Regaining control: vehicle tracking systems have come a long way in the last decade. New systems have features that do even more for the bottom line than just prevent theft. Insurers are taking notice

Risk & Insurance,  Sept 1, 2004  by Owen Kurin

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Imagine the proud owner of a brand new 2003 Lexus LX470 SUV leaving home in the morning only to discover that it had disappeared from the driveway in the front yard of the house during the night never to be seen again. What happened to the vehicle immobilizer and coded keys that came standard with the vehicle? Was the theft an "inside job"? Was the vehicle towed? We'll never know.

Instead of the Lexus owner, consider the farmer who returned from vacation to discover that his entire grain silo full of Canola seed was emptied out and that his own tractor/trailer unit was used to remove and transport the grain and then returned--several hundred kilometers later--its full tank of diesel empty. Negative outcomes never make for happy endings.

But here's an incident with a more positive outcome and a happier ending: In October 2003, a stolen truck equipped with a second-generation vehicle tracking system was automatically detected as it was being stolen. The police was notified, and not only was the truck recovered, but 17 other stolen vehicles as well.

HOW VTS WORKS

A vehicle tracking system (VTS) consists of a location detecting device and a transmitter to broadcast the location of the vehicle being protected. Global Positioning System satellite tracking pinpoints the vehicle or equipment location to within 30 feet or less. The best tracking systems incorporate GPS capabilities as the primary locating device. Wireless cellular service serves as a backup locating system. This can be helpful if the protected unit is in an underground garage or direct line-of-sight is unavailable due to obstructions or bad weather. Cellular tracking is not as precise as GPS and requires land-based mobile units to visit the cell site area to calculate the exact location of the protected unit.

Tracking system hardware must be small and hidden to be of value. These devices are hard-wired into a 12-volt or 24-volt battery supply and have a built-in battery back-up, which will power the system for a few days or weeks and send a signal if and when the main power supply is cut. Some tracking, systems, using a small transponder, determine whether the user is authorized. If the unit is operated or moved without a transponder, an alarm is sent, via cellular telephony, to the monitoring station.

An obvious way around that is for a thief to "borrow" the keys with the transponder. In most instances, that borrowing would initiate a call to the tracking system company or local police to report a stolen unit. It could then be tracked to within 30 feet of its location for recovery. If the key and transponder are not used and the vehicle or equipment is moved, an immediate alarm is generated. The police will be immediately notified, thus prompting rapid recovery.

If a transponder is not required, the unit owner would need to know of the theft and then report it. This is not ideal for contractors' equipment or vehicles parked for the long term.

Many tracking systems also provide color, GPS-delineated maps over the Internet for customers to find the exact location of their units at any time. There are usage fees for each "hit," as well as monthly monitoring fees. Reports generated by the system includes data on the radius of operation, distance and speed data as well as actual date and time of use. This is an excellent tool for fleet management.

Other features available on tracking systems include Internet-accessible door locking/unlocking, Internet-accessible starting, Internet-accessible immobilization, the ability set a virtual "fence" beyond which an alarm is sent, excessive speed notification, low or disconnected battery notification and accident response.

PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

In the Province of Quebec, Canada, where one vehicle is stolen every 12 minutes, several manufacturers of vehicle tracking systems are located. Many innovations and developments for tracking systems also come from there.

Vehicle tracking systems have been around for more than a decade. They have now evolved into their second generation with much-improved features, performance and reliability. The third generation of products is expected in the next year or two.

Luxury cars are already being equipped with "black boxes" similar to those on aircraft. They are used for accident reconstruction as they record critical engine functions, vehicle speed, braking and precise location via GPS. When these boxes become commonplace and their use extended to include alarms, there will be a cost incentive to connect them with the vehicle's black box for a vehicle tracking system feed. As these black boxes will be uniformly built and installed, they will be easy for a thief to remove or disconnect. Independent, covert tracking system units with independent GPS receivers, antenna and transmitters--as they are today--could become rare due to cost, but would be expected to outperform a co-joined black-box type OEM-installed VTS unit.