From the Globe and Mail:
Ryan Vending, a Victoria-based company that fills and services vending machines throughout Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland, wanted to know whether its drivers were receiving fair compensation for the hours and kilometres they logged on their delivery routes. So last fall, the company installed GPS devices into a portion of their 30-vehicle fleet and saw immediate benefits: The technology helped the company confirm its pay calculations were fair and balanced.
Furthermore, Ryan Vending also discovered the technology improved their service-call response times, saved them money on fuel and stopped employees from abusing the privilege of taking company trucks home at night.
Called telematics, the technology goes beyond simply providing businesses with vehicles’ locations — it can also supply data on things like when a vehicle’s doors are open, when engines are turned on or when cargo has been picked up. What’s more, the technology can also enable a business to remotely control a vehicle by turning off its engine, locking a door or disabling the ignition.
But the technology does have its drawbacks. For every advocate trumpeting the benefits of telematics, there is a critic who says tracking workers violates privacy.