Tracking: Vehicle tracking costs

Vehicle tracking costs greatly vary according to a number of factors, including the key alternative between active and passive systems.

Before considering the list of items that should be purchased, interested businesses should also look into leasing options.

Defining factors

The number of vehicles that need to be tracked, but also other elements such as the number of tracking features and even more importantly, the choice between passive and active systems, will define vehicle tracking costs.

• Number of vehicles

The number of vehicles which need to be tracked will obviously alter the figures on the final bill, as more vehicles will mean more to pay.

However, many resellers and leasers will apply volume discounts.

• Vehicle tracking features

Tracking systems will either include the following features in the standard product, or propose them as options for a fee:

- Traffic Integration,

- Fuel card integration,

- Speed monitoring on all roads,

- Geofencing,

- Street View,

- Alerts, sometimes by e-mail or text messages

- Driver behaviour reporting,

- European coverage,

­- Training and Integration, etc.

• Manufacturers

There is quite a few manufacturers for vehicle tracking systems on the market now:

- Brickhouse Security,

- Zoomback,

- LoJack,

- Garmin,

- Qualcomm,

- Fleetmatics,

- TomTom...

• Passive or active systems

The most important question that will affect the price of the tracking system will be whether a passive or active system is chosen.

- Passive systems, the cheaper option, store location and event data in local memory chips before retrieving it once the vehicle (and tracker) returns to its base.

- Active systems are more costly but upload all collected data in real time to the server and monitoring terminals through wireless networks.

Acquisition VS leasing

Vehicle tracking costs will also vary depending whether the equipment is purchased for good, or whether the hardware and service are leased.

• What to buy?

Interested businesses should need to pay for:

- The individual tracking device, which will cost a few hundred pounds,

- Installation for advanced models (this may cost as much as the device itself)...

- ... as well as integration within the broader IT System used by the company,

- And subscription charges to the tracking company covering the service and wireless communications.

• Benefits of leasing

Vehicle tracking costs will quickly skyrocket when advanced, active systems which need to be connected in real time and integrated within complex IT systems, are needed for the management of large commercial fleets.

This is when leasing becomes interesting:

- it only costs a few pounds per vehicle per month,

- maintenance and vital upgrades are included,

- you get the newest hardware and latest mapping data for no added cost.

Typical vehicle tracking costs

Here’s an idea of how much businesses should expect to pay for tracking depending on the sophistication of the systems they choose.

• Entry level tracking systems

Passive systems will usually cost less than £100 and no installation costs will be required.

• Mid-range  tracking systems

Active systems can be purchased for anything between £200 and £700, but service charges come into play:

- Installation, which costs around £100,

- Data transmission, for a few pounds per month

• Complex fleet management plans

When a large fleet is concerned, vehicle tracking costs will usually be paid for as part of a leasing plan. Prices range between £10 and £100 per vehicle, per month.