Guide
How to Choose a GPS Tracker
There is no best GPS tracker in the abstract. There is a tracker that matches the asset’s power, the reporting you need, the places you operate, and the contract you can live with.
- Start from the asset and the question you need answered, then pick hardware.
- Demand a named carrier plan and a test on your own yards and lanes.
- TruckerPro has not finalized hardware, coverage, software, or price, so it is not a completed choice yet.
1. Name the asset and the question
“Track my fleet” is not a spec. “Tell dispatch when trailer 214 leaves the Edmonton yard after 18:00” is. Powered tractors, dropped trailers, and jobsites need different hardware. If you cannot write the question, wait.
2. Decide power before brand
Dependable 10–30 V points toward a hardwired terminal. Long periods unpowered point toward a replaceable-battery or energy-harvesting unit. Mixing those in one SKU is how fleets end up with dead trailers and overheating cab devices. See hardwired vs battery.
3. Treat the network as a product
Ask which carrier, which bands, which roaming, and whether Canada and the United States are both in the plan if you cross the border. Then drive it. A marketing “North America” line is not a test log.
4. Inspect the software, not the render
- Last-reported position and history, with timestamps in a timezone you understand.
- Geofences that fire, and a way to know when a device has gone silent.
- Exports, retention, and who can see which assets.
- Provisioning and deprovisioning that a small fleet can actually run.
TruckerPro has not built these surfaces. Any vendor still in “coming soon” should be scored as unfinished.
5. Read the unglamorous terms
Warranty, replacement, SIM ownership, data export on exit, notice to drivers, and who physically installs. If those are verbal, they are not terms. TruckerPro’s own pricing and terms are not finalized; that is disclosed on purpose.
Related reading
Questions
What should I look for in a GPS tracker?
Power strategy, reporting profile, coverage on your lanes, mounting, device security, the actual software, privacy rules, and written commercial terms.
Is LTE-M enough to choose a device?
No. Radio capability is not a coverage guarantee. Test the SIM and the mount.
Should I buy TruckerPro GPS based on this checklist?
Not yet. Use the checklist on any vendor, including this pilot. TruckerPro is not taking orders.
Share a pilot use case
Tell us what you would track and where it operates. This records interest; it does not place an order.