Companies, business owners and individuals have been using vehicle tracking systems in Australia for many years, it’s not a new technology, but it has improved throughout the years in both cost reduction, features and accuracy.
GPS Vehicle Tracking Systems in Australia
Using a Vehicle Tracking System in Australia provides many benefits, when managing a own business or a fleet of vehicles. It will help to increase productivity, reduce costs, overheads and improve customer satisfaction.
Benefits of Vehicle Tracking Systems Australia
The main benefits of using a vehicle tracking system is as follows
Reduce Customer Response Times
Increased accuracy in time sheets
Reduce costly repairs
Reduce theft and loss
Decrease the cost of insurance
To see more information about these points, please visit the link below
There are many providers of GPS tracking systems in Australia to choose from. It can be a bit overwhelming when researching, so it’s a good idea to make a Pros/Cons spreadsheet when carrying out this research.
Please see the link below for some things to consider when researching & ultimately making your choice on who to go with.
Legality of Vehicle Tracking Systems in Australia and Monitoring Employees
Australia does not have a federal law on monitoring employees in Australia, however each individual state defines their own statutes covering the restrictions and use of GPS tracking devices & systems. Currently, only Tasmania and Queensland do not have legislation.
The quickest, cheapest and easiest way to get started with GPS tracking your fleet is to purchase a 4G GPS Tracker which plugs directly into your vehicles OBD diagnostic port.
Introducing the brand new 4G GPYes Tracket – a tracking device which supports the 4G network, as well as 3G.
As the 4G LTE network MHz bands are different in each country, there are 3 versions of the GPYes Tracket which is offered.
The GPYes Tracket will plug into your vehicles diagnostic port (commonly referred to as the ‘OBD port’.). This means you can install the device without any costly installation fees.
Conclusion
A vehicle tracking system combines automatic GPS vehicle location of vehicles with software that communicates this data with devices that are installed within a vehicle.
Typical vehicle tracking systems use the technology of GPS or GLONASS for locating the vehicle. However, other types of automatic vehicle tracking technology is able to be used.
Vehicle location data can be viewed on map overlays through the Internet using software, or applications.
In the United States, a local council has taken matters to the next level, after thieves have continued time and time again to make off with a unfortunately, yet humorously named city’s street sign. That City? Horneytown, population: 15.
Horneytown resides in North Carolina, US and their sign which states the 5km stretch of road is believed to reside in many other locations, all over America. Their exact location however, is unknown.
According to Fox 8 the authorities in High Point, North Carolina have tried many methods to deter thieves from making off with the signage which occurs close to every 2 months.
According to emergency 911 director Terry Bailey of Davidson County, this sign is the most stolen in the county, with the runner up being ‘Rolling Green’.
An image has been circulating around social media which has already racked up millions of views. Whether or not the ‘installed GPS tracker device’ has prevented the theft is yet to be seen.
One of the culprits posting their spoils of war to imgur.
One social media user has added the comment “So basically they’ve made stealing it more fun by adding a challenge element.”
Although it’s not all fun and games, this signage theft is a big problem for 911 workers; even with the GPS tracker device installed.
“Those who live around here know the street, they know that it is Horneytown Road which they are travelling down, but the people not from around here can run into issues if they have something to report and the sign isn’t there,” Terry Bailey reported to Fox8.
“It can be a little frustrating dealing with this on such a regular basis, but it’s nothing we haven’t dealt with before and we just try our best to keep the sign in place, with or without gps tracking. For now, we have an extra sign at the ready”
These devices use GPS satellites for obtaining location data, then send the information to your phone, or tracking server over the mobile data network.
Scooter Tracking Device – Mini light reflector shape.
If the scooter has a hollow chassis, you can slip the tracker into it, otherwise you must mount it on the handlebars, or elsewhere on the outside.
When mounting a GPS tracker within the frame, there may be signal issues as GPS has a hard time travelling through metal. Because of this, you need to think of where the best place is for it to be mounted.
