As a business owner, your company vehicles are among your most valuable assets, both in terms of monetary worth and how critical they are to everyday operations. Some of your employees are like mobile offices and brand representatives. They can be rolling advertisements for your brand.

So, it’s important that these assets are properly utilized. Are your drivers taking the most efficient routes? Are they using company assets for personal errands? And in a worst-case scenario, what would you do if a vehicle were stolen?

The only way to reasonably answer these questions is to maintain clear visibility into your fleet's daily operations. That means learning how to track a vehicle. Fortunately, with today’s technology, businesses of all sizes can do this.

By implementing a reliable system of GPS for vehicles, you can turn operational unknowns into actionable data that helps optimize operations and boost your company’s bottom line. Here is everything you need to know about how to track a vehicle for business owners.

The Real Cost of Untracked Vehicles

You see the fuel bills. You know what you pay for routine maintenance, and you remember what those repairs cost you. But if you don’t track your vehicles, you will have costs hiding in plain sight. These issues only reveal themselves after a GPS tracking solution is in place.

Increased Expenses

Unauthorized personal trips and inefficient routes add unnecessary mileage and use more fuel than necessary. This results in higher costs at the pump and accelerated wear and tear on your vehicles. If you don’t know about these inefficiencies, you can’t correct them.

Loss of Productivity

An untracked vehicle is unaccountable. Extended breaks, late starts, and early departures add up to lost work hours that you're paying for. Dispatching without real-time visibility can be a game of guesswork. You can’t be sure you’re sending the nearest employee to a new job, potentially wasting valuable time and fuel between appointments.

The Risk of Theft

Your vehicles are high-value assets that are vulnerable when left unmonitored. If one is stolen, you not only have to incur the replacement costs, but also endure the expense of operational inefficiency in the meantime.

The best way to address these challenges is learning how to track a vehicle. By implementing a system that leverages GPS for vehicles, you can finally replace ambiguity with concrete data. Modern tracking systems offer considerably more than a location on a map, as they provide the data to verify routes, confirm hours worked, and secure your assets against theft.  

Solving Everyday Challenges With Vehicle Tracking

So, how do tracking systems solve these everyday challenges? Take a look at common challenges and how you can approach these everyday vehicle-related business concerns.

Inefficient Routing and Operations

Wasted time on the road is wasted money. Think of all the times drivers took longer, scenic routes, or got lost. Taking inefficient routes often results in wasted time and fuel due to unexpected traffic delays.

GPS tracking provides the visibility needed to optimize your entire operation. You can analyze daily routes and identify more efficient paths. You can reduce fuel-guzzling idle time and ensure that you dispatch the closest employee to every service call.

Unsafe Driving Habits

Unsafe driving habits, such as speeding, harsh braking, and rapid acceleration, increase the risk of accidents and drive up costs. They cause your business to spend more money on fuel and accelerate wear and tear on your fleet.

A GPS tracking system can generate detailed reports on driver behavior. You can identify bad habits and provide targeted, constructive feedback. Safer driving protects everyone and reduces your company’s liability. This can lead to lower insurance costs and preserve your company's public reputation.

Vehicle Theft and Asset Protection

The theft of a single company vehicle can result in tens of thousands of dollars in loss and operational downtime. Fortunately, GPS trackers are the most effective anti-theft technology available.

If one of your vehicles is stolen, you can provide law enforcement with its exact, real-time location. Armed with this information, the chance of recovery is dramatically higher. Other tracking system features, like motion alerts or geofencing, can notify you the moment a vehicle is moved without authorization so that you can act immediately.

Unauthorized Vehicle Use

Unauthorized vehicle use, like taking a vehicle home without permission, is an unnecessary expense. It not only directly increases fuel costs and adds wear and tear to your vehicles, but also potentially exposes your business to liability.

GPS trackers solve these problems by setting clear boundaries. For example, the geofencing feature allows you to set virtual boundaries around locations such as your home office or remote job sites. You can then receive instant notifications if a vehicle leaves these areas during or after work hours. Also, historical playback features provide an undeniable vehicle activity record, so that you can easily identify and address these issues at any time.

Integrating GPS Tracking with Vehicle Management Systems

While you gain plenty of advantages from a GPS tracking system alone, that’s only part of the story. The other software you may already own likely covers your vehicles in some respects as well. For example, you might have dispatching software. Your maintenance team likely uses a scheduling app.

Integrating GPS data with these and other business systems consolidates your workflows, streamlining your operations. It also helps you gain new insights that weren’t available when the data was in its own silos. Some of the advantages of these integrations include:

Increased operational efficiency: You can use mileage data from your trackers to automatically schedule service appointments. Another option is to integrate with dispatching software to track drivers’ real-time locations. These are just a couple of the possibilities when you combine multiple software tools to streamline your workflows.

Improved decision-making: With comprehensive, integrated data, you can transition from a reactive management style to proactive planning and informed decision-making. By combining vehicle location and performance data with maintenance records and work order history, you can more easily identify the long-term trends in your fleet. This, in turn, helps you make more informed decisions about route optimization and forecast your fleet's needs more accurately.

Comprehensive analytics: The tracking system’s software generates reports to visualize and analyze fleet data. You can get analytics on everything from total mileage and idle time to driver behavior and fuel consumption over specific periods. With this easily understood data, you can quickly identify bottlenecks in your daily operations and fix them.

Choosing the Right GPS Tracker for Your Business

If you’re ready to implement GPS tracking for your fleet's vehicles, the next step is to find the right hardware that meets your specific needs. Among the range of GPS trackers from LandAirSea is the perfect device for your company.

The LandAirSea 54 is regarded as one of the most versatile GPS trackers currently available. The 54 is very compact and features an internal magnet, allowing you to install it on any vehicle in seconds. With its waterproof design,  long-lasting battery, and power-saving mode, the 54 is an excellent choice for a wide range of tracking scenarios.

The LandAirSea Overdrive also has a waterproof design and a strong magnet. However, the Overdrive’s battery can last for months on a single charge, making it an excellent choice for your long-term tracking needs. If some of your fleet travels for extended times without returning to home base — think long-haul trailers, shipping containers, or heavy equipment — look into the Overdrive.

If you don’t want to deal with batteries in your trackers at all, the LandAirSea SYNC plugs directly into a vehicle’s OBD-II port. With the SYNC, you never have to recharge or replace batteries, making it a truly “set it and forget it” device.

ROI of Vehicle Tracking for Business Owners

Of course, the decision to purchase new technology is shaped by the expected return on investment. The best way to look at vehicle tracking systems is not as an operational expense. Instead, it’s a strategic investment that pays for itself quickly and continues to deliver savings long after implementation.

You can expect to see reduced operating costs nearly immediately by monitoring and correcting poor driving habits and inefficient routes. More efficient dispatching and routing lead to improved productivity, which saves you money both in the short and long term. And then there’s loss protection. Preventing a single vehicle theft can save your business tens of thousands of dollars in replacement costs and operational disruption.

Find Your GPS Tracking Solution Today

The challenges of managing a vehicle fleet, from inefficient operations and unauthorized use to the constant threat of theft, require a modern, data-driven solution. When you learn how to track a vehicle, you gain the business intelligence to run a leaner, more profitable, and more secure operation.

To take control of your fleet and empower your business, find the LandAirSea GPS tracker for your business today.