Vehicle fleet tracking is the process of tracking multiple vehicles within a business by using GPS tracking technology. Many companies, such as flower delivery shops, home service and delivery, taxi services and, delivery services all have fleets, which are a group of vehicles. Business owners of these fleets have discovered that the ability of being able to track their vehicles actually saves them money and improves their customer service. They can also reduce their liability by having a record of how fast their drivers are going and also keeping track of where they are. This can bring up privacy issues, however that is another conversation for another time.

Vehicle Fleet Tracking Telematics combines the power of computers and computer systems with remote communications technologies (such as global positioning systems, wireless, cellular, etc.) to obtain information about remote vehicles.

Some of the information that is provided through a fleet tracking system:

- In-cab computing & communication systems - Paging & messaging services, multi-modal communications (satellite and cellular voice and data), Internet access, and portable mobile data terminals

- Electronic reporting - Data downloads to business reporting programs for vehicle and driver documentation, regulations compliance to law enforcement officials, hours of service documentation, state highway usage reports, etc.

- Driver performance monitoring system - Tracks hours of service (HOS), highway use statistics by state, speed limit compliance, braking incidence, route compliance, etc.

- Stolen vehicle tracking and shutdown - Tracks location of vehicle and/or cargo/equipment, and in some instances, remotely shuts down vehicle.

- Remote diagnostics - Over-the-air remote reporting of the vehicle's operational data to ensure that maintenance schedules are kept and to warn of potential mechanical problems

- Automatic vehicle location (AVL) - Using GPS tracking, vehicle location is determined for tracking, monitoring and exchanging information with vehicles in the field

- Automatic vehicle identification (AVI) - Truck identification and electronic payments and cargo reporting in restricted areas, toll booths, border crossings, etc.

- In-vehicle navigation systems (IVNS) - This may be GPS, proprietary satellites, or fixed reference stations

As you can see, this information is very helpful to companies who wish to cut costs in running their fleets. If they can pick the shortest routes, monitor how fast their drivers go, and reduce idle time in between jobs, they can save money on fuel, insurance and wear and tear on their vehicles.