If the GPS tracking device has external antennas for mobile network/gps, then you can route these towards the end of the handlebars where there is clear line of sight to the sky.
Mounting the Scooter tracking device
There’s multiple ways that you can mount your GPS tracker. Below are some general mounting tips, as well as mounting within the chassis information.
General Mounting Locations
Installation of the scooter tracking device can be done in multiple ways, you can do the following:
Install into the scooters handlebars
Mount on top of the handlebars
Just above rear tyre, acting as a light reflector.
Mount on top of battery, or within battery enclosure.
Mounting in the Scooter Chassis
Like most scooters, there is not much room within the chassis to mount, so it would be recommended to use a device that you can mount on the rear, which appears to be just a light reflector.
Alternatively, you can mount a gps tracking device within the battery box, utilising external antennas to improve the signal.
Viewing your Scooter on the map
All the data is accessible by logging into vehicle tracking systems portal, which is possible on any computer, or as an app on your phone. Both iOS and Android are supported.
Within the portal, you can access
Tracking in Real-time
Playback of routes
Notification & Events
Alarms notifying of device activity, such as movement
There are 3 main costs of a scooter tracking device. These costs are as follows
GPS Tracking device $99 (once off fee for the hardware)
Subscription for Tracking portal/App $15 (subscription per month)
SIM card ($10 subscription per year with Optus/Amaysim) Generally, if you are purchasing Scooter Tracking devices in bulk, a managed SIM card will be bundled in with your tracking portal subscription. A managed SIM card is a perfect way to reduce administration. One less thing to worry about.
Highlights
A scooter tracking device is a low cost option for insuring your expensive scooter.
It will assist in the recovery should it be stolen, or lost.
The use of a transport vehicle tracking system has proven business benefits through the reduction of fuel usage, maintenance costs, erratic behavior & vehicle idling.
The average saving of installing a GPS transport vehicle tracking system
The average saving for a transport vehicle by installing gps tracking technology can be worked out with the following;
$700 in lost labour due to poor driver vehicle routing, vehicle idling, and lost working hours.
$700 in billable hours as employees are now accountable for their time. Billable hours increased.
$170 Fuel Savings caused by erratic driving
$50 Reduction in vehicle wear and tear by helping to curb erratic driving
$45 Reduction in accidents by helping to prevent erratic driving).
Picking your Vehicles GPS Tracker
There are multiple GPS Trackers that you can use in your transport vehicle, whether it is a Truck, Van, or Car, there is a tracker that will work for you.
Multiple GPS Trackers will work in your transport vehicle
Wired – Connects to your vehicles wiring harness
OBD – Plugs directly into your vehicles OBD port
Magnetic – Will attach to a metal surface. Can be charged by USB
Solar – Can be mounted with screws and charges from the sun
Selecting your Transport Vehicle Tracking System
There’s multiple factors when it comes to picking a gps tracking system, some of which are:
Real time tracking through SMS or a web portal
Cost
Map overlay
Geocoding Support
Upload interval
Alerts and Alarms
Log retention
For more information regarding picking a GPS tracking system, please visit the page below:
Click the picture to check our guide on picking a GPS tracking system.
Installing your GPS tracking device
Installing a GPS tracker varies in levels of difficulty, or should I say, ease. Most GPS trackers can either be placed in or on a transport vehicle, plugged into the OBD port or wired into your vehicles wiring harness, with the latter really the only option with an ‘installation’.
OBD GPS Tracker
OBD GPS trackers are simple to install. The video below shows you how.
Wired GPS Tracker
Wired GPS trackers are as the title suggests, wired into your vehicles wiring harness. Some trackers do come with wiring harnesses that contain an OBD connection so they can be plug and play also, much like an OBD gps tracker.
Magnetic Battery Tracker
Installation of a magnetic battery tracker is as simple as it looks. Place it on a metal surface, or just throw it underneath the rear seat.
Solar Battery Tracker
Solar battery trackers are kept self sufficient by their solar panels, installation is as easy as placing them within the vehicle, or mounted with screws to the top of the vehicle, to make full use of the solar panel.
