Vehicle tracking software explained

Vehicle tracking systems connect tracking devices with applic­a­tions to help businesses locate and monitor their vehicles in real-time. This comes with a huge range of uses for companies in trucking, aviation, boating and delivery, amongst many other industries. Every large-scale commercial vehicle operation in Europe will now use some form of tracking vehicles in its operation.

The technology behind vehicle tracking software

A map showing the real-time location of a vehicle

The technology behind vehicle tracking software

The technology behind tracking vehicles is actually quite simple. Using GPS, the tracking system accurately pinpoints a unit's current location at all times. This data is transferred via either a cellular network or satellite network to a remote server. It is then processed and made available to vehicle tracking software and applic­a­tions.

This whole process takes no longer than a few milli­seconds, ensuring constantly updated real-time location data for every vehicle of your fleet. Tracking vehicles is often a component of a more extensive telematics system, gathering other types of data from your vehicles such as their condition, speed and accel­er­ation. All this data may later be used in order to make educated executive fleet management decisions.

Vehicle tracking software

Woman working at a desk with two screens showing a vehicle tracking dashboard with graphs and a real-time location map.

Vehicle tracking software

The hardware side of vehicle tracking is so simple and so compact, it could be installed into personal belongings like wallets, purses or pets. What really differ­en­tiates the various vehicle tracking solutions on the market, however, is the service level and vehicle tracking software they offer.

This tracking software may either track a single vehicle, track an entire fleet or be a complete fleet management software suite gathering and presenting a massive range of diagnostic data alongside the geographical locations of the vehicles. Thus, the scale of operation is one of the most important factors in choosing the appropriate vehicle tracking software for your company. This article looks at the systems and technology behind vehicle tracking software and explains the benefits for commercial fleets.

The main purposes of vehicle tracking software

Cars and van driving on highway

The main purposes of vehicle tracking software

Using software to track vehicles has become a mainstream staple of many commercial vehicle fleets for a number of very good reasons. Here are some of the main purposes of vehicle tracking software for business fleets.

  • It creates the ability to optimise routes and schedules more easily in order to increase the fleet’s overall efficiency;
  • It helps keep a fleet secure, as a company can react quickly if a vehicle is in a location it should not be;
  • It enables a greater level of trans­parency towards business partners, as the whereabouts of any good within a fleet can be precisely shown.

Vehicle tracking software allows for a better under­standing of the inner workings of a fleet. It also comes with many advantages that may lead to significant cost reductions throughout a company as a whole.