Advances in Vehicle Tracking

The vehicle tracking market has evolved considerably over the years and the days of customers simply wanting a dot on the map seem a distant memory. As consumers become more educated in the different ways the technology can help their business, the demands and expectations of systems is set to increase.

A number of the more advanced vehicle tracking systems already offer comprehensive reporting and alerting suites, giving users the ability to monitor exceptions based on criteria unique their business. Alongside this many providers also offer two way messaging and integrated navigation terminals, helping them drive efficiency throughout their business.

So where is the market going? One direction is engine diagnostics, being able to remotely monitor and report on driving performance is something many businesses would find beneficial, however this isn't always suitable, particularly when vehicles are being driven in different environments. Another direction is integration through an API interface. Again a number of the more reputable providers offer this functionality, enabling the data from the tracking system to be displayed and manipulated within any third party software package; opening vehicle tracking to many new markets.

Which direction will the technology go, only time will tell...

Vehicle Tracking Within The Petrochemical Industry

The petrochemical industry is a market which on the surface is ideally suited to vehicle tracking technology. The product being transported is of high value (tankers carry in the region of £50,000 worth of fuel) and because of its volatile nature vehicles carrying the product can present significant terrorism risks.

However vehicle tracking has until now only scratched the surface of this industry.

The reason the technology has not penetrated the market is down to the "potentially explosive environment" the vehicles themselves have to work within. It's only within the last 18 months that providers have been able to offer a solution that meets Category 3G of the ATEX directive, a fundamental requirement relating to the welfare of workers in explosive conditions.
With tracking companies now providing solutions that meet the directive vehicle tracking should, finally, start to penetrate into this market. So what will this mean for the businesses operating in the market?

In my opinion, the most significant impact this will have on the industry is the competitive advantage the technology will offer early adopters. With the features available on the more advanced vehicle tracking systems it could be a key ingredient for businesses to differentiate themselves in a very commoditised market.

Read more on Navman Wireless's vehicle tracking device within the petrochemical industry.

If you have any question please feel free to comment and i will respond ASAP.

Vehicle Tracking - the many benefits of reporting

One feature of vehicle tracking definitely worth mentioning is reports. You can view a historical overview of both the vehicle and driver's activity, setting specific requirements as to what you want to look at in seconds. Furthermore, you can set a particular report so that it gets sent to your personal email on a regular basis, without having to go to your computer and searching for a certain report every time.

In addition there is a large variety of reports that you could run, each one telling you different bits of information about either the driver or vehicle. You could access each individual trip made by a vehicle or driver by running a 'Trip report', so you could ensure that every trip is accounted for. Or, you could run an 'unauthorised trip report'. This will show you when a vehicle has been used, out of a set time frame which you will have already created. You can also check to see whether your drivers are abiding by the speed limit by running a 'Over speed report', or see how long a vehicle has been used for in one day, by running a 'Time sheet report'. This will allow you to check on how many hours an employee has been working in the day, so you can pay them an accurate wage. One more type of report worth mentioning is the 'Idle report'. This will show you if the engine has been left running for a long time while the vehicle is in a stationery position.

Personally i fell that using the reports can make a business that much more efficient, as not only can you track the whereabouts of each, individual vehicle and driver, but you can also access more detailed information like the speed of the vehicle making it much easier for an employer to keep track of vehicle activity.

Vehicle tracking – moving forward with Smartphone technology

The take up of vehicle tracking amongst very small businesses has always been plagued by one particular customer objection, "I don't have time to spend looking at the tracking software". There are plenty of answers to this, alerts can be generated for a variety of events and the user then prompted to look at the system – removing the need to sit looking at a PC all day. That's fine, but what if you are on the road? Many owner/directors spend a considerable amount of time in the field, driving or carrying out customer visits. Great to receive an alert if you can then go and check the activity of a driver and view mapping or a report.


Smartphone technology offers the solution to this problem. Over the next few years, Smartphones and networks will become more sophisticated and the mobile internet connections faster. Whether its an iPhone app, Blackberry or Windows Mobile device that instant tracking information can be available in the palm of your hand. This is not a technology pipe dream but a reality now. Early versions of these applications are appearing on the vehicle tracking market and it is only investment into research and development that can slow it down.

