GPS Asset Tracking
From vehicles and equipment to high-value assets, businesses across industries rely on GPS asset tracking to improve visibility, security, and efficiency.
GPS Asset Tracking 101
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What is GPS asset tracking?
GPS asset tracking is a system that uses Global Positioning System (GPS) technology to monitor and manage the location and movement of physical assets, such as vehicles, equipment, or containers, in real-time, offering enhanced security and operational efficiency.
Whether you’re in fleet management, construction, logistics, or agriculture, knowing where your assets are—and how they’re being used—helps reduce loss, optimize operations, and lower costs.
How do Asset Trackers Work?
Asset trackers use GPS technology to monitor the real-time location and movement of assets such as equipment, vehicles, and valuable items. A compact GPS device is discreetly installed on the asset, allowing for covert tracking. These trackers receive signals from GPS satellites and transmit location data over cellular or LoRaWAN networks, enabling remote monitoring and improved asset security.
Devices can feature motion detection, adaptive tracking, and geofencing, ensuring efficient power management while providing accurate location updates. Whether for tracking vehicles/fleet management, construction equipment, or high-value shipments, these trackers offer a reliable solution to enhance security and operational efficiency.
Benefits of GPS Asset Tracking
Why GPS Asset Tracking Matters
GPS asset tracking protects, optimizes, and streamlines operations, ensuring better security, efficiency, and cost savings.
- Prevent Theft & Loss – Protect your assets with real-time tracking and instant alerts. If an asset is moved unexpectedly, you can take immediate action to prevent theft or recover stolen equipment faster, minimizing downtime and losses.
- Maximize Asset Utilization – Stop wasting money on underutilized assets. GPS tracking helps you monitor asset usage patterns so you can allocate resources more effectively, reduce idle time, and ensure equipment is where it’s needed most.
- Cut Operational Costs – GPS tracking allows for proactive maintenance scheduling, preventing costly breakdowns and extending asset lifespan. By monitoring usage hours, fuel consumption, and wear-and-tear, businesses can reduce maintenance costs and increase ROI.
- Enhance Compliance & Safety – Many industries require strict regulatory compliance for asset tracking, especially in logistics, construction, and cold chain transport. GPS tracking ensures that assets are monitored, documented, and properly maintained, helping businesses avoid fines and meet safety standards.
Key Features of GPS Asset Trackers
Key Features
GPS asset tracking protects, optimizes, and streamlines operations, ensuring better security, efficiency, and cost savings.
- Tamper Detection: Enhanced security through tamper detection, which instantly alerts users to unauthorized interference.
- Adaptive Tracking: Conserves battery life by switching to sleep mode when stationary.
- Geofencing: Allows users to define virtual boundaries and receive alerts when assets enter or exit designated areas.
- Sensor Integration: Supports Bluetooth-enabled monitoring of temperature, humidity, vibration, and more, providing comprehensive asset visibility in diverse applications.
- Instant Updates: Text message alerts sent direct to your smart phone notify users of critical events, ensuring timely responses to asset movements or security breaches.
GPS Asset Tracking Applications
Discover how organizations use GPS tracking to enhance security, efficiency, and compliance.
Agriculture
Maximize productivity and sustainability with real-time GPS tracking and IoT agriculture sensors. Monitor farm equipment, livestock, and environmental conditions with precision.
Bicycle Tracking
Protect and recover high-value bicycles with real-time GPS tracking for bikes. Monitor trip history, usage patterns, and optimize fleet performance with long-life tracking devices.
Bin Tracking
Track mobile and stationary bins with battery-powered GPS devices. Gain real-time location insights and improve asset utilization across worksites and transit routes.
Cold Chain Monitoring
Ensure temperature-sensitive goods remain compliant with GPS tracking and cold chain monitoring. Get real-time visibility, alerts, and historical trip data to protect your cold assets.
Container Tracking
Improve supply chain efficiency with GPS container tracking. Monitor asset movement, prevent loss, and streamline global logistics with flexible, low-power tracking hardware.
