The agriculture industry is one of the most important in the UK. It employs over 4 million people and provides roughly 64% of the food eaten in the country.
The agriculture industry couldn’t function properly without access to heavy-duty farming equipment, like tractors, trailers, balers and harvesters. That is where a GPS tractor tracker comes in.
Agricultural equipment is incredibly valuable, so it’s crucial that farmers invest in a tractor tracker and GPS track their vehicles to ensure they’re being properly cared for and to prevent any theft attempts.
Farm Equipment Theft in the UK
Rural crime is at its highest in eight years. In 2019, rural crime alone cost the UK £54 million. This rise in rural crime is being driven by organised criminal gangs targeting high-value tractors and other farm vehicles. It’s suspected that thieves are stealing tractors costing over £50,000 for export to developed countries. Additionally, theft of a GPS tractor tracker is also a rising concern.
These numbers showcase the importance of tracking your farm vehicles; investing in a tractor tracker today could save you money in the future.
6 Benefits of Using a Tractor Tracker
A GPS tractor tracker can benefit the agricultural industry in a number of ways. Some of the primary benefits include:
1. Theft prevention
With a tractor GPS tracking system, you can set custom alerts for your farm vehicles and other agricultural equipment. Alerts called geofences will notify you if a piece of equipment is removed from a specified geographic location.
Time fences will alert you when a tractor is being used outside of a designated time window. These two types of alerts can be used to stop a theft attempt as it’s happening.
Read more about custom vehicle alarms: What is Geofencing?
2. Vehicle recovery
If a vehicle or piece of farming equipment is stolen, you can utilise the tractor tracker to pinpoint its location in real-time. With this information, the police can quickly and efficiently locate the stolen piece of equipment. This is an invaluable benefit of a tractor GPS, as it saves you from having to file insurance claims and means you won’t have to invest in a costly new piece of equipment.
Read more: You’re vehicle was stolen but you have a GPS tracker, now what?
3. Vehicle maintenance
A tractor tracker will automatically log the miles of each piece of equipment. With this data, you can plan routine maintenance checks accordingly. Having to bench a vehicle unexpectedly can stall an entire farming operation and cost you money, so staying on top of maintenance checks is vital.
4. Efficient labor distribution
Another perk of using real-time GPS tractor tracker is that the location of all of your vehicles can be viewed at once. Thus, fewer supervisors need to be employed on site to take stock of the vehicles. This will save you money on labor costs while providing you with peace of mind as to the whereabouts of your agricultural equipment.
5. Simple self-installation
Some farm equipment trackers require professional installation, which takes your vehicles out of commision and costs you money. The Vimcar Box can easily be installed yourself onto the battery of your vehicle. It’s fitted with an adhesive surface for stable mounting and is suitable for vehicles without an OBD interface, like tractors, harvesters, or ATVs.
Because the Vimcar Box is installed onto the vehicle’s battery, it’s more difficult for thieves to locate and remove, which provides you with added security.
Vimcar’s tractor tracking
Our tracking for trackers come with:
- Free, self-installation
- Easy-to-use software
- Flexible price plans
- Dedicated support agents to help you every business day of the week
Flexible price plans
At Vimcar our prices are designed to suit any company’s expectations. Not only do they
come with no hidden costs, but they can also be purchased with a:
- Monthly contract
- Yearly contract
- 2-yearly contract
Find out more about their flexible price plans here
Which GPS Tractor Tracker Is Best?
With rural crime on the rise, it’s more important than ever to track your farming equipment. Tractor trackers can help prevent theft, locate vehicles, stay on top of routine maintenance checks and reduce labor costs.
If you want to add an extra layer of security to your valuable pieces of agricultural equipment, Vimcar has you covered. Contact our team of customer service representatives to learn more about the Vimcar Box and how it will benefit your agricultural enterprise.
