It's 95 Degrees. Do You Know Where Every Crew Is?

The Numbers Are Worse Than Most Owners Realize

The National Weather Service ranks heat as the leading cause of weather-related deaths in the United States, ahead of hurricanes, floods, and tornadoes (National Weather Service). That is the general public. For people who work outside all day in physically demanding jobs, the exposure is in a different league entirely.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 48 workers killed by on-the-job heat exposure in 2024, part of a toll that has run into the dozens every single year for decades and, by the government's own analysis, is very likely undercounted (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, via National Safety Council). Beyond the deaths, thousands of workers each year suffer heat injuries and illnesses serious enough to cost them days away from work. Construction, landscaping, and other outdoor trades sit at the top of the risk list, right where your crews are.

Here is the part that should change how you run the next few weeks, because you can act on it directly: a large share of heat deaths happen in a worker's first few days on the job, before their body has adjusted to the conditions. New hires, guys coming back from a stretch off, anyone not yet acclimatized to full days in the heat, those are the people most likely to go down. Building crews up gradually over their first week or two is one of the most effective things you can do, and it costs you almost nothing.

This Is a Compliance Issue Now, Not Just a Safety One

For years, heat was governed by best practices and common sense. That is changing, and landscaping is named specifically in the change.

In April 2026, OSHA issued a revised National Emphasis Program for outdoor and indoor heat hazards, an enforcement directive running through 2031, and landscaping is on its list of high-risk target industries (OSHA). Separately, OSHA has a proposed federal heat standard in the works that would require written heat plans, rest breaks, shade and water, acclimatization schedules, and training, with action triggers at a heat index of 80 degrees and again at 90 degrees. That rule is still in rulemaking and has not been finalized, so do not plan your season around it as if it were law yet. But do not assume heat is unregulated in the meantime either.

Two things are already true today. First, OSHA can and does cite employers for heat under the General Duty Clause, which requires a workplace free from recognized hazards, even without a specific heat rule on the books (OSHA). Second, a number of states already have their own heat illness prevention standards in force, including Maryland, along with California, Colorado, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington (OSHA-approved State Plans). If you operate in one of those states, you already have obligations right now, this summer.

The through-line in all of these rules is worth noting, because it points straight at something you can control.

Every Heat Rule Comes Back to Two Things You Can Actually Manage

Read through the OSHA proposal and the state standards and the same requirements keep showing up: water, shade, rest, gradual acclimatization, and training. Those are the backbone of any heat plan, and you should build one (there is a simple starting point at the end of this article).

But buried in those same rules are two requirements that are easy to overlook and hard to satisfy when your crews are scattered across a metro area: effective communication and emergency response. California's standard, for example, requires that once outdoor temperatures hit 95 degrees in high-heat industries like landscaping, employers observe workers regularly for signs of heat illness and maintain an effective way to communicate with them (Cal/OSHA). OSHA's proposed rule and the state plans all lean on the same idea: you have to be able to reach your people, and if someone goes down, you have to be able to get help to their exact location fast.

That is a lot easier to write into a plan than it is to do at 2 in the afternoon when one crew is on a job you have never physically visited and the foreman is not picking up. Knowing where every crew actually is, at a glance, is the piece most operations are missing. And it is the piece that turns a binder on a shelf into a plan that actually protects people.

Where Live Visibility Fits Into Heat Safety

Let me be straight with you about what GPS does and does not do here, because you deserve an honest pitch. AlerTrax is not a heat sensor. It does not measure a worker's core temperature, it will not detect heat stroke, and it will not write your safety plan for you. Anyone who tells you a tracker keeps your crew safe from heat by itself is selling you something.

What AlerTrax gives you is the one thing a heat plan is useless without: knowing where your people are. On a dangerous-heat day, that changes what you are able to do.

• See every crew on one live map, updated as often as every 2 minutes, so you can rotate crews off the most exposed sites, get water and relief to the right location, and physically check on the crew that has gone quiet instead of hoping they are fine.
• Notice when something is off. A truck that has not moved when it should have, a crew still sitting at a site an hour past when they should have left. Patterns like that are visible on the map when you know what normal looks like.
• AddressFence arrival and departure alerts tell you the moment a crew reaches a remote site and when they leave it, so nobody is left behind at a job you cannot see from the road.
• Get help to the exact spot, fast. If someone does go down, live location, and a shareable tracking link you can send to responders, points EMS straight to the site instead of to a vague cross-street. That is exactly what the emergency-response piece of a heat plan is supposed to deliver.

None of this replaces water, shade, rest, and training. It sits underneath all of it, as the visibility and communication layer that the rules assume you already have and most operations do not.

