A 2003 study by market researcher C

A 2003 study by market researcher C.J. Driscoll & Associates revealed more than 1 million fleet vehicles nationwide were equipped with some sort of automated tracking system, including about a quarter of the nation's 1.3 million long-haul trucks. And the number of commercial fleet vehicles equipped with such devices - such as limousines, buses and smaller building supply trucks - had doubled over the past three years, the study found.

Locarta is just one of the many tracking device products available on the market now. Another industry leader, FleetMinder, uses a Global Positional Satellite (GPS) system to track vehicles for reporting data that includes routes, stops, total mileage and even the number of times a vehicle's doors are opened and closed. The FleetMinder data can be overlaid on a map program for fine- tuning route plans and cutting back on unprofitable side trips.

Locarta advertises that an average 30-vehicle delivery fleet wastes as much as $1,700 per month - 30 trucks times 20 wasted miles each times 22 working days, using fuel at 12 miles per gallon at $1.55 per gallon. A service fleet can save even more, the company estimates.