Transport Vehicle Tracking System Overview
Being able to view the tracking information with ease is an important feature. You need to be able to see the information from a web portal, or via the app. A benefit of having the app is notifications and alarms being delivered directly to you.
A Fleet Manager or a Job Dispatcher would have more benefit using the web portal.
Logging into the transport vehicle tracking system
Transport Vehicle Tracking System
Creating Geozones / Virtual Fences
Create Geozones (also known as virtual fences) around places of interest.
The main GPS Points
Tracking your transport company is effective in lowering costs and increasing customer satisfaction.
Leverage a system and begin seeing the return on investment instantly.
The easiest way to explain how they remain up in orbit without crashing back down to earth is using ‘the ball analogy’. If a ball is thrown up into the air, gravity causes it to eventually return back down. The force of gravity is what keeps everything, and everyone planted firmly on the ground, keeping us from floating up into space.
Getting into Orbit
Satellites are launched into spaces orbit by rockets travelling over 40,000km per hour. At these speeds the rocket launching the satellite is able to power through the gravitational forces and break through Earths atmosphere into space.
Once the satellite is positioned correctly into it’s spot above earth, it will detach from the rocket and begin its orbit, using the energy known as momentum to keep itself moving.
How does the satellite remain in Orbit
Satellites are able to remain in orbit without drifting off into outer space by the forces of gravity. When a satellite is travelling thousands of kilometres away, the forces of Earths gravitational pull are still present, albiet not as strong as the closer you are to the planet.
They have the perfect balance between momentum and gravity to remain in orbit, a task in itself which is not easy.
The NOAA-20 satellite is in orbit a few hundred kilometres above Earth. To remain in orbit at that distance, it will need to travel at around 28,000km per hour.
In comparison, the NOAA GOES-East satellite is in orbit 35,000km above Earth, which means that it only has to travel around 10782km per hour to remain in orbit.
Conclusion
Momentum and gravity is what will keep satellites in orbit, and luck for us for us down here on Earth, satellites can remain up there for hundreds of years without us worrying about them crashing down on us.
The new Chinese GPS system is known in English as the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System.
BeiDou, The Big Dipper – The Chinese GPS System
BeiDou is named after the star asterism The Big Dipper, which in Chinese is Běidǒu
The US Monopoly
The United States (US) has for decades has had a monopoly on GPS positioning, navigation and time based interval technology with its GPS (Global Positioning System) commonly known as NAVSTAR, a multitude of 24 satellites which is run by the US military that still today provides the main framework for location on a vast majority of devices around the globe.
GPS satellites in orbit.
GPS is essential to the economy
These technologies have become essential to the modern economies; it is not just a tool for the US military and their maneuvers like it once was.
Many governments around the globe have looked towards breaking the reliance on the US GPS system by creating their own constellation of satellites.
Governments such as those in Russia (GLONASS), the UK (GNSS), India (NavIC), China (BeiDou), Japan (QZSS) and the European Union (Galileo).
Reliance on US NAVSTAR
Some of these GPS systems do still rely on the US NAVSTAR GPS system, and have only a few satellites to supplement & increase the systems accuracy, as well as improve coverage.
BeiDou – The Chinese GPS System Investment
BeiDou is the investment into GPS that China has made. A completely independent satellite system which has been in the making for 20 years
For the duration of 20 years, China has launched close to 36 satellites costing a staggering $12 billion US dollars.
Chinese handset manufacturers have known about this for some years, with ample opportunity to develop their products around this new GPS system.
Currently, close to 70% of all Chinese mobile phones are able to process BeiDou GPS signals from the satellites, and there is plans to allow a GPS tracker for car to use them also.
According to the People’s Daily, as of Tuesday morning, June 23, 2020, the last BeiDou satellite in the constellation was launched into Earths orbit.
