GPS Fleet Tracking Without Hardware

Modern smartphone GPS is accurate to within 3–5 metres under typical conditions — more than sufficient for fleet management purposes including route history, geofencing, arrival confirmation, and timesheet verification. Phone-based tracking may be slightly less consistent in areas with poor signal or in underground environments, but for the majority of commercial vehicle use cases, the accuracy is comparable to hardware trackers.

If a driver's phone battery dies, phone-based tracking stops. This is the primary limitation of phone-based vs hardware tracking. For most fleet management purposes, this is manageable — drivers should start their day with a charged phone. For businesses where continuous tracking is critical regardless of phone state, hardware installation is recommended.

The FleetGS app requires location permissions to function. Drivers can close the app or revoke permissions, which would stop tracking. For fleets where drivers are known to disable tracking, hardware GPS devices provide a tracking solution that doesn't depend on driver cooperation. The appropriate approach depends on your fleet's trust and culture.

GPS tracking is one of the more battery-intensive smartphone functions. The FleetGS app is designed to minimise battery consumption while maintaining tracking accuracy. Most drivers find that the app has an acceptable battery impact during a working day, particularly if their vehicle has a USB charge point.

Yes. FleetGS supports mixed fleets where some vehicles use hardware GPS (RAM Tracking, Teltonika, Geotab) and others use phone-based tracking. All vehicles appear in the same dashboard regardless of tracking method.