Tractor tracking is most often associated with preventing theft and making it easier to recover stolen farm vehicles. Although trackers for tractors certainly play a vital role in keeping your investments secure, they also deliver a raft of additional benefits. Uncomplicated and reliable, trackers for tractors work to boost the efficiency of your operation across the board. From cutting down on journey times to monitoring the progress of a driver doing grassland work and keeping an eye on vehicle availability, tractor tracking provides insights into your entire operation in real-time.
How tractor tracking can help
Tractor tracking is most often associated with preventing theft and making it easier to recover stolen farm vehicles. Although trackers for tractors certainly play a vital role in keeping your investments secure, they also deliver a raft of additional benefits. Uncomplicated and reliable, trackers for tractors work to boost the efficiency of your operation across the board. From cutting down on journey times to monitoring the progress of a driver doing grassland work and keeping an eye on vehicle availability, tractor tracking provides insights into your entire operation in real-time.
Reducing fuel consumption with tractor tracking
Trackers for tractors enable farmers to lower their monthly outlay by minimising the fleet’s fuel consumption by a little every day. When drivers lack exact directions, they can inadvertently add miles to the overall distance they cover, especially during the busy harvesting period. Position referencing from tractor tracking allows you to devise an optimally efficient route, getting each vehicle from point A to point B in the least amount of time.
Cutting your CO2 emissions with trackers for tractors
Fuel-efficient driving equals fewer emissions and with trackers for tractors getting the team on board with this idea is simple. Data drawn from tractor tracking informs you about wasteful practices such as engine idling, harsh braking or over acceleration. Speeding is another issue you can monitor through tractor tracking, especially when the driver needs to cover long distances. Occasionally, uneconomical practices are unavoidable on the road, but if they are becoming more regular, your annual costs can be impacted. When your trackers for tractors flag up a pattern, you can tackle it promptly by giving the individual tips on improving their driving style.
Read more: What is a Vehicle Fleet Manager?
Trackers for tractors monitor driver safety
By the time one of your drivers is on the road, their tractor tracking will already have been configured. As you’ll have access to their position through your trackers for tractors it’s possible to give them guidance on getting to their destination, advice about approaching weather fronts or warnings about road closures and accidents. Trackers for tractors mean you can observe the quality of a person’s driving, make sure your equipment is being manoeuvred safely and ensure they aren’t heading into any areas you’d prefer they didn’t go. As well as minimising the risks associated with driving heavy machinery, you can utilise tractor tracking to give expert help and ultimately take pressure off the driver.
Discover: Vimcar’s Fleet App
Streamlining your operations through tractor tracking
Managing a fleet of machinery is challenging, but you can gain control of key issues such as availability by using trackers for tractors. Once the system is in place, you have a live view of your vehicles and their availability at all times. Tractor tracking allows you to pinpoint which vehicles have nearly finished their tasks and when they are likely to arrive back at base. If you need a driver to move on to another job before returning, you can redirect them with an exact route and inform a client of their estimated time of arrival. In this way, tractor tracking cuts out the time-consuming task of phoning or messaging your team to establish where drivers are and when you can expect them back.
Scheduling maintenance checks using trackers for tractors
Vehicle servicing and repairs are costly, but you can manage the expenses involved more effectively through tractor tracking. As well as keeping your fleet in great shape, planned checks can prevent small issues from becoming worse. Using several different data points such as existing maintenance issues, fuel usage and mileage, trackers for tractors flag up potential problems before they cause an accident or a breakdown. By utilising trackers for tractors data to react in advance, you have time to arrange repairs early and avoid any impact on your day to day work.
Trackers for tractors boost efficiency
Trackers for tractors are an excellent resource for farmers hoping to increase the general efficiency of their business. Tractor tracking data can be harnessed in ways that help you streamline daily processes, from creating accessible reports to providing details on what is done well and what could be improved. Acting on tractor tracking information can lower your annual costs and therefore increase your bottom line, making every year on the farm a good year.