The Chinese GPS Plan
The BeiDou GPS system in it’s current form is now completed, which brings forward to Beijing new flexibility and strength for this technology which has become so critical.
Ultimately, GPS technologies are not always a game of rivalry — additional satellites, regardless of who they are launched by, can offer other GPS systems additional redundancy to all that use them. The real winners here are the handset manufacturers which now have greater options.
GPS Spoofing
Earlier in 2020, the administration of Trump introduced an order that would enforce agencies of the government to develop anti-spoofing GPS measures, protecting GPS systems from hackers, which could cause severe data breaches & even loss.
Conclusion
Given the amount of worldwide logistics and our day by day lives are constrained by these advancements, further global collaboration around ensuring these essential resources appears to be vital.
Since China now has its own completely working Chinese GPS system, they have the motivation to secure their infrastructure as much as the United States does, in order to keep on providing GPS to the highest expectations of dependability.
There are no Australian Federal Laws for surveillance and GPS tracker legality.
Just what are you the laws in Australia relating to GPS tracking?
However, most states have Statutes covering the use and restrictions of tracking devices; only Queensland and Tasmania do not have legislation.
Both New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory have formal statutes and it’s highly likely that the rest of Australia will follow suit, adopting similar measures.
Keeping this in mind for those operating nationally, read below for some advice on how you can comply and references to be able to do your own research.
Generally, the use of a GPS vehicle tracking device to track and record employees’ activities intentionally without their consent is a criminal offence.
Consent, express or implied, of all parties involved is a necessity to remain on side with the law.
The underlying theme with all the surveillance statutes that currently exist is to obtain consent from the employees that will be surveilled, prior to using gps tracking devices . This consent by employees can be express or implied.
Obtaining express consent is possible where the employee receives notification about the use of a gps tracking device. The employee will need to accept this in the form of an employee contract or through a new policy.
Implied consent may include passive acceptance. The employee is made aware about the use of a GPS tracking device but may not respond in acceptance. A vehicle that has a label outlining that it is being tracked may be suitable for the requirements of implied consent if the employee then proceeds to use the vehicle.
Requirements for Employee GPS Tracking Across Australian States
NSW GPS Tracker Legality Workplace Surveillance Act (Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory also similar)
2 weeks written notice will need to be provided before GPS tracking will start. Information such as type of surveillance, data collection methods and timeframe will need to be provided. Within this notice, the following must be stated:
The type of surveillance that will be carried out (GPS tracking)
The methods used to obtain this surveillance (via the installation of a GPS tracking device)
Commencement date of surveillance
Whether the surveillance will be indefinite or sporadically
If the period of surveillance will be for a limited time or ongoing
Visible signage stating that a device is being tracked.
Restrictions on the placement of the devices and use of data collected:Work surveillance only allowed when the employee is ‘at work’
Records of surveillance must not be shared or provided to any other parties unless the use is for, or related to business activities that are legitimate, subpoena to the police, or any potential threat that could result in violence.
A GPS tracking collar is becoming very popular with livestock, pets and now big cats in Africa, and other parts of the world.
The Internet of Things (IoT) presently offers complex methods of shielding untamed life: correspondence systems can cover wild places; sensors can screen creatures, people and hardware inside them in (close) constant, and control focuses can group different information streams, progressively with the guide of AI (ML) and man-made consciousness (AI), prompting opportune administration mediations.
Smart Parks is a Dutch/United Kingdom based social venture that gives innovation answers for natural life insurance, with an emphasis on cornerstone animal varieties that are fundamental to keeping up the decent variety and usefulness of environmental networks (dim frauds, model, or wildebeest in the Serengeti).
One of the newer pieces of technology that Smart Parks has taken on is a GPS tracking collar, to help monitor the movement, mating and migration cycles of big cats.