Geofences - A Very Useful Feature of Vehicle Tracking

A really useful feature of vehicle tracking is geofences. Geofences can send you an email alert when one of your vehicles enters or exits a geographical zone in real time, so it lets you know straight away! Adding a geofence is easy; click add on the toolbar, then choose the shape you want your Geofence to be (either a rectangle or a polygon). To draw a polygon, just click on the map and start selecting boundary points for the geofence. To draw a rectangle, simply drag the mouse over the area that you want to have a geofence around. Next, you can choose properties of the geofence, like giving it a name, a description and adding the email addresses that you want to have alerts sent to. Finally, you select the vehicles that you want to apply the geofence to, so you'll be notified when one of those vehicles goes in or out of the geofence.

Having a geofence means that you will be alerted when one of your delivery trucks is going to make the delivery to a customer, so you can let your customer know in advance of the delivery being made. Alternately, if you are waiting for a vehicle to make a collection, you will know when it is about to arrive and you can get the packages ready to be loaded onto the truck and delivered to your customers. There are so many other ways that you can use a geofence and it can really benefit your company in saving time and money!

The Focus On Commercial Vehicles

Suppliers of vehicle tracking systems, consistently communicate to their audience the benefits this technology brings and how it can improve productivity and reduce costs. These claims are undoubtedly true and are backed with a wealth of evidence from businesses who have experienced the benefits first hand. Yet, how many of these businesses track non commercial vehicles? 99% of those businesses who have tracking installed will have commercial vehicles; the central focus of vehicle tracking marketing departments.

Focusing on commercial vehicles was clearly the right approach from a marketing perspective. A vast opportunity in itself, these businesses - especially those operating fuel hungry and expensive trucks – have the most compelling return on investment and were the easiest target for tracking suppliers from the late 1990’s onwards. Is this sustainable and where next? There are no definitive statistics on the penetration of vehicle tracking in the B2B market or any other, the industry is too new and fragmented. Penetration of commercials is clearly increasing and is currently estimated at between 20 – 30% so suppliers need to get their strategies in order. There are 2 key ingredients for a long term strategy, investment in product development will help move the industry into new markets and provide killer applications. Secondly, innovative marketing will deliver irresistible ROI to fleets of company cars and communicate in the language of the Sales Manager or Service Manager addressing their own demands and priorities. The only question is how long it takes for the benefits of this technology to be successfully translated?

Vehicle Tracking – How To Reduce Fuel Costs

Vehicle tracking has many virtues which help managers control the cost and improve the efficiency of their remote workforce. These are too vast to explore in a single post so I thought I would kick things off by focusing on how vehicle tracking can help businesses cut their fuel bill, which from my experience, is the most common reason for companies to invest in the technology.

A number of commentators claim that vehicle tracking can save businesses upwards of 14% on their fuel bills, so how does this little black box deliver such savings?

Reducing unauthorised use – Vehicle tracking provides businesses with the visibility of vehicle movements 24/7. So, if a vehicle is supposed to only be used during the working day you can instantly see, in real time (or through historical reporting), whether a vehicle is being used when it should be parked up. This, in my experience is the single biggest contributor to reducing fuel costs, and in some cases businesses have saved thousands through this alone.

Nearest vehicle search – If you are using one of the more sophisticated vehicle tracking systems you will have the ability to instantly search for a specific geographical location for a job, delivery, collection etc, and at the click of a button locate the nearest vehicle to this job. By doing this businesses can reduce the miles there vehicles are traveling and subsequently cut fuel spend.

Improved routing – By selecting a vehicle tracking solution with the ability to replay a vehicles daily activity you can instantly see whether a vehicle has deviated from a planned route or taken an inefficient route. By analysing this information and taking corrective action businesses can reduce wasted fuel.

Prevent driving at excessive speed – I have heard claims that driving at 70 mph uses 30% more fuel than at 50 mph but even if these figures are exaggerated it is excepted that the quicker you drive the more fuel you burn. So, if you’re using a vehicle tracking system with the ability to monitor and report on driving speed you can instantly identify the drivers who speed regularly and through training take corrective action.

If you have any questions please leave a comment and I will get back to you ASAP.