Which GPS Tracking Setup Is Right for My Business?

November 28, 2024

Which GPS Tracking Setup Is Right for My Business?

GPS tracking for a business can be as simple as seeing where two work vans are — or as detailed as managing hundreds of vehicles, fuel use, driver behaviour, maintenance, equipment and alerts from one platform.

The right setup depends on what you operate and what you're trying to improve.

Before choosing a tracker, start with the business problem.

Do you want to:

See where your vehicles are?
Reduce fuel costs?
Monitor idling?
Manage mileage and journeys?
Improve vehicle utilisation?
Protect vehicles or equipment?
Manage servicing and maintenance?
Monitor driver behaviour?
Track vehicles across several branches?
Operate vehicles across the UK and Europe?

Once you know what information matters, choosing the hardware becomes much easier.

1. What does your business need to track?

Start with the assets themselves.

You might operate:

Cars
Vans
Rental vehicles
Lease vehicles
Plant and machinery
Trailers
Grounds-maintenance equipment
Other powered business assets

You may also have a mixture.

A business with five service vans has different requirements from a rental company managing hundreds of vehicles or a contractor wanting to track vans, machinery and equipment.

There isn't one tracker that's automatically right for all of them.

➡️ Tracking equipment too? Read: Can I Track My Tools and Equipment If They're Stolen?

2. How many vehicles do you have?

You don't need a huge fleet before GPS tracking becomes useful.

A business with two or three vehicles can benefit from knowing where they are, where they've travelled and when they move.

As the fleet grows, other considerations become more important:

Vehicle groups
Multiple locations or branches
User access
Device configuration
Alert management
Reporting
Installation and rollout
Adding and removing vehicles

The basic technology is similar, but the way the tracking account is organised becomes increasingly important.

For larger deployments, it's better to plan the setup around the business rather than simply add trackers one at a time.

3. Do you just need location — or more detailed vehicle information?

For some businesses, the main requirement is:

“Where are my vehicles?”

That's perfectly valid.

But the Global Trackers platform can provide considerably more information where supported by the vehicle, tracker and configuration.

Depending on your setup, this can include:

Vehicle location
Journey history
Mileage
Movement alerts
Geofences
Fuel consumption
Engine idling
Driver behaviour
CO₂ information
Maintenance and servicing information
Vehicle activity and utilisation

You don't necessarily need every feature.

The best setup gives you the information you'll actually use.

➡️ Want to understand the technology? Read: How Does a GPS Car Tracker Work?

4. Could tracking help reduce your fuel costs?

For many businesses, this is becoming increasingly important.

Tracking can help identify where fuel may be being wasted through things such as:

Unnecessary mileage
Excessive idling
Inefficient vehicle use
Poor job allocation
Driving behaviour
Repeated or inefficient journeys

Where supported, fuel-consumption information can be considered alongside journeys, mileage, idling and driver behaviour to give you a clearer picture of what's happening.

The tracker doesn't magically reduce your fuel bill.

It gives you the information needed to identify where changes may be worthwhile.

➡️ Also see: Can GPS Vehicle Tracking Help Reduce Fuel Use and Emissions?

5. Do you want plug-in or hardwired trackers?

This is one of the main hardware decisions.

OBD tracking

An OBD tracker plugs into a compatible vehicle's diagnostic port.

This can be useful where you want:

Straightforward installation
Easy removal
The ability to transfer the tracker between compatible vehicles
No hardwiring

This can be particularly useful for some fleets where vehicles regularly enter and leave the business.

Hardwired tracking

A hardwired tracker connects to the vehicle's electrical system.

This may be preferable where you want:

A discreet installation
A more permanent setup
The OBD port left free
Additional wired functionality where supported

Global Trackers' GT1 and GT3 can also support vehicle immobilisation when correctly wired and configured for an appropriate installation.

Immobilisation isn't simply enabled by plugging in a tracker. It requires the appropriate wiring, setup and consideration of how the function will be used.

If immobilisation is something your business requires, speak to us before installation so we can discuss the correct setup.

➡️ Compare the options: Hardwired vs OBD GPS Trackers: Which Is Right for You?

6. Does your business need vehicle immobilisation?

For some businesses, location information and alerts are enough.

Others may want the additional ability to immobilise a vehicle through an appropriately installed tracking setup.

The GT1 and GT3 support immobilisation when wired and configured correctly.

This can be relevant to particular security or fleet-management applications, but it needs to be implemented properly.

We wouldn't recommend treating immobilisation as a DIY feature or using it without considering the operational and safety implications.

If this is one of your requirements, tell us at the start so we can recommend the appropriate device and installation approach.

7. Do you operate rental or leasing vehicles?

Rental and leasing fleets have particular requirements.

Vehicles may:

Regularly enter and leave the fleet
Move between branches
Travel significant distances
Be used by different customers
Need mileage monitoring
Require maintenance planning
Travel into Europe

Global Trackers already supports established rental and leasing businesses managing substantial tracked fleets, so this is a use case we understand in practice.