“We began three years prior taking things down a notch in Mkomazi, Tanzania where we were the first to put LoRa sensors inside the horn of a dark rhino,” Smart Parks prime supporter Laurens de Groot told ZDNet. “From that point forward, we have manufactured Smart Parks in Malawi, Tanzania, Rwanda, Kenya, Congo, India, Zambia, Namibia and the Netherlands. We are working with accomplices, for example, African Parks, Peace Parks, WWF and numerous others. We’ve additionally provided our sensor innovation to a few existing parks with their own LoRaWAN-foundation, for example, Hluhluwe Imfolozi in South Africa. Right now we have more than seventy rhinos and many different species under our Smart Parks oversight.”
In 2019, Smart Parks propelled the OpenCollar activity, a GPS tracking collar which means ‘to pull in and rouse skilled understudies, specialists, and educated preservationists to create following frameworks that are progressively adaptable and a superior fit for use on various creatures’. The main deliverable from this venture was the secluded OpenCollar Elephant Tracker (subtleties are accessible at opencollar.io, GitHub and WildLabs.net), which is as of now under test in Liwonde National Park, an African Parks hold in Malawi. The open-source equipment course may not suit all associations, be that as it may, so Smart Parks likewise sells a scope of gadgets, made in organization with item improvement pro IRNAS.
The most recent Smart Parks/OpenCollar venture includes LoRaWAN-based GPS collars fitted to lions and cheetahs, additionally in Liwonde. Utilizing LoRaWAN network for predator collars permits high-recurrence GPS following, alongside battery life estimated in years as opposed to months.
Liwonde National Park supervisor Craig Reid stated: “The new LoRa GPS transmitter neckline units, which feed into our Wide Area Network, have had various advantages – in addition to the fact that we get close to live time following, however this comes at a far lower cost than customary satellite GPS collars.
We see a future where we complete the change to this new innovation and can screen our need species precisely, dependably and for an extensive stretch of time in order to illuminate our law implementation and the board methodologies.”
The lightweight predator trackers can deal with cruel outside conditions and can be fitted to existing collars or furnished with belting and stabilizers, Smart Parks said. The trackers can be designed remotely and give nitty gritty notices on temperature, battery use and development (through an accelerometer).
This permits settings to be streamlined for specific species’ standards of conduct, guaranteeing that GPS situating is possibly endeavored when the tracker is reasonably arranged to determine an area from the satellites, which can forestall pointless battery channel.
The ‘minds’ behind these cutting edge trackers is the LR1110 LoRaWAN handset with GNSS and Wi-Fi from Semtech. On account of its low normal opportunity to a position fix (4.5s) and low normal force utilization (27μWh), a LR1110-based tracker offers more noteworthy setup adaptability and expanded battery life.
For instance, a huge warm blooded animal module could run for 100 months taking a position fix at regular intervals, or for two years with a 10-minute fix stretch. By examination, past age gadgets dependent on the U-Blox ZOE M8G module normally convey four-hourly fixes with only a year of battery life.
GPYes tracking collars modules can be minimized and lightweight enough to fit little warm blooded creatures and winged animals, while their quick position-fixing time permits them to adapt to practices that give discontinuous access to GPS signals. Animals that rise up out of thick vegetation or surface adrift just at times are instances of such conduct.
Brilliant Parks’ de Groot is sure about the job of IoT innovation in natural life preservation: “With the quickly advancing industry around the Internet of Things, we are currently likewise equipped for furnishing parks with the capacity to identify discharges utilizing acoustic sensors and perceive gatecrashers with savvy cameras that work with AI. It won’t be long until we can quantify creature wellbeing status remotely too.”
On AI and AI, de Groot says: “As we gather an ever increasing number of information, AI permits us to find progressively personal conduct standards, giving more situational mindfulness that prompts significant knowledge – where do I send my officers best? It likewise takes into consideration more innovation to be sent and work all the more productively. Savvy cameras that can break down on the gadget itself will altogether decrease the time between a poacher getting to a recreation center and the revelation of the interloper.”
Sometime later, inserts may supplant following collars, says de Groot: “A great deal of the untamed life park proprietors would truly like this as the current collars are not extremely charming on the eye and can be badly designed for the creatures. It’s our strategic get this going one day, yet it accompanies admonitions right now.”