Equipment & Tool Tracking
Prevent equipment and tool misplacement or theft while optimizing utilization with rugged, battery-powered GPS devices. Ideal for construction, industrial, and rental applications, our solutions simplify tool tracking and asset management across job sites.
Fleet Management
Gain full visibility into vehicle location, utilization, driver behavior, and more. Our GPS fleet tracking devices help businesses optimize fleet operations, reduce fuel costs, and ensure driver safety.
Medical Equipment Tracking
Ensure critical medical equipment is always where it’s needed. Our solutions offer real-time indoor/outdoor tracking with temperature monitoring to meet healthcare compliance.
Livestock Tracking
Enhance livestock security, prevent loss, and improve herd management with GPS livestock tracking devices. Monitor movement patterns and location history remotely.
Pallet Tracking
Track and analyze pallets indoors and outdoors across warehouses, yards, and supply chains with GPS tracking devices.
Tool Tracking
Track and secure high-value tools with rugged GPS tracking devices. Monitor location, usage, and movement in real time to prevent loss, optimize operations, and support theft recovery.
Mining, Oil, and Gas
Monitor and protect high-value assets in remote, rugged environments. Our GPS tracking solutions ensure reliability in extreme conditions.
Vehicle Tracking
Improve theft prevention and recovery with real-time vehicle GPS tracking. Get instant alerts for unauthorized movement, speed monitoring, and geofence violations.
Waste Management
Track waste bins, dumpsters, and portable sanitation units with long-life battery-powered GPS trackers, improving collection efficiency and reducing theft.
IoT in Aviation
Track and manage aviation assets with GPS and IoT tracking solutions. Ideal for ground equipment, cargo logistics, and aircraft maintenance operations.
GPS Asset Tracking Use Cases

Mitigating Cargo Theft with GPS Tracking Solutions
In the first 20 weeks of 2023, CargoNet reported over 900 theft and fraud incidents within the U.S. supply chain – a 41% increase from 2022.
By leveraging advanced GPS asset tracking solutions, logistics companies are significantly improving the security of their cargo shipments, deterring theft attempts, and responding swiftly in case of any unauthorized activities.
How GPS asset tracking devices help improve security and reduce theft:
Real-Time Location Monitoring: GPS trackers provide precise, real-time location updates, enabling logistics teams and law enforcement to monitor cargo at every step. In the event of unauthorized movement, trackers can pinpoint exact locations, accelerating recovery efforts.
Actionable Alerts and Notifications: Trackers can send instant alerts when assets are moved unexpectedly or tampered with. These alerts—delivered via email, SMS, or in-app notifications—enable rapid intervention and loss prevention.
Learn more about smarter solutions for cargo tracking.

Critical Aircraft Part Tracking and Condition Monitoring with IoT
As a result of COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of high-value aircraft parts was forced to leave critical assets unattended for several weeks in an uncontrolled environment. Due to high humidity levels, the critical aircraft parts corroded and were unusable, resulting in a substantial (hundreds of millions of dollars) financial loss for the company and its aviation partners.
To improve visibility in their supply chain, in 2021 the manufacturer selected Digital Matter’s Oyster Edge.to track and monitor the location and condition of thousands of their critical aircraft assets as they move globally through production, storage, and delivery.
By providing essential visibility of critical high-value assets in transit, the Oyster Edge allowed the manufacturer to authenticate the location of goods at any time, track speed of movement and arrival times, monitor storage conditions, and streamline the problematic movement of goods. Over time, this will save the manufacturer hundreds of millions of dollars in lost or damaged assets.
Learn more about GPS trackers can enable complete visibility over your entire supply chain.
Articles on GPS Asset Tracking
Stay up to date with the latest trends, insights, and innovation related to GPS asset tracking.
