November 17, 2010 – In the past couple of weeks I have heard some potential clients say that they current use cell phones to track their vehicles. Below are a few points or concerns that I have with cell phone tracking:
1. The device is not connected to the vehicle, so there is no way to monitor key on/off or idle times.
2. Employees can shut off the cell phone or say the battery ran out and then you can no longer track the vehicle.
3. The GPS in the phone drains the battery halfway through the work day. This is a major problem as most folks need their phone for more than 4 hours.
4. For GPS to function, it needs a clear view of the sky. If the phone is in the drivers pocket or laying on the seat, it may not have a good GPS signal, causing erratic GPS behavior.
5. If your employees take their company vehicles home at night, they can simply leave the cell phone at home and use the vehicle without you knowing.
6. Finally, a big factor is that if the vehicle is stolen, you do not have a way to track the location because the phone is on the employee and not in the vehicle.
If you have tried using cell phones to track employees and it is not meeting your needs, check out www.trackyourtruck.com for our in-vehicle GPS tracking units. We will help you find the correct tracking device for your fleet.
