I must admit, at first I was skeptical. The chief recently purchased a Rapid Deployment Portable FLIR System for the department. It’s pretty rugged and has been very useful in criminal investigations and pursuits. When the need arises, we can just throw it into whatever vehicle is available and go right to the scene. It is very easy to set up and a snap to use, even with little to no training. We also routinely patrol the local nuclear power plant to check for intrusions. But use it to identify semi trucks with defective brakes? “You must be kidding!” Chief said “Just watch the video… then you’ll understand.”

As I watched the presentation, I couldn’t help thinking about that horrible accident with fatalities last summer. A family in a minivan had a blowout and lost control, careening right into the path of an 18 wheeler. The trucker hit the brakes and the big Kenworth began skidding to a stop. Unfortunately the trailer brakes malfunctioned causing it to jackknife. That huge cargo trailer swung around smacking the minivan hard! It rolled eight times.

Seeing the video, I was very impressed. Chief sent me with the FLIR system and two other pursuit vehicles down to the big truckstop alongside I-25. I set up the system across from the entrance and my pursuit team stationed themselves a quarter mile north and south respectively. I would tag the worst safety offenders and radio the team to initiate the pullovers so they could cite the drivers. Later, we would use the time stamped still shots from the video as evidence to back up our charges.

Most of the truckers were pissed off at first. Their attitude sure changed though, as soon as they realized how dangerous their rig was.

So many offenders! I had to make judgment calls, so we only managed to bust the absolutely worst truck defects simply because of the logistics of stopping so damn many trucks.

Our stakeout lasted six hours. We issued 68 citations, generating respectable ticket revenue and the repair facility adjacent to the truckstop now has work backed up for at least a week or two. A productive days work for us, but most importantly though, somewhere out there on that highway… just maybe… we’ve helped save someone’s life!

As far as I’m concerned that Rapid Deployment FLIR System paid for itself today.

After lunch Les, one of my drivers and I had to meet with the lawyers. A couple of weeks ago Les was rolling down the interstate near Milwaukee when he had an accident. He said that a young woman in the left lane had swooped right, cutting him off and then hit the brakes trying to slow down enough to make an exit. With a full load he couldn’t stop in time and rear ended her SUV. They both called 911, and then Les called to fill me in. He said she got out of the vehicle, seemingly unhurt with her cell phone in hand and noticeably pissed off. I pulled up the video from the internet on MobileLink™ and agreed with Les as to how the accident had happened. I suggested that he offload the video file from the mobile DVR to his laptop to show the police.

There were no witnesses that had stuck around. When the police arrived, they took a statement from the lady and then it was Les’s turn. The grim cop approached him and said that she’d stated that she was “just driving along when his speeding semi slammed into her.” Les told him “she cut me off” and then showed him the video on his laptop. The alpha-numeric display overlaid on the video showed that he was going 67 mph, 3 miles below the limit along with the time and GPS position. Les commented that her head was down and he thought she was fooling with her cell phone when it happened. The video clearly showed her swoop into his right of way with no turn signal, followed by her brake lights coming on, then impact. The cop smiled, closed his ticket book and Les copied the video file to a thumb drive for the officer. She was even angrier when cited for reckless driving resulting in an accident. Nonetheless, she apparently stuck to her story.

Afterward I reviewed the fleet tracking video of the incident with management and we agreed that we were not liable. Imagine our surprise when we learned that she was suing us for $1.5 million!

At 2 PM sharp, Les and I met with our legal counsel, as well as her, her insurance guy and her lawyer. We were amused that she was now in a wheelchair with a neck brace on. She wanted medical compensation, lost wages and of course, pain and suffering damages. As expected, her lawyer stated that in fact the accident was caused by Les’s negligence and speeding. I hoisted my laptop onto the conference table, hit play on the video and spun it around for them to see. Our lawyer smiled and said “Of course we’ll need to subpoena her cell phone records for the time of the accident.” (Our video had recorded the precise timeframe from the GPS satellite.)  The lady’s face grew pale and her jaw dropped. Her disappointed lawyer quietly closed his notebook and put his pen back into his pocket. He knew right away that there was no case here. The insurance agent didn’t look happy either.

Damage to the front of our truck amounted to $843, which her insurance was compelled to pay along with our legal expense. We were all pretty happy. I’d had a hell of a time convincing management to purchase the Fleet Tracking Mobile DVR Systems but everyone agreed that in just this one incident the investment had probably paid for itself in spades.

As you enjoy your third cup of piping hot coffee, your radio begins to crackle to life and you’re told that there’s a little kid lost somewhere in Bear Creek Canyon. He’s been gone almost two hours. Apparently he wandered off when his parents weren’t watching. You exhale in annoyance.

“Great. Just great. It would be hard to find a mammoth in these conditions. How on earth will we spot a little kid?” your partner complains.

