Tempe-Based Integrated Landscape Management Resolves Disputes Through GPS Provider in Phoenix

The ALCA Influence, January/February 2009

Tempe, AZ-based Integrated Landscape Management, LLC, has saved thousands of dollars over the years in what otherwise would have been spent on legal fees by installing a GPS Fleet Tracking system, furnished by GPS Fleet Management, Inc., Phoenix, AZ, on all of its vehicles (currently 60+).

“Primarily we use the system to resolve any disputes a client might have concerning when we were on site,” says Integrated Landscape Management co-owner John Garigen. The company, founded by John and his partner, Robert Clinkenbeard, in 2001, is among the Valley’s largest commercial landscape contractors.  Garigen says they have used the GPS system with great results since 2002.

“The system also helps us identify weekend usage and vehicle idle time,” Garigen reports, “We have a policy prohibiting weekend usage of our vehicles, and the GPS system has cut weekend usage to zero.” Cutting down on the amount of time a company vehicle idles has also saved the company money. “We were probably wasting a couple of grand a month on gas before installing the GPS system,” he estimates.

The GPS Fleet Management system protects the company’s driver employees as well, Garigen reports. “On occasion, we will get a call complaining that one of our trucks on the road was driving recklessly. With the GPS system, which records real rime in two-minute intervals, we can prove the alleged offending vehicle was nowhere near the area at the time.”

The GPS system connects to a vehicle’s engine and uses area cell towers to transmit the vehicle’s location every two minutes. The system also monitors the vehicle’s speed, idle time, and fuel usage, as well as how much time the vehicle spent on a certain location or property.