7 industries GPS fleet tracking has expanded into

For more than 70 years, carriers and their fleet managers orchestrated the intricate process of routing and assigning jobs using only paper and some creative handiwork. Then, technological advancements allowed them to gain more visibility into their fleets and streamline operations. For the past 15 years or so, the majority of carriers have relied on GPS fleet tracking to track their trucks’ locations and assign jobs and routes more efficiently for fuel- and time-savings. 

But today, it’s not just trucks using fleet tracking. Vehicle tracking is also widely used in construction and mining fleets, and is now being applied in new industries, from government and public service, to car sharing, farming and even personal cars. In the future, this technology could potentially be in almost all moving equipment and vehicles, on and off the road. 

Here are seven uses cases that exist today.  

1. Government Fleets: Both townships and federal agencies maintain fleets of general road sedans and SUVs driven by government officials and workers. Then there are assets in government fleets used in the field and even combat zones, like Humvees. In both instances, the government needs a 24/7 view of their assets to help reduce its CO² footprint and manage safety, vehicle utilization and budgets.  
2. Public Service Vehicles: Increasingly, new school buses are required to incorporate computerized routing software, automated route and stop assignments, GPS mapping and tracking and cameras as safety measures. School buses are also using telematics to monitor student ridership and enable parents to see the location of the school bus prior to pick-up (ETA) and when their child boards. Other public services such as garbage trucks and police vehicles often have this technology installed, too.
3. Farm Equipment: GPS tracking lets farmers remotely collect and manage information from their field equipment. This is especially useful for maintenance, as diagnostics data can help catch breakdowns before they occur or be used for a quick resolution. The data is also being used for crop management and field efficiency analysis.
4. Corporate Company Cars: Similar to the government, for businesses who have a big fleet of cars for field or traveling workers, vehicle tracking gives a more precise capture of miles and maintenance needs. It’s now commonly installed in vehicles at cable, phone, electric, and service fleets such as plumbers or landscapers.
5. Cars Sharing Fleets: Car sharing membership is expected to reach 26 million worldwide, according to a report from Berg Insight. With unattended, self-service locations, companies like Zipcar need to track usage, maintenance and car locations to keep up the quality of their fleets and have knowledge into who’s using their vehicles.
6. Insurance & Personal Cars: Some insurance companies have opt-in programs that use telematics to drive individuals’ driving behavior and reward clean drivers with savings. Progressive Insurance was the first to launch a program like this back in 1998, but these tracking programs are still nascent and gaining traction. In the future, the way tracking devices are used could expand and help power electronic toll collection. 
7. Driverless Cars & Smart Cities: GPS vehicle tracking will be the basis for establishing a connected infrastructure to support the general use of automated vehicles. Knowing where autonomous vehicles are and what they’re doing are an absolute prerequisite and necessary safety measure. Tracking technology will also allow vehicles and smart city infrastructure, such as traffic lights, “smart parking” and stops signs with sensors, to communicate. 

We see the opportunities for fleet tracking as almost endless, especially as we move into an era of autonomous vehicles. 

To learn how fleet tracking is being used today in government and service fleets, visit 
http://www.teletracnavman.com/areas-we-serve/government and http://www.teletracnavman.com/areas-we-serve/service.