Published 2026-01-09
Start from the reporting requirement
Hardware selection goes wrong when it starts with a product list. It goes right when it starts with the questions the fleet needs answered, because each question implies its inputs and the inputs imply the device.
If the requirement is location and utilisation, a plug-in unit is sufficient. If it includes fuel level, driver identification or temperature, a hardwired unit with the relevant inputs is required.
Match the device to the duty cycle
A vehicle in continuous service, a pool car used twice a week and a trailer that sits unpowered for days have genuinely different requirements. Permanent power, intermittent power and no power each point to a different device class.
- Permanent power, heavy use: hardwired unit with sensor inputs
- Permanent power, light use: plug-in unit, minimal installation cost
- No power: battery unit with a reporting interval matched to how often you truly need a position
Count the installation cost honestly
The purchase price of a tracker is often the smaller part of the cost. Fitting time, vehicle downtime and the logistics of getting a fleet through a workshop usually exceed it, especially for fleets spread over multiple sites.
This is why plug-in devices sometimes win on total cost even when a hardwired unit is technically superior — and why staged rollouts, by depot, are easier to absorb than a single fleet-wide changeover.
Confirm compatibility per model
Support should be confirmed at model and firmware level before anything is ordered. The same applies to CAN bus data, which varies by vehicle make, model and year rather than by tracker.