixed and mobile DRO assets on a map.