Why AlerTrax Fits the Way You Actually Work

Most GPS systems were built for over-the-road trucking fleets with constant 12-volt power and hardwired installs. Landscaping does not work that way. You have work trucks, trailers, mowers, and skid steers moving in and out of crews and job sites all day. AlerTrax was built for that reality.

• Over a Year of Battery Life, No Wiring: AlerTrax runs on its own battery for a full year or more. No splicing into your electrical system, no OBD port, no install appointment. Mount it and it works.
• Put It on Anything That Moves: Trucks, trailers, mowers, skid steers, or any piece of equipment you take to a job. One platform for your whole fleet, and every crew visible on one screen.
• Live Fleet Map: Every tracked asset in the AlerTrax Fleet Portal and the iOS and Android app, with updates as often as every 2 minutes.
• AddressFence and Geofence Alerts: Get notified the moment an asset arrives at, departs from, or moves outside any boundary you draw around a job site, a customer property, or your yard.
• Shareable Tracking Link: Send a live location link to anyone, including emergency responders, with no app or login required on their end.
• Automatic Time-on-Site Logging: Arrival and departure timestamps on every stop, for job costing, payroll, and proof of service.
• 100% Waterproof, Ruggedized, Covert Mount: Built to take rain, mud, and pressure washing, and to tuck out of sight on any steel surface.

Pricing That Costs Less Than One Heat Incident

You can put AlerTrax on your entire fleet for a low monthly rate, with no long-term contracts and no hidden fees. Set against the cost of a single heat-related incident, in medical bills, lost time, a workers' comp claim, or an OSHA citation, knowing where your crews are all day is one of the cheaper protections you can put in place.

(Want to own it outright? There is a $599 one-time Lifetime option for permanent, subscription-free tracking. No fees, ever.)

See the monthly plan and get set up here.

A Simple Heat Plan You Can Start This Week

You do not need a consultant to get the basics in place. Start here, then formalize it in writing:

• Water, shade, rest: Cold water available at every site, a shaded spot to cool down, and rest breaks that increase as the heat index climbs.
• Acclimatize new and returning workers: Build them up gradually over their first week or two rather than throwing them into full days in the heat.
• Train the crew to spot the signs: Dizziness, confusion, cramping, and heavy sweating that suddenly stops. Make it clear that speaking up early is expected, not a weakness.
• Know where everyone is: Keep a live view of every crew so you can check in, rotate people, and respond immediately if something goes wrong.
• Have an emergency plan tied to real locations: Know exactly how to direct EMS to each site, including the remote ones.

And When the Season Cools Off, It Still Watches the Yard

The reason to put trackers on your fleet this month is your people. But the same devices keep working long after the heat breaks. Set a geofence around your yard and AlerTrax alerts you if a truck, trailer, or mower moves after hours, with tamper notifications if someone messes with the device. Same platform, protecting your crew in July and your equipment in December.

Know Where Your People Are Before the Next Hot Day

The heat is not letting up, and the rules around it are only getting tighter. You cannot control the weather, but you can control whether you know where every crew is when it turns dangerous. That is the difference between reacting to a bad afternoon and preventing one.

Visit www.buyalertrax.com and put a tracker on every truck, trailer, and machine, so you always know where your people are when it matters most.

This article is for general informational purposes only and is not legal, safety, or compliance advice. Heat safety obligations vary by state and by industry and change over time. AlerTrax is a location and asset-tracking system, not a heat-monitoring or medical device, and it is not a substitute for a compliant heat illness prevention program. Consult OSHA, your state occupational safety agency, and qualified safety or legal counsel to determine your specific obligations.

Sources

National Weather Service: Heat is among the leading causes of weather-related deaths in the United States.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries and Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (reported via the National Safety Council, Injury Facts): 48 work-related deaths from environmental heat exposure in 2024; thousands of nonfatal heat-related injuries and illnesses involving days away from work each year; figures are widely regarded as undercounts.
OSHA: Revised National Emphasis Program for Outdoor and Indoor Heat-Related Hazards (effective April 2026, through 2031) naming landscaping among high-risk target industries; proposed Heat Injury and Illness Prevention rule with heat-index triggers at 80 and 90 degrees, not yet finalized; enforcement of heat hazards under the General Duty Clause, Section 5(a)(1).
OSHA-approved State Plans: State heat illness prevention standards in force in Maryland, California, Colorado, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington.
Cal/OSHA: High-heat procedures at 95 degrees in outdoor industries including landscaping, requiring regular observation of workers and effective communication methods.