You grunt in agreement, but there’s nothing you can do now but get busy finding that kid, besides you have an idea! You call in requesting two search and rescue teams to be deployed to the canyon immediately and then head off to the State Police office to borrow their new Rapid Deployment Portable FLIR Thermal Imaging System that you’d heard about. This is about the only way you’ll be able to spot anything in this mess. “At least in this weather the predators won’t be out hunting.” You toss the borrowed gear into your 4X4 and speed away.

After a nearly 50 mile round trip, you arrive at the canyon. A quick recon indicates the best vantage point would be to take to the old forest trail up the ridge. So you head up, park at the best available spot and get to work overseeing the search.

You’ve never used an infrared thermal imaging camera system before, but it’s a breeze to set up. Within a few moments, you’ve managed to quickly attach the magnetically mounted, pan-tilt thermal imaging camera atop your truck. Next, you open up the control unit case, plug-in the camera, plug-in to the truck’s accessory outlet and power it up. That was pretty easy.

Scanning with the little joystick, you begin your search of the canyon. The weather forecast has lived up to expectations. Visibility is at an all-time low. Thankfully, the infrared thermal imaging camera makes everything seem a lot less miserable especially since you’re warm and dry inside the SUV. With the camera, you’re able to see right through the weather and view everything through the darkness. “Oh, the wonders of technology.”

As you scan the canyon, you spot your search teams glowing on the display screen. Even with their dogs, they’re not finding him and seem completely lost. It’s all up to you now. The canyon’s pretty large and your nerves are really on edge. You’re thinking “Too much coffee, I guess.” Your partner’s constant “Have you found him yet?” chants aren’t helping either.

Suddenly you spot a lone, tiny image lighting up the display. It looks like he’s 500 yards or so away from one of the search teams. They’d already passed him by! Excited, you grab the radio and guide them right back to the child. Thankfully, he’s safe; scared, cold and wet, but safe. He’s soon reunited with his overjoyed parents. It’s another job well done and tragedy is averted.

It’s time to head back to the ranger station to write your incident report and attach the video recording file of the thermal search. You’ve learned something! Besides needing to cut down on your coffee consumption, you’ve learned that the Rapid Deployment Portable FLIR Thermal Imaging System is an awesome tool. Without it we may not have found the boy until it was too late. So in your incident report, you recommend that an infrared thermal imaging camera system be purchased for every ranger station in the district. Next time we may not be so lucky.

Actually, when the call came in you were watching the video on your desktop while speaking with Joe. The accelerometer option in the mobile DVR had triggered a hard braking alarm which popped up the alert on your computer. You clicked it and observed the whole thing, complete with one minute of pre-event video recording. You saw it all just as if you’d been riding along in the truck.

Now, snap back to reality. You may not be the unlucky soul from the fabricated story above but the fact is, “sh*t happens” and when it does, it tends to blow back on you. You’ll almost always end up losing money; something you can little afford in a time when our economy’s on shaky ground. Good thing you have that video record! You can see for yourself who had right of way, who cut off whom and you can even email that video evidence file to your lawyer and insurance agent.

You’ve probably heard of the concept of fleet tracking, but this takes it a step further. In a nutshell, you install an advanced GPS tracking mobile DVR and cameras on your vehicles and monitor everything they do remotely from your computer. Sounds like a lot of extra work? Well the installations might be a hassle but the returns are pretty phenomenal.

Here are a few benefits of GPS fleet tracking using mobile DVRs.

#1 – Fuel Expenses

Obviously, fuel prices will remain high for the foreseeable future. With a GPS fleet video tracker, you can pretty much stay on top of this profit killer and supervise each trip your vehicles take.

You can keep your drivers on the shortest possible routes. Closely monitor video streams from suspect drivers. You can keep tabs on any delays at particular junctures in the route, and get your drivers to avoid them as well.

There’s really no need for speeding. It’s an unnecessary fuel waster. Monitoring from your desktop you could send your driver an alert when he’s driving with a lead foot.

#2 – There is no sunshine when he stops

Idleness is waste. Problem is you don’t know when your drivers are taking their own sweet time. You’ve no idea how many unplanned breaks he stops for or side trips he takes.

So when your service call or cargo is delivered hours after it should have been, you don’t say a word. All your trucker has to say is that there was a jam on the 405. He figures you will buy that without giving it much thought.

Since a GPS fleet tracking device does track movement, it would pretty much solve that problem as well, however now you have an extra edge. Reviewing the video record will tell you the true story.

#3 – Legalities

Accidents aren’t merely about undelivered cargo and angry clients. You need to be able to cover your own tail as well. Fleet tracking mobile DVRs allow you to view video playback of the events that actually occurred while your truck was rolling or even live, while it is rolling. So when an incident does happen, you’ll be made aware of everything. Furthermore, you’ll be able to use the unimpeachable video evidence in your insurance claims or, if it things get ugly, court proceedings.

A GPS fleet tracking system using mobile DVRs might seem costly out front but like anything in business, it’s the long run that really counts. Can you really afford to be losing all that money?