After two instances of equipment theft, Level Green Landscaping, based in Washington, D.C., invested in a GPS system for its 70-vehicle fleet.

“Our trucks would get stolen, and we’d find the truck and trailer days later with all the equipment missing,” says Owner Doug Delano, whose company does mostly commercial work and will bring in about $12.5 million this year.

Through its fuel supplier, the company purchased a GPS system from VehiclePath. The service costs $29 per month per truck, including the leased equipment and installation.

The company’s leadership now knows where each truck is constantly. It also can tell when trucks are speeding or idling. Delano receives notifications if a truck exceeds a certain speed or idles for more than five minutes. As a result, the company has cut its average idle time in half since purchasing the service. Crew members even compete to see who logs the least idle time per month. A few months in, the system was tested when a vehicle was stolen. Within five minutes, Delano was able to find the truck and track its location overnight, leading to the retrieval of about $235,000 worth of equipment.