Demystifying Vehicle GPS Trackers

Top advantages of the vehicle GPS tracker

As a business owner or fleet manager, you’ll want to keep track of your vehicles for varied reasons. We’ve put together the main five benefits of vehicle GPS tracking.

1. Keeps your vehicles secure

A vehicle GPS tracker can put you in control and give you peace of mind. Knowing your vehicle’s location at all times, you can check on whether anything suspicious happens, if the vehicle is in a safe spot or not. You will immediately know if there’s been a breakdown or an emergency involving your driver or vehicle. You will get instant notifications if you’re vehicle has been involved in an accident.

2. Saves you costs

Every business, big or small, aims to save unnecessary costs. There are a few costs that a vehicle GPS tracker can help you save on. Fuel, insurance, and maintenance are a few of those costs.

Fuel waste is a high concern and it can be caused by many factors, with aggressive driving being one of the most important. Speeding, harsh acceleration and braking, and poor driving behaviours in general can use more fuel, increasing costs. Use a vehicle GPS tracker to see the exact behaviours that cost you fuel and take the necessary measures, like training your drivers better to follow the company’s policy. Read our guide to reducing fuel consumption for more tips.

A vehicle GPS tracker can also save you on insurance. Many companies offer lower insurance premiums for vehicles with GPS trackers installed.
Having a vehicle GPS tracker installed, you can get alerts when your vehicle needs maintenance. This will help you arrange any maintenance works on your vehicle to reduce the downtime as much as possible and minimise unforeseen costs and repairs.

Read more about how to save your business money with vehicle tracking.

3. Helps you manage your drivers more efficiently

Your drivers are one of your most valuable assets. They’re also one of the most difficult to manage. They are human, after all! So, how does it work?

Vehicle GPS tracking lets you monitor your drivers’ performance. You’ll know how much your drivers are speeding, how often they swerve, hit the accelerator or the brakes too harshly. You get a diverse range of accurate data to implement proactive measures and necessary trainings to tackle these issues. Remember, your drivers and their driving style represent your company’s image.

4. Improved customer satisfaction

A vehicle GPS tracker can help you answer customer questions faster and deal better with new orders. You’ll know exactly where your vehicles are so you can give better time estimates. You can assign the closest vehicle to a new job without much hassle. You can give your customers the much-appreciated live updates.

5. Sends you instant and customised alerts

Vehicle GPS tracking offers this very handy feature called geofencing. This can make it easier to manage drivers or deliveries, and to keep company vehicles secure. With geofencing, you can assign an area to a certain vehicle, and you’ll get notified the moment that vehicle leaves or enters the designated area. The alert tells you the vehicle, the named geofence, exactly where it has crossed and the direction of travel, in other words, if the vehicle was entering the geofence or leaving it.

This also makes it easy to track any unauthorised use of the vehicle.

How exactly does a vehicle GPS tracker work?

A small GPS device installed on your vehicle sends special satellite signals that are processed by a receiver. The traced location data is then transmitted to a remote server to your vehicle tracking provider. This data can track the movement of your vehicles and see where exactly they are and have been.

Modern vehicle GPS trackers include an accelerometer, which detects forward and back movement, left and right, and up and down. The device can measure the axis, and therefore detect the severity of harsh cornering, accelerating and sudden braking. You can also use the data to generate reports on your drivers’ behaviour. All this information can ultimately help you cut costs and improve your vehicles’ efficiency.

What does a vehicle GPS tracker look like?

In short, small and powerful. A vehicle GPS tracker is like a very small box with a magnetic side. It will have a motion sensor and internal antennas. It’s black so it won’t stand out. It can be hardwired or portable, though we’d recommend you choose the hardwired one for your business.

Is vehicle GPS tracking legal?

This is one of the most common questions we’ve ever heard.

Yes, using a vehicle GPS tracker is legal, provided that your employees are aware the devices are installed on the vehicles.

In the UK, a fleet manager is expected by law to ensure the safety of their drivers. So, a vehicle GPS tracker is not a tool to spy on the drivers, it is a useful tool to assure their safety and wellbeing.

The data collected using a vehicle GPS tracker should be used for business purposes only. And, yes, one of those business purposes involves tracking certain data on your drivers. You want to make sure your drivers benefit from appropriate trainings that you can set up based on this data. You want to proactively deal with any issues that affect your business, and the data collected from a vehicle GPS tracker can help you do that.

How do you choose a vehicle GPS tracker?

There are many providers on the market with many offers and specifications. So, choosing a vehicle GPS tracker may prove to be both difficult and time-consuming.

This is where we step in. You tell us about your business needs, and we scour the market for you. We compare your needs with the products available and get quotes on the best matches.

It won’t take longer than a minute to fill in the form. Let us help you find the right solution for the right price!