The advancement in GPS tracking has helped to dramatically reduce car theft and increase productivity. From keeping family members safe to tracking employees and recovering valuable assets, vehicle trackers come with many benefits.
On the other hand, there are very few drawbacks of using a tracking device for your vehicle, but there are some features that may inconvenience the owner.
Here we’ll run through all the advantages and disadvantages of vehicle trackers, including how they can improve your life and the problems associated with them so you can be fully informed if and when you decide to invest.
Advantages
As well as allowing you to track the whereabouts of your vehicle, telematics systems gather vast amounts of information on speed, the working order of your car and engine usage. This information can be used to improve driving habits, lower fuel expenses and keep whoever is behind the wheel safe.
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1) Increased Security
Trackers can help vehicle owners protect one of their largest assets from thieves. Depending on the device you choose, it can use sensors to set off an alarm to deter theft and initiate safe zones. Safe zones, otherwise known as a geo-fence, is a virtual fence around a specific location, you will be sent an instant message when the tracker enters or leaves the virtual border, acting as an early warning system for theft.
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2) Theft Recovery
Real-time tracking allows a stolen car to be located within minutes from a smartphone or laptop, so should the worst happen you can contact the police and recover your vehicle quickly and efficiently.
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3) Personal Safety
Not many people are aware that some trackers can help to reduce car accidents and increase the safety of the driver. The owner of the car can set speed limits and alerts for risky driving to prevent employees or family members from driving your vehicle irresponsibly.
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4) Increase Productivity
For management purposes, the benefits of GPS tracking are invaluable! Not only can you use it to increase the productivity of your employees, but you can provide your customers with the exact location of their item being delivered at any point during the shipping process.
A GPS tracker helps you monitor the location of your fleet and your employees which helps to avoid unauthorized stops and breaks and track their total milage and delivery times.
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5) Save Money
Whilst buying the tracking device itself can be pretty expensive, you will save money in other aspects. Such as receiving discounts on insurance policies simply by having a tracker installed, and using driving data to save money on fuel.
Disadvantages
While installing a tracker into your vehicle has its advantages, there are some problems associated with them such as signal jamming, power dependency, privacy and cost.
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1) Privacy Issues
Many people consider tracking vehicles to be an invasion of privacy, which could be an issue if you’re planning to use the device for business purposes.
Luckily, when it comes to vehicle tracking in industry, there are laws in place to protect employees personal data. As an employer, you must always get your employees permission before installing a tracking device to their vehicle and ensure they know exactly how it works.
Make sure you check out our blog posts on Vehicle Tracking Laws for Business Owners and for Employees so you know exactly what’s allowed and what isn’t.
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2) Price
For a good vehicle tracker with all the mod cons, you can expect to pay quite a lot of money. But, there are trackers out there that range in price, and some are very reasonable. Do your research to make sure you’re buying a tracker that matches your needs to avoid overspending.
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3) Signal Jamming
GPS trackers can be jammed by devices that disrupt the signals from the satellites which can stop you from locating your vehicle. These are becoming increasingly popular amongst tech-savvy thieves. Unfortunately, the only way to stop signal jamming is to report the problem.
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4) Power Sourcing
Both battery-powered and hardwired tracking devices come with their disadvantages. Battery-powered trackers need to be kept charged at all times in order for them to work, which could become tedious. The charging time of a device varies significantly between models and they are considered easy to install. Hardwired trackers on the other hand use power from your car’s battery, so there’s no need to re-charge. However, if they’re not installed properly this can lead to its depletion, and they are more difficult to install.
Active vs Passive Trackers
Deciding whether to choose an active or passive tracker is also a decision to bear in mind. Active tracking systems collect and send data in real-time, whereas passive tracking systems collect and save their data which can be later retrieved.
Both passive and active trackers have their advantages and disadvantages, which you can see in the table below.
Overall, many people agree that the positives of installing a tracker to your vehicle drastically outweigh the negatives. If you’re thinking of purchasing a tracker, it’s important that you find the right one for you. Make sure you do your research to decide whether you want a passive or active system, some even use both types of tracking. We have lots of devices available here at Trackerfit, to suit all makes and models.