"Where\'s the van?" I asked. The dispatcher let out a sigh. "Probably stuck in traffic." The map said something else. The dot throbbed at a taco counter. Later, the driver laughed. "Best al pastor in the area." Vehicle GPS tracking converts guesses into facts, and yes, it also saves lunches. 
A tracker is like a silent witness. Some go into the OBD-II port. Some people hardwire behind the dash. Some are little pucks that run on batteries and may be hidden anywhere. They ping their whereabouts at specified times, leaving a trail of breadcrumbs. Faster pings mean finer detail, but they also use up batteries and data. Slow pings use less power, but they miss rapid turns. Cities bring their own unique touches. Signals get bent by tall buildings. They are quiet in tunnels. Good devices store data offline and sync when they can see the sky again. What do you receive for all the trouble? Getting back stolen items using receipts. Dispatch that doesn't call drivers every ten minutes. Routes that are cleaner. Show that a crew really went to the spot and how long they were there. Geofences that make a noise when a truck enters a yard or goes off course. Track tendencies like speeding, abrupt braking, and idling without being a Big Brother. Tell drivers what you want to do. Don't surprise the coach. It's more important to be connected than to use buzzwords. In many places, 2G is no longer available. 3G is going away. LTE or LTE-M keeps trackers talking. There can still be problems in rural areas. Request store-and-forward. Inquire about firmware changes that happen over the air. Ask what will happen if a SIM card breaks. Also, choose a ping schedule that works with your budget and your level of patience. Safety and privacy share a cab. Use two-factor login to lock the account. Make sure your passwords are strong. Limit who can view what. Set work hours so that the map is silent after shifts. Want to trust? Give drivers access to the same information you do. Make narrative out of wins: "We found the skid steer in 10 minutes." That beats any note. Install it like you mean it. Keep the unit out of sight of people who don't need to see it. Don't put antennas near solid metal. When working with hardwire, use a fuse tap and a clean ground. Keep an eye on the power when the engine is on, but have a backup battery ready in case something goes wrong. Check the 12-volt behavior and standby draw for EVs. You don't want your car to die on Monday. Data that isn't acted on is junk. Choose a few metrics: How often things arrive on schedule extra resources and how often they are delivered on the first try Minutes of downtime per shift Route difference from plan Cost of gas per mile Maintenance is due based on the number of miles or hours the engine has run. Link notifications to genuine results. Give each driver five less minutes of downtime each day. That adds up quickly. Set up service reminders based on mileage. Find a bad battery early. Speeders should be warned before they get citations. A simple and to-the-point buying list: OBD, hardwire, and battery units are some of the hardware choices. Coverage, buffering when you're not connected, and an update pipeline Prices for devices, data, and platform seats are clear. Simple exports and connections to technologies you already use People who answer the phone when you call for help In the end, the car GPS tracking offers a straightforward promise: you can observe what's going on right now and take action before problems get worse. The map is true. But it does tell jokes, as when it found tacos.
A tracker is like a silent witness. Some go into the OBD-II port. Some people hardwire behind the dash. Some are little pucks that run on batteries and may be hidden anywhere. They ping their whereabouts at specified times, leaving a trail of breadcrumbs. Faster pings mean finer detail, but they also use up batteries and data. Slow pings use less power, but they miss rapid turns. Cities bring their own unique touches. Signals get bent by tall buildings. They are quiet in tunnels. Good devices store data offline and sync when they can see the sky again. What do you receive for all the trouble? Getting back stolen items using receipts. Dispatch that doesn't call drivers every ten minutes. Routes that are cleaner. Show that a crew really went to the spot and how long they were there. Geofences that make a noise when a truck enters a yard or goes off course. Track tendencies like speeding, abrupt braking, and idling without being a Big Brother. Tell drivers what you want to do. Don't surprise the coach. It's more important to be connected than to use buzzwords. In many places, 2G is no longer available. 3G is going away. LTE or LTE-M keeps trackers talking. There can still be problems in rural areas. Request store-and-forward. Inquire about firmware changes that happen over the air. Ask what will happen if a SIM card breaks. Also, choose a ping schedule that works with your budget and your level of patience. Safety and privacy share a cab. Use two-factor login to lock the account. Make sure your passwords are strong. Limit who can view what. Set work hours so that the map is silent after shifts. Want to trust? Give drivers access to the same information you do. Make narrative out of wins: "We found the skid steer in 10 minutes." That beats any note. Install it like you mean it. Keep the unit out of sight of people who don't need to see it. Don't put antennas near solid metal. When working with hardwire, use a fuse tap and a clean ground. Keep an eye on the power when the engine is on, but have a backup battery ready in case something goes wrong. Check the 12-volt behavior and standby draw for EVs. You don't want your car to die on Monday. Data that isn't acted on is junk. Choose a few metrics: How often things arrive on schedule extra resources and how often they are delivered on the first try Minutes of downtime per shift Route difference from plan Cost of gas per mile Maintenance is due based on the number of miles or hours the engine has run. Link notifications to genuine results. Give each driver five less minutes of downtime each day. That adds up quickly. Set up service reminders based on mileage. Find a bad battery early. Speeders should be warned before they get citations. A simple and to-the-point buying list: OBD, hardwire, and battery units are some of the hardware choices. Coverage, buffering when you're not connected, and an update pipeline Prices for devices, data, and platform seats are clear. Simple exports and connections to technologies you already use People who answer the phone when you call for help In the end, the car GPS tracking offers a straightforward promise: you can observe what's going on right now and take action before problems get worse. The map is true. But it does tell jokes, as when it found tacos.