PREPARATION BEYOND STOLEN VEHICLE TRACKERS
The National Highway Travel Safety Administration has declared July National Vehicle Theft Prevention Month. They have prepared a number of safety tips on their website including using stolen vehicle trackers to quickly find a vehicle if it is taken. GoTrack™ would like to suggest a few more things you can do in advance to quickly respond to a theft.
WHAT STOLEN VEHICLE TRACKERS CAN DO
By setting up custom alerts in your tracking system you should be alerted to suspicious activity as it is happening. For example, makes sure that your system is sending you text or email alerts instead of periodically checking into your system. There are a number of alerts you can enable to create a type of GPS car alarm. For example, if your business only operates during specific hours you can trigger alerts when a vehicle is moved after closing time. Do you keep your fleet in a specific location? Set up a geofence so you are alerted whenever a vehicle leaves that spot! Customize your system to be your 24 hour vehicle watchdog!
What if you have different working hours or locations for different parts of your business? Then you simply set up sub-fleets. This lets you divide vehicles into smaller groups for easier monitoring. For example, emergency service vans that are used 24 hours a day could be separated from cars used by 9 to 5 salesmen.
WHAT STOLEN VEHICLE TRACKERS CAN’T DO
Of course, nothing can completely stop crime. Your business may still become a victim of auto theft. Your main goal then becomes recovering that stolen vehicle. Trackers can help you quickly locate a car, but recovering a car quickly does not mean your trouble troubles are over. You still need to deal with the police and your insurance company. Luckily, there are many things you can do in advance that will make this much easier.
Basically, your best strategy is to keep great records. Be sure to know everything you need to about a stolen vehicle. Trackers may that your white work van is in a specific parking lot, but what if there are five other similar vans in that lot? Record the make, model, year, license plate number and VIN (vehicle identification number) of your entire fleet. These will all help police quickly identify your vehicle, particularly if it is still in motion! You should also have your car insurance policy number and terms stored for easy access. If your fleet carries valuable equipment, have an inventory ready for both the police and insurance company. Trailers and mobile storage containers can also have their own GPS unit installed for added security.
STORING YOUR RECORDS
Your stolen vehicle trackers should interact with your smartphone and computer. Keep a copy of your vehicle information files on every device you use with your GPS trackers. After all, you never know when a work truck might be stolen. Having all the information you need will save valuable time. Store the necessary files on your office computer, phone and keep an extra copy on a flash drive. Imagine one of your business vehicles is taken in the middle of the night. Your phone could alert you within seconds instead of waiting until morning to discover the theft. As you call the police you will track that work truck with the same phone. Then it can place the license plate and insurance information you need at your fingertips.
With proper planning planning and a good GPS tracking system, it is much easier to deal with a stolen vehicle. Trackers alert you then you call for help from police and insurance, locate your property and more all from your phone without getting out of bed!