Manage Your Work Truck Fleet Remotely with Security Cameras


Today's fleet managers know that to be successful on any project, they need to have access to tools that will help them work safer, smarter and more profitably. The secret to being successful is to have access to the right equipment at the right time — because a work truck fleet is just an expense if it's not working effectively and cost-efficiently.



Next to salaries, the largest expense to a company is the acquisition of its work trucks, along with the management and maintenance of the truck fleet over time. To realize a high rate-of-return on that investment, it is vital that work trucks operate in the field as long as possible. Part of a fleet manager's job is to proactively monitor and report on the health and well-being of their work trucks. These reports generally include ordering and replacement activity, fixed and variable cost reports, and, sometimes, cost-avoidance and/or savings reports.



Such reports also include tracking work truck activity, which is logged by a truck's operator and reported daily to the fleet manager. Efficiently and cost-effectively storing and tracking work trucks, especially in remote locations, impacts employee salaries, insurance, site communications, and storage maintenance. Savvy fleet managers are always looking for new tools and technologies to assist them.



To be valuable to fleet managers, tools and technologies must save operational costs and delivering a real return on investment. Solar-powered, motion-activated security cameras that were originally developed to help contractors monitor their remote construction sites to prevent and deter theft and vandalism are now changing the way fleet managers obtain this information so that they can streamline their vehicle management systems. By incorporating security camera systems into their work practices, fleet managers are immediately able to provide all the vital information that is needed from their remote checkpoint and storage, saving time and money.



The Tools

Today, most security cameras on the market are either modified hunting cameras or high-end time-lapse video cameras that do not offer motion-sensing technology.



A hunting camera is a cheaper alternative to quality security cameras, but it lacks the picture quality and motion sensing area because it is designed to watch a deer trail and not a large remote area. Most hunting cameras require the end user to pick up the internal SD card to view the pictures on a computer. Although this method is the least expensive option, by the time a contractor has realized a jobsite has been vandalized, it's more than likely too late to catch the perpetrators.



Most high-end, time-lapse construction cameras are designed for the purpose of taking high-resolution pictures on a timed interval. That said, the designers of these types of cameras have left out the ability to use the time-lapse construction camera as a jobsite security camera by not offering a motion-sensing technology or night-vision capabilities.



Wireless, solar-powered construction cameras fill a void in remote areas where security and surveillance couldn't be performed before because of the costly expense of trying to provide power and an Internet connection to those areas. Eye Trax, for example, offers a cellular-based construction camera that is indefinitely powered by a solar panel, triggered by motion, has night-vision capabilities and is controlled by a web-based User Interface or Mobile Phone App. Installation takes about 20 minutes and can be done by anyone who can operate a mobile phone and a screwdriver. By simply turning the cellular security camera on in various remote locations, the system will automatically connect to the closest cellular tower. And, the mobile application makes aiming the camera easy by simply taking a live picture upon pointing the camera at a targeted area. These features, combined with all the traditional features of a time-lapse video camera, are incorporated into Eye Trax's camera design.



The Technology

When considering the purchase of security cameras for work truck monitoring purposes, it is important to understand the differences in motion-activated camera systems.



Most motion-detection camera systems use a method of “change in pixels” in the viewing area as a trigger. When the viewfinder in the motion-activated camera sees a percentage change in pixel color, it considers this an event. This type of trigger can cause many false alarms because anything that changes in front of the motion-activated camera is considered an event. This event could be the wind blowing leaves on the trees or trash blowing around a construction site. When a motion-activated camera creates this many false alarms, fleet managers have the tendency not to be as alert to the picture activity because they receive so many false alarms, thus reducing the accountability of the entire motion sensor security camera system.



By utilizing a security camera system that incorporates an integrated passive infrared sensor, events are only triggered by measurable changes in thermal activity in the camera's viewing area. Here's how it works: A passive infrared sensor (PIR) creates an invisible thermal grid in front of the construction camera viewing area. Once this thermal grid is disturbed with an introduction of a new thermal profile, the construction camera will trigger and in less than half of a second and start taking pictures. Typically, a human, vehicle or large animal will cause the motion-activated camera to trigger.



Once the event is captured by the camera, it will be time and location stamped and sent immediately over the system's secure cellular network to cloud-based servers, along with all of the pictures from the event, for storage and retrieval.



The method of viewing these events is also very important: Fleet managers will receive instantaneous alerts that an event has occurred. When the event is delivered to a mobile phone, it is only seconds old and can be acted upon quickly. For example, with a quick review of the images, a fleet manager has enough time to call dial 911 and report a crime against their work truck fleet while it is still in progress. By calling the police department with live evidence of a crime, the police will consider this a “crime in action” and use every effort to immediately apprehend the perpetrator(s).



Managing Assets

With security camera systems, work truck fleet managers can better monitor and manage events, such as vehicles coming and going from remote locations. Because pictures can be acquired during the day and night with a time and date stamp, and are sent over the cellular network for cloud-based storage, fleet managers can access the camera's pictures by location name and in chronological order, at any time, from anywhere.



While work truck activity logging can save the company time and money, fleet managers have also found motion-activated camera systems beneficial for the storage and operations surveillance in the vehicle storage areas. Fueling stations are often found in these remote locations and have a history of “losing” fuel to theft by employees or criminal activity. Cameras monitoring these fueling stations have resulted in a reduction of “losses” either by keeping employees honest or scaring off the criminals.



Using time-stamped pictures and video to monitor work truck activity over designated periods of time provides fleet managers with valuable information for developing accurate reports on a work truck fleet. By implementing security camera technology, fleet managers are able to efficiently manage their fleets and cost-effectively reduce their company's overall costs.



Eye Trax is the leading manufacturer of wireless outdoor security cameras in the world. For more information about Eye Trax products, visit www.eyetrax.net or call 800-594-4157.


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