Car Rental GPS Tracking

Car rental is huge business. Everyone in the US at some point in their lives has rented a car at least once. Most car rentals take place in and around the airport where there is a huge demand for short term rentals. With this high demand how can you be sure that your meet the requirements? And more importantly, even with security checks and paperwork in place, how can you as a car rental company, ensure that your vehicles don't get stolen by your customers? GPS tracking is the solution.

With GPS tracking devices, you can track, manage and set up custom alarms for your fleet of cars. They are small, handy, easy to install, non-intrusive and what’s more aid your customers in better driving and navigation. Let’s take a look at how GPS tracking devices help car rental companies.

 

• GPS tracking devices help you track vehicles in real time that not only help assess and diagnose vehicles' location, but also vehicle condition.
• Knowledge is power. GPS vehicle trackers determine accurate car location in real time and dispatch continuous feed and updates via satellite or cellular network. This information is continuously passed on to a central server where it is stored and can be retrieved at any time. Ensure a streamlined process of keeping up with demand by knowing exactly where your rental vehicle is at all times.
• By having continuous access to this data, you can maintain logs, schedule pickups in case of delays, communicate with drivers and create a situational awareness that will lead to better and safer driving experiences.
• With GPS technology, your rental car drivers will have no trouble finding their destination. With a clearly defined map, highlighted driving directions to destination and an easy to use interface, reaching point B has never been easier. This greatly reduces car accidents and improves safety.
• Car rental trackers help in navigating through harsh environments and rugged terrains when visibility is poor.
• Car Rental GPS also integrates with traffic updates providing you with driving directions necessary to avoid obstacles and pileups along the way.
• Stay updated on driving behavior of customers by receiving updates on speed and engine conditions.
• Prevent theft. As a rental company you will always face the risk of car theft from both outsider and your own customers. This is worrying more so in case of exotic cars, sports cars and limousines, which are really expensive and priceless to your fleet. Create custom alerts, set up geo-fences, activate engine shut down, auto lock doors and lots more through GPS tracking devices.
• If a vehicle moves outside a designated geo-fenced area, you will immediately receive an alert prompting you to prevent theft. Enforce safety management, prevent theft by having continuous surveillance data at hand.
• In case of vehicle breakdown, receive alerts which will allow you immediately send a backup vehicle or repair wagon. This additional feature will improve your company’s image and reputation.
• Extend the life of vehicles by scheduling tune ups and maintenance work through regular diagnostic reports.
• GPS trackers have very easy installation. No elaborate workforce is needed for either installation or maintenance.

 

The Challenges:

Now that we have seen the benefits and features, lets us take a quick look a the challenges that lie ahead for GPS car rental trackers.

• GPS systems and Car Trackers often involve a high cost of implementation which may not be feasible for all logistic operators, especially a smaller fleet of vehicles.
• A dependence on cellular networks as opposed to satellite networks might lead to intermittent information collection. This is because of patchy network coverage in some geographical locations. More so, a high cost of satellite tracking equipment in some cases, leads to a preference of installing cellular based tracking as opposed to Satellite tracking devices.

 

The Solution:

These challenges can easily be remedied with the right understanding and application of GPS tracking technology and the correct choice of equipment.

• There are several GPS tracking equipment manufacturers who provide consultancy services for upgrading your fleet systems and offer analyses explaining the impact of GPS tracking technology on your efficiency, given your scale of operation. This gives a fair assessment and guideline to help you make an informed choice on the scale of GPS expenditure.
• Satellite tracking communications, while more expensive, are critical if vehicle tracking is to work in remote environments without interruption. GPS tracking in combination with Radio Frequency (RF) should be a failsafe means of getting a continuous data feed. RF transmitters send signals through walls, basements, garages and even building without the necessity of a cellular network.