➡️ Read our Rental & Leasing Guide: How Can GPS Tracking Help Vehicle Rental and Leasing Companies?

8. Do you need to track plant, machinery or equipment?

Vehicle tracking isn't limited to road vehicles.

Depending on power, environment and installation, GPS tracking can also be used with plant, machinery, trailers and other business assets.

Here the device choice becomes particularly important.

You need to consider:

Available power
Exposure to water and weather
Installation position
How frequently the asset moves
Satellite reception
Mobile connectivity

Don't simply choose the smallest tracker and assume it will work for every asset.

➡️ Business security: How GPS Tracking Can Help Protect Business Assets from Theft

9. Do you need movement alerts and geofences?

Alerts can be extremely useful — if they're configured around something you actually care about.

A movement alert can notify you when a vehicle or asset starts moving.

A geofence creates a virtual boundary around somewhere such as:

Your yard
An office
A depot
A branch
A customer's premises
A construction site
A storage facility

You can then monitor when tracked vehicles or assets enter or leave those locations.

The aim isn't to turn on every possible notification.

Too many irrelevant alerts simply become noise.

It's better to decide:

“What event would I genuinely want to know about?”

and configure the system accordingly.

10. Do you need to manage maintenance?

As fleets grow, maintenance can become surprisingly difficult to keep organised.

The Global Trackers platform can help businesses manage maintenance and servicing information.

That can help keep important vehicle requirements visible instead of spreading them between diaries, spreadsheets, paperwork and memory.

For businesses where vehicles generate revenue, avoiding unnecessary downtime can be particularly important.

11. Do you want to monitor driver behaviour?

Where supported by the tracking setup, the platform can provide driver-behaviour information.

Used appropriately, this can help a business understand how its vehicles are being operated.

That can support work around:

Fuel efficiency
Vehicle use
Driving patterns
Operational efficiency

Tracking shouldn't simply become a tool for watching employees.

Businesses should have a clear purpose for collecting information and consider their privacy and data-protection responsibilities.

12. Do your vehicles travel into Europe?

If your business vehicles regularly travel outside the UK, connectivity matters.

Global Trackers' current tracking service uses multi-network M2M connectivity across the UK and supported European networks.

You don't normally need to arrange a separate consumer mobile SIM for each tracker.

If vehicles operate further afield, check the countries with us before deployment.

➡️ SIM explained: Why Do GPS Trackers Need a SIM Card and Subscription?

13. Do several people need access?

A business tracking system needs to work for the people managing the operation.

That might include:

Business owners
Office staff
Fleet managers
Branch managers
Operations teams

For larger businesses, account structure matters.

Think about who needs access to which vehicles and information rather than giving everybody access to everything by default.

For substantial deployments, we can help discuss how the tracking setup should fit around your operation.

14. What if vehicles regularly enter and leave your fleet?

This is particularly important for rental, leasing and businesses that replace vehicles frequently.

A plug-in tracker may be convenient where easy transfer between compatible vehicles is important.

A hardwired device may be preferable where discretion, permanence or additional wired functionality is required.

Neither is automatically better.

The right answer depends on how your fleet operates.

15. What does business GPS tracking cost?

There are normally two costs:

The tracking device and the ongoing tracking service.

Global Trackers' standard subscription is currently £5.99 per tracker per month including VAT, including the multi-network M2M SIM and access to the tracking platform.

Device cost depends on the tracker required.

For larger deployments, speak to us about the fleet rather than simply ordering a large quantity of one device. Different vehicles or assets may genuinely need different trackers.

➡️ See the costs: How Much Does a Car Tracker Cost in the UK?

16. What about employee privacy and data protection?

If employees use tracked business vehicles, you need to consider your privacy and UK data-protection responsibilities.

What is appropriate depends on:

What information you're collecting
Why you're collecting it
Who can access it
How vehicles are used
Whether private use is permitted
How long information is retained

The purpose of the tracking should be clear and appropriate.

For organisation-specific requirements, appropriate legal or data-protection advice may be necessary.

We'll cover employee vehicle tracking separately in our dedicated Guide.

Which GPS tracker should my business buy?

Don't start with:

“Which tracker has the longest specification sheet?”

Start with:

What are we tracking?

What problem are we trying to solve?

What information do we actually need?

How should the device be installed?

Where will the vehicles or assets operate?

Who needs access to the information?

Once those questions are answered, choosing the hardware becomes much easier.

Your business may need one tracker type across the whole fleet.

Or you may need a combination of OBD, hardwired and more rugged devices for different vehicles and assets.

That's completely normal.

Not sure where to start?

Tell us:

How many vehicles or assets you have
What they are
Where they operate
What you're trying to improve

That might be security, fuel costs, vehicle visibility, maintenance, driver behaviour, rental-fleet management or simply knowing where everything is.

We'll help you work out the simplest suitable setup.

Tracking made easy. Support that makes the difference.

Which GPS Tracking Setup Is Right for My Business?