SIM-Based Tracking: A Cost-Effective and Convenient Tracking Solution

Tracking is one of the most important components of managing logistics and ensuring efficient performance from a market fleet. It helps to know where the vehicles are and whether or not they are fulfilling the deliveries on time. A good tracking system can help you regularly identify factors that disrupt your drivers’ performance and help you eliminate them. Some of the many insights you can interpret from the tracking data are:

• Understand drivers’ productivity by keeping a track of factors like truck reporting time, total loading time, total unloading time, and number of halts and their duration

• Capture delivery time to record delays in deliveries and SLA breaches

• Truck arrival at destination and detention time.

There has been a steady rise in the adoption of SIM card-based vehicle tracking by businesses across India due to its immense cost-benefit advantage when companies hire market vehicles on a rental basis. Long-haul or short-haul one-way trips primarily use SIM tracking.  But how does it compare to other ways of tracking,  and what makes it different from GPS devices? How viable and accurate is it, and what factors should one consider while choosing a SIM-based tracking solution?

Read on this blog to see if it is suitable for your business and how you can enable it in your organization.

Track without internet?

Tracking and tracing a vehicle comes with its own set of requirements, which is generally a smartphone and an internet connection for GPS tracking or an added hardware device (portable or vehicle-fitted GPS device). A SIM-based tracking solution, however, uses the driver’s cellular network and captures the location coordinates. It doesn’t require an active internet connection; all it needs is a basic mobile with a cellular network.

SIM-based tracking is an old-school tech which is easy and hassle-free to operate and interpret. It is compatible with smartphones and basic handsets i.e. it doesn’t require Android or iOS-based devices. The tracking coordinates update every 15 minutes and come with a 100 to 150-meter accuracy on highways and 300-meter accuracy in dense or rural areas.

Value addition by SIM-based tracking

Apart from the obvious real-time visibility, there are multiple benefits that tag along with SIM-based tracking. Some of them are:

1. Multi-level access – unlimited hierarchy-based logins can be created for stakeholders across the organization to access the live dashboard. Helps in keeping the management informed in real-time.

2. MIS reports – daily compliance reports are automatically generated for the supervisors and management to ensure improved transporter performance.

3. Escalation matrix-based notifications – get notified for halts, delays and other exceptions/important events in real-time.

4. Reduction in manual efforts – helps in saving hours of manual effort that goes into calling and getting delivery updates.

5. Transporter analysis – gives visibility on the SLA breach, thus helping in analysing transporter performance.

6. Predictive exception management – raising predictive alerts for exceptions well before they actually happen, resulting in a reduction in delayed deliveries & increase in sales.

Edge over GPS tracking?

SIM-based tracking surely comes with a lot of ease and advantages, and here are some of the reasons why it might just be better than GPS tracking:

1. Zero capital expense:  It does not require any capital expenditure as it does not require an additional device or software installation. There are no payment terms to adhere to using this service, and since no gadget is involved, there is no concern of wear and tear.

2. Reliable alternative: It is a dependable solution in locations where other ways of tracking fail to provide visibility.

3. User-friendly and hassle-free solution: The user, as well as the service provider, are more inclined to use SIM-based tracking as there is no hardware involved, hence no hassle of reverse logistics to collect devices and also no fear of losing them.

How to get started?

SIM-based tracking involves a quick and easy three-step process to get started:

Step 1: Register the drivers’ mobile number to be tracked by the system along with the truck number. Once registered, the system will send an SMS to the driver, which is a gain consent to track the vehicle.

Step 2: The driver needs to provide their consent for tracking. He can do that by calling on a toll-free number or by replying with a ‘YES’ to the SMS received.

Step 3: Upon receiving consent, the trip status is available online, and that’s it! The trip is now visible on the dashboard, and you can start tracking that vehicle immediately.

Things to be aware of before choosing SIM-based tracking

How to choose a SIM tracking vendor? Are all providers equally good?

It’s vital to understand what offerings can stand out when evaluating them. Few can be: considering that the solution provider is integrated with all telecom operators (Airtel, VI, Jio, BSNL), making sure the system can generate Alerts/Notifications, and comes with a dashboard that gives visibility to all stakeholders (logistics teams, sales teams, customers/distributors, and transporters).

With all the benefits a SIM-based tracking solution offers, it is imperative to understand that it does come with a few challenges. It has a lower accuracy level when compared to a GPS tracking system, and it is signal-sensitive – meaning if there is no clear and strong signal, the device will not establish an accurate location.

Choosing a SIM-based tracking system is a choice which depends on the resources you can deploy and your expectations from a market fleet tracking solution. Intugine has already tracked more than 5 million vehicles using the SIM tracking solution. This has helped them create an impact for their clients by identifying valuable insights like 25% scope to reduce TAT, realising 24% of their trucks are slower than industry standards, and many more. Capturing SLA breaches and actual detention time has helped them evaluate transporter performance, which eventually led to constructive decision-making and benefitting the organisation in the long run. Get in touch with us to know more.