Everything You Need to Know About Fleet Vehicle Tracking
Every month seems to bring a new technological marvel into our lives, from doorbell cameras to speakers on your kitchen counter you can talk to. But sometimes the simplest and most cost-effective tech has the biggest impact. One of the greatest innovations of the 20
th Century was a metal box – the cargo container, which drastically cut the time it takes to load a ship and can be transferred right from ship’s deck to a semi-tractor trailer. Starting in the 1950s, it slashed the cost of shipping and has generated trillions of dollars in economic growth. Not bad for a bunch of steel sheets, framing, hinges and locks.
Where’s my fleet?
Vehicle asset tracking is another example. Just knowing where the vehicles of a fleet are – from short-haul and long-haul trucks to government vehicles and rental cars – produces more benefits than meet the eye at first glance:
- Fleet vehicle tracking optimizes routing and dispatch to reduce idle time, better coordinate pickups and deliveries, and prevent costly losses.
- Tracking fleet assets lets you identify drivers who drive aggressively, which wastes fuel and leads to unnecessary wear and tear. It can also capture speeding violations that risk injury and open the organization to fines.
- Fleet management tracking ensures that all assets are visible, which can save hours spent manually locating trailers or contacting customers to learn if they are detaining trailers.
- Geofencing technology for fleet vehicle tracking can send alerts when vehicles leave pre-determined areas due to misuse or theft.
When you are tracking fleet assets, you need a high-quality mapping application that receives the GPS coordinates of all vehicles and displays them in near-real-time. Platforms like
SPOT My Globalstar transform a simple tracking application into a comprehensive fleet management tracking system.
What’s going on in my fleet?
Fleet vehicle tracking, however, can do more than report location. Trackers can also function as data transmitters to upload sensor data on speed, fuel consumption, tire pressure, engine runtime and other critical factors. This enriched vehicle asset tracking data allows maintenance to be timed to actual need instead of routinely scheduled, fuel use to be optimized and driver behavior to be monitored.
The Globalstar solution
Most fleet management tracking systems rely on cellular connectivity to deliver their data. That’s fine – as long as your fleet only travels through populated areas with good cellular coverage from a single mobile network operator. Leave the operator’s network, however, and the asset vanishes from your screens.
The only dependable connectivity option for fleet management tracking is satellite. You may be thinking that satellite is super-expensive and requires a big antenna on vehicles. Not the Globalstar network. Whether sending GPS coordinates or sensor readings, it takes only a small amount of bandwidth to transmit periodic bursts of tracking fleet data. From satellites in space to devices in the field, our network is designed to deliver
smart data – just the information, location tracking and messaging you need at an affordable cost over most of the world.
Globalstar’s fleet vehicle tracking devices include
SmartOne Solar, the only solar-powered asset tracker certified Intrinsically Safe (ATEX, HERO) for combustible environments. One of the most feature-rich satellite devices for tracking fleet assets, this small, easy-to-mount and configurable device is powered by sunlight and delivers years of use with little or no maintenance. Built-in sensors automatically detect when it is attached, report if it falls free from the vehicle, and monitor the battery level. It functions as a standalone asset tracker and can also relay data from other devices via satellite to Globalstar.
Another device, the
SPOT Trace, excels at near-real-time vehicle asset tracking of trucks and trailers in motion by providing location pings as often as every 2.5 minutes. It is ideal for tracking short-haul driving and high-speed travel.
Simple, affordable, reliable technology. It can have a bigger impact on your fleet than the fanciest new app on your brand new mobile phone.
 | Article By:
Globalstar |