IoT Asset Tracking Technologies: Core vs Edge vs Fusion vs GPS
Compare Core, Edge, Fusion, & GPS tracking devices to find the best solution for indoor-outdoor, or outdoor-only tracking needs.
Indoor Asset Tracking
Discover how our indoor asset tracking and WiFi Positioning systems protect essential assets to improve efficiency and, reduce loss.
Hospital Asset Tracking
Discover how our hospital asset tracking systems protect essential assets to improve efficiency, reduce loss, and support patient and staff.
4G and 5G GPS Trackers – Cellular IoT in GPS Asset Tracking
Cellular IoT in the age of 5G, the difference between LTE-M and NB-IoT Networks, and more.
WiFi Asset Tracking
Real-time transportation visibility can help reduce inefficiencies or incidents within the supply chain process by providing correct data.
Understanding 4G Cat 1bis and 2G Fallback in Global IoT Asset Tracking
In this article, we explore the benefits of 4G Cat 1bis and 2G Fallback for global IoT asset tracking deployments.
NB-IoT for Mobile Asset Tracking
It is widely assumed that NB-IoT is only suitable for static asset tracking and is an insufficient solution for mobile assets tracking (e.g. vehicles). However, this assumption is incorrect! NB-IoT is suitable for both static and mobile asset tracking, and we have tested its capabilities in both Africa and Australia to prove it to you.
Solar-Powered GPS Trackers vs Battery-Powered
Learn more about the limitations of solar-powered GPS trackers for IoT asset tracking applications.
Wheelchair Tracking: Improving Asset Control in Healthcare
Discover advanced wheelchair tracking systems to minimize equipment loss, deter theft, and elevate patient care. Explore our devices.
Returnable Asset Tracking
Learn more about our range of rugged and robust battery-powered GPS devices for returnable asset tracking and management.
Portable GPS Trackers
Learn how portable GPS tracking devices provide real-time location to allow businesses to track their assets.
GPS Tracking Devices for Rental Equipment
GPS tracking devices for rental equipment enhances asset visibility, optimizes usage and mitigates theft, ensuring success across work sites.
How IoT has Enhanced Supply Chain Visibility
Explore how IoT improves supply chain visibility with real-time tracking, reducing asset loss, and optimizing operations.
How Asset Management can Reduce Loss and Mitigate Financial Risk
Learn how an effective asset management plan can reduce asset loss, mitigate financial risk, and improve operational efficiency with systematic tracking and maintenance strategies.
BLE Tracking vs. GPS Tracking: Which is Right for You?
No matter the industry you work in, most companies understand the need for tracking important assets and inventory. Selecting the right technology is crucial for achieving your asset visibility requirements. Bluetooth ® Low Energy (BLE) tracking and GPS tracking are two of the most utilized options, each with its strengths and shortcomings.
Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) in IoT Asset Tracking
NTN stands for Non-Terrestrial Networks, and in this context, it specifically refers to a specification released by the 3GPP in Q1 2022 as part of “Release 17”.
Digital Matter Enables Worldwide Asset Tracking with New Range of ‘Global’ Battery-Powered GPS Devices
We’re excited to announce the expansion of our battery-powered IoT asset tracking portfolio with the addition of 4G Cat 1bis and 2G connectivity!
Next-Generation LoRaWAN® Asset Tracking Devices
The next-gen versions of our LoRaWAN devices feature improved GNSS performance, longer battery life, and refined IP67 housings for even better durability.
Digital Matter Announces ‘Edge’ Indoor/Outdoor Battery-Powered Asset Tracking Portfolio with Cloud-Based Location Solving
Digital Matter’s ‘Edge’ portfolio brings the power savings of Cloud-based location solving to indoor/outdoor asset tracking applications
Digital Matter and Helium Announce Partnership to Simplify Asset Tracking via Nationwide Peer-to-Peer IoT Network
Digital Matter’s long-life battery-powered GPS tracking devices now fully integrated with The People’s Network; enabling simple and affordable asset tracking applications.
Featured GPS Asset Tracking Devices
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