Fleet Tracking in Sydney with the use of a GPS tracking device is becoming very popular.
GPYes – Sydney Harbour Fleet Management
The use of GPS is utilized to improve overview of your fleet, and reduce overall running costs by increasing operational efficiency.
GPS Trackers for Fleet Management
GPYes provides the best vehicle gps tracking system in Sydney, Australia. We can supply vast array of tracking devices that can be used on any vehicle or asset; they come as hard wired, battery and plug and play (portable without wiring).
By using a GPS tracking system you can save your businesses money by reducing insurance claims, theft, unauthorized vehicle usage, fuel usage, servicing costs and potentially even insurance premiums.
Sydney and NSW are both massive areas spread out over a large geographical distance, so keeping track of your vehicles becomes a nightmare. Because of this a GPS tracker is highly recommended for not only fleet managers, but business owners and even sole traders wanting to monitor their vehicles and have a tighter grip over their assets.
GPS Tracking on the Aussie East Coast
The East Coast and NSW has some of the best infrastructure in the country, so satellite tracking over the 3G & 4G mobile network system is a very feasible solution, as opposed to Bluetooth technology. It’s highly accurate, cheap and consistent unlike its BT and satellite GPS counterparts.
Monitor your vehicles always
GPYes GPS Tracking in Sydney will allow you to easily see exactly where all your vehicles are at any time which allows fleet management as efficient as possible, benefiting all stakeholders involved.
GPYes – Sydney area view of the City
Reports
Make use of detailed reports which will show statistics about trips taken, addresses stopped at, speed driven, speeding and engine hours.
Conclusion
All these features will allow you to be a better Fleet Manager in Sydney and save countless amounts of money for your business.
GPS tracking device benefits are plentiful & when owning your own business, or managing a fleet of vehicles you are always looking for ways to increase productivity, reduce costs, overheads and improve customer satisfaction.
You can do this in a variety of ways with a GPS Tracking Device. To see our top 5 benefits please read on below:
1. Reduce Customer Response Times
A faster reply to your customers is an easy way to increase repeat business, helping to strengthen relationships with your customers.
Having visibility over your fleet with an installed GPS Tracking Device means you can pick the right vehicle for an incoming job, by selecting whichever vehicle, or whomever is closest.
2. Increased accuracy in time sheets
Have you ever had an issue with a customer disputing time on a timesheet? Have you found it too hard to justify your hours, because you cant even remember them yourself?
Customers don’t like being overcharged, but when you have reports showing the hours your van was parked out the front of their house or job site, it’s hard to argue with the hours you’ve put in.
Not to mention the benefits when it comes to logging your vehicle usage hours with the tax department.
3. Reduce costly repairs
We all know that a proper service schedule increases the life and resell value of your vehicles, and improper usage of a vehicle reduces it’s life.
Having that visibility over your employees and how they are driving will give incentive for good behavior driving, increasing your vehicles life by reducing wear and tear.
4. Reduce theft and loss
When you use truck trackers you will instantly know if a truck has been stolen from a yard or overnight stop and be able to alert authorities if it has been stolen and provide the location to aid in recovery.
Don’t let him get you.
If your vehicle is stolen you can be alerted instantly by the inbuilt alarm system within your GPS vehicle tracking system. Receive an email or SMS to your phone when unwarranted usage occurs.
You can set up a gps geofence, such as a garage, or neighborhood block, and be notified when a vehicle exits.
These alerts will be sent to you instantly over the 4G network, as long as you have a 4G GPS tracker, and not one that works over the bluetooth network!
5. Decrease the cost of insurance
Insurance companies offer reduced costs as a discount as the chance to retrieve a stolen vehicle greatly increases with a gps tracking system.
When you are running a fleet of vehicles, this saving adds up to be a worthy amount of money.
Summary of GPS Tracking Device benefits
There are many more benefits to installing a GPS tracking device within your vehicle than just the 5 listed here.
