Nowhere to Run – The Modern Vehicle Tracking System

Go into any motorway service station these days and one will see posters up all over the place for the latest vehicle tracking system – its benefits, its coverage, and so on. What used to be high end, prohibitively expensive technology is now available to anyone. Vehicle tracking has become as common as satellite navigation (another thing one tends to see plastered all over service stations) – and for good reason. The exact same technology is used in both instances. This is enough to show one that vehicle tracking is now so affordable that no company running a fleet of vehicles should ever be without it.

A vehicle tracking system, in its basic form, works using the same GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) technology that route finding gear uses. In both cases, a receiver unit takes data from a satellite orbiting the earth, which tells it exactly where it is on a mapped grid. The vehicle being tracked then delivers that signal to a main frame or control system, which is set up at the headquarters, depot, or whatever, of the company doing the tracking.

The advantages, now the price of a vehicle tracking system is indistinguishable from the cost of a satellite navigation setup, are obvious. For a very minimal fee indeed a company that uses fleets or vehicles of any kind, can find out exactly where every single vehicle in its possession is, at any time of day or night. Theft of company vehicles is declining sharply as vehicle tracking becomes par for the course in the corporate and fleet worlds.

That’s not all, though. Misuse of company vehicles is dropping sharply, as employees realise they can no longer fudge mileage reports or make a habit of using the company truck to pick the kids up from school. A modern vehicle tracking system can deliver a huge amount of data to its control unit, including exact mileage, engine idling time, precise times during which the vehicle has been in use and even deviations from normal behaviour. This last example will set off immediate alarms at central control, allowing companies to investigate unscheduled or odd vehicle use as soon as it occurs.

Employees have always taken, and will always take, the opportunity to get a little freebie here and there out of their employer. Only, though, when they think they can get away with it. The vehicle tracking technology now available to every outfit running a fleet is so good that employees have realised they can’t get away with it – and so, when they know the company has installed a vehicle tracking system, they don’t bother to try.

The benefits, particularly when one looks at the costs, are excellent. Modern vehicle tracking is saving millions of pounds per year in the UK transport industry. And that’s not even taking into account the hundreds of other types of business that regularly run tracked vehicles. Don’t miss the boat – save time, money and fuel now.