Technology spurs turf wars in car tracking sector

TrackIT debacle

It has served to replenish the much needed confidence in the industry. The TrackIT debacle in April last year resulted in a major shake of confidence, which is still felt to date.

More companies that used SVR tracking are dropping it and picking up the GPS/GSM system instead. Auto Track, for instance, uses the new model exclusively. Others, though, are running both.

“The old system of tracing cars is falling out of favour as customers find it hard to trust that their vehicles can be tracked effectively around the clock,” Ms Purity Tanui of Patriotic Guards, which has only a few clients under its old system, said.

In an earlier interview Mr Joseph Karumbi, the general manger of RiverCross Tracking Limited echoed her sentiments, saying the “market of the service where clients relied on service providers for tracking is dwindling.”

Though used by private car owners too, the new tracking model is more or less synonymous with the term Fleet Management Systems (FMS) after pushing demand among companies seeking to monitor the usage of their vehicles.

An increasing number of companies are signing up for fleet management systems. GPS/GSM allows for real-time tracking of vehicles, while simultaneously relaying statistics on factors, including fuel consumption rate, route travelled, and speed. In addition, it offers other capabilities like engine immobilisation and a user-defined cap on geographical movement, also called geo-fencing.

Players in businesses modelled around transport of goods and passengers are the major users of FMS.

The firms have had a challenge coordinating their operations while their profit margins have been eroded by fuel siphoning and general misuse of company vehicles by drivers.

With FMS, fleet co-coordinators and managers can stay on top of operations and check against losses from unscrupulous drivers.

Private motorists are also attracted by the idea of having the ability to monitor the location of their cars any time they wish to.

The demand for vehicle tracking solutions by both private car owners and companies has continued to rise, in particular, because of a surge in global vehicle thefts.