What Is GPS Tracking? [+How It Works, Benefits & Case Studies]

The Global Positioning System (GPS) has changed how we find our way, making paper maps a thing of the past. It's now a key part of everyday life for businesses and consumers.

Most people generally know what GPS and GPS tracking are, but the details can be confusing. Modern GPS has many parts, and knowing about each can help you use this handy tool better.

Knowing what GPS tracking is, how it works, how it figures out your location, what it can track, and how businesses use it is crucial for today's smart business owners, especially those who need to deliver products.

What Is GPS Tracking?

GPS tracking uses satellites and receivers to find and follow the location of a person, vehicle, or other items anywhere on Earth, any time of day or night. The roots of GPS go back to World War II and early radio wave location technology. It's used for both finding your way and keeping track of things.

People have been able to use GPS since September 1983, thanks to President Ronald Reagan. He made the technology available to everyone after a Korean airliner was shot down by Soviet fighters because of navigation mistakes. But GPS only became fully operational in 1995. Now, almost 30 years later, GPS is a part of many aspects of our daily lives.

GPS tracking takes location data and shows it on a visual map, which is great for driver navigation or just keeping an eye on where a vehicle is.

How Does GPS Tracking Find Your Location?

How does GPS tracking figure out where you are?

The key part is the GPS receiver. This can be a physical device that plugs into your car or truck, or a cloud-based feature in route planning and delivery management software.

The number of GPS-equipped gadgets has exploded since GPS first became available to the public. Nowadays, many devices, like your phone, watch, and car, have GPS tracking built-in.

GPS uses a math method called trilateration. By using three or more satellites and a GPS tracking device, trilateration can find an exact spot on Earth. It measures distances to pinpoint your precise location.

Trilateration finds your place on Earth by using the positions of GPS satellites and how far they are from you.

Imagine each satellite as a circle, with the satellite in the center and your location somewhere on the circle's edge. With one satellite, you only know how far you are from it. Adding a second satellite gives you two possible points for your location, making it more accurate. When you use three or more satellites, they intersect at the exact spot where your receiver is.

Having more satellites improves the precision of your location determination.

What Does GPS Tracking Monitor?

GPS tracking finds the location of a device, but it does much more than that.

GPS tracking keeps tabs on location, time, and speed. This means it tells you where something is, what time it was there, and how long it stayed there. By doing more math with location and distance, it can also figure out how fast something was moving. The accuracy of speed data from GPS tracking depends on things like the receiver's design, signal strength, weather conditions, and the arrangement of the satellites.

With all this information, business owners can see their fleet in real time on a dashboard, whether on a computer or a mobile device.

How GPS Tracking Works

GPS tracking can show something as simple as "dots on a map" to represent driver and vehicle locations. Or, it can provide detailed information about time, speed, and location.

Modern GPS tracking became possible with space flight. It relies on a network of satellites positioned around the Earth to determine exact locations.

GPS has three main parts:

• Satellite constellation
• Ground control network
• User network

So, how does all this make GPS tracking work?

A network of 24 satellites constantly sends signals to a ground control network, providing their exact location. These satellites also send radio signals to a GPS receiver, like the one in your phone or car.

The GPS receiver sends this data through a wireless network (like cell service) to a server. Your GPS tracking provider uses this server to turn the data into a visual format, helping you see where your drivers are.

How Businesses Use GPS Tracking

Although GPS has been available to the public for almost 30 years, many delivery fleets are still unsure about how it works and how it can help make their small fleets more efficient. GPS tracking can also increase the safety of both drivers and the general public.

Here are some of the primary ways GPS is used by delivery businesses:

1. Tracking vehicles. Knowing where your vehicles are at any time is a big time-saver for business owners, especially for delivery services wanting to offer real-time tracking to customers.
2. Monitoring assets. GPS tracking helps keep tabs on equipment and non-vehicle items, ensuring businesses know their locations.
3. Monitoring drivers. Business owners use GPS tracking to track where drivers are working and to prevent unauthorized breaks.
4. Managing deliveries. GPS tracking helps businesses track incoming and outgoing packages, keeping operations smooth.
5. Planning routes. GPS tracking is integrated into route planning software to ensure vehicles take the most efficient paths to their destinations.
6. Improving driver safety. GPS tracking can alert businesses to potential incidents by showing if a driver hasn't moved for an extended period, helping ensure driver safety and verifying their locations.
7. Analyzing vehicle use. GPS tracking provides data to analyze vehicle usage, identifying if assets are underutilized or if more vehicles are needed. It also helps plan mileage-based maintenance schedules.

The Importance of GPS Tracking

Since GPS tracking is widely available and affordable, customer expectations for product deliveries are evolving. Customers now expect real-time delivery updates and delivery windows of two hours or less, often at no or minimal cost to them.

If your business isn't using GPS tracking yet, it's essential to explore its benefits and what it can offer your operations.