Global Positioning Systems could be key to finding your way to more profitable driving.

Centuries ago, the British Navy had so much trouble navigating its path around the world that it offered a huge prize to whoever invented a clock that would keep time accurately at sea. Several hundred years later, the problem has been solved for good. The result is the Global Positioning System (GPS).

Any trucker who has spent an hour maneuvering through the narrow streets of a big city trying to find a warehouse when he has gotten poor directions will sympathize with the lost sailors. And with fuel past nosebleed prices, using GPS is clearly a way to make your driving more profitable.

How GPS can save
With GPS, you save fuel by driving shorter distances on delivery, eliminating out-of-route miles as well as minimizing miles driven to access the services you need while on the road. You should be able to make more runs in a month or year, as well.

“Drivers gain the tremendous benefits of effective navigation,” says Tom Murray, vice president of marketing at TomTom. “They can get efficiently from point A to point B, and this gives them a feeling of safety and control. Plus, they can get information on prices at thousands of fuel stations.”

Further, when a trucker is lost, he or she usually ends up in an area not designed for heavy vehicles or that have many busy intersections with traffic lights or stop signs. The driver may even have to turn around in a difficult spot because of height or weight restrictions. All these things add up to extra brake, clutch and drivetrain wear.