No fleet company wants to deal with losing vehicles or losing fleet productivity. Yet, following the economic downturn, vehicle theft is unfortunately on the rise. What fleet companies can do to mitigate this problem is to install GPS trackers on their cars and trucks. Doing so will help to prevent theft, aid in stolen vehicle recovery, and keep you alerted on suspicious driver behaviour.

About GPS trackers

GPS trackers are devices that are installed in vehicles for tracking of real-time vehicle locations and past movements. They are commonly used in commercial fleets to increase fleet visibility and also to assist with investigations when tracing stolen vehicles. GPS trackers are also beneficial for streamlining fleet operations and improving fleet efficiency.

How GPS vehicle tracking systems work in vehicle theft prevention

Whenever it comes to protecting a vehicle from theft, most people believe a vehicle alarm to be the safest choice. In reality, it may take 30 to 40 seconds for an expert auto thief to disarm the alarm. Therefore, the most secure choice is to use a GPS tracking device in addition to a car alarm system for comprehensive anti-theft vehicle protection.

While a thief may know how to stop the alarm, GPS tracking devices are concealed within automobiles and the thief may not expect it to be present. And in the worst-case scenario that the vehicle is stolen, there is a much higher chance of its recovery as GPS trackers are able to show vehicle locations in real-time.

Your GPS tracking system collects signals from GPS satellites and updates your vehicle location data every few seconds. With this kind of lightning-fast location tracking, you can imagine how much faster stolen vehicle investigations will be.

Geofencing with GPS trackers

Geofencing is another method which can be used to prevent vehicle theft. In GPS monitoring software, geofences form a virtual boundary around a vehicle destination. Whenever a vehicle passes through this virtual fence, an alert will be triggered and sent to your fleet managers, letting them know instantly if a vehicle has departed an area without authorisation.

Besides being useful for theft alerts, geofencing is great for tracking fleet whereabouts at job locations. Fleet managers can check the timings of vehicle entries and exits and monitor whether their drivers are working according to schedule.

What GPS tracking system features can tell you about your vehicle

1. Ignition On/Off Alert: The ignition on/off alert will notify you of a text message whenever your vehicle’s ignition is turned on or off. The moment someone starts your vehicle, you’ll get a notification right away.

2. Real-Time Speed & Whereabouts: GPS trackers connected to a GPS tracking system will display current vehicle data on a map interface such as speed and location. With this, you’ll be able to see where your vehicle is going and monitor its activity in real-time simply by clicking in to track any vehicle on the map.

3. Speeding Alert: You can select a speed threshold in the GPS vehicle tracking system, and set an alert to catch drivers who are not driving safely or exhibiting unusual driving behaviour.

4. Geofence Alert: As mentioned before, geofences are encircled zones that alert you to any activity in or around certain locations. With geofencing, you can monitor driver activity at frequent pick-up or drop-off destinations or remote job sites.

5. Driver ID Management & Prevention of Engine Access: Some GPS trackers come equipped with additional anti-theft devices such as driver ID recognition and automatic engine off switches in the event of attempted theft.

6. Anti-tampering SMS Alert: Other devices that are usually paired with GPS trackers include anti-tampering devices, which will warn you the moment someone tampers with your vehicle. These helps to prevent goods and fuel theft and vehicle vandalism on top of car theft.

Final thoughts

Automobile theft may seem like a rare and unfortunate occurrence, but it is actually more common than you think. More importantly, no fleet company or individual will want to be the victim of a car theft and deal with the hassle and losses involved in trying to recover the vehicle and its goods. If it can be prevented, why give any chance to the possibility of theft?

Vehicle theft may be on the rise, but it can be mitigated by installing a GPS vehicle tracking system. And because it entails the security of your fleet, it is essential to go for reliability instead of lowest-cost GPS tracking solutions, so you won’t run into issues later on such as inaccurate GPS tracking and frequent GPS system downtime.

Our team at V3 Smart Technologies are experienced in developing and implementing high-quality, custom GPS tracking solutions with industry-grade GPS trackers for small to large fleets. Let us know if we can help you create an easy-to-use GPS system to track your drivers and prevent valuable asset theft.