A Comprehensive Guide to Fleet Tracking Systems
Chapter 8
As with any business asset and expenditures, you would need to weigh in the pros and cons of buying or renting an equipment. Fleet management systems are no different.
The benefits of buying
The decision to buy is affected by the number of vehicles in your fleet and your company’s requirement for data privacy. Buying your own fleet tracking equipment would make sense if you have the IT team to help you maintain it and come up with software that you could use for your devices. This would ensure that you have utmost flexibility with your fleet management systems. You can have customized solutions without ever needing to seek the approval of a third party. Plus, buying your own fleet tracking systems would mean that you would not be tied to a long-term contract with any company. This is a good option if you are just testing the waters and you do not want to be stuck with a provider that might not be able to give you everything you need.
It also makes sense if you have a small fleet. A small fleet would mean that you would not be burdened by high capital costs because you only need to buy trackers for a few vehicles. At its most basic, a fleet tracking device would easily cost around $65 to $100.
What’s more, if you own your fleet management systems, you can be sure that your data is secure and safe. Because no outside companies are going to get access to your data, you can make sure that nobody else will be able to see your vehicle’s location data and other information about your fleet operations. You can store the data on your company’s servers and storage, and have access to it anytime, anywhere.
The benefits of renting
As you can guess, it would take a lot of resources for you to buy and own your fleet management systems. Not only would you need additional IT personnel doing the programming and customizations for you, but you would also need to have adequate storage to keep your data secure, complete and safe.
If you are not that particular with keeping your data secure, or if you do not mind having a long-term contract with a provider, then you should consider leasing a fleet management systems. Aside from not having to be pressured to have the IT expertise, the computing and storage resources, and the high upfront costs, you can gain other benefits if you rent.
For one, upgrades would be a whole lot easier because it is the vendor who would be tasked to upgrade. Tracking technology changes every so often and a new or a better device is always released or just around the corner. When you buy your own tracking systems and devices, you lose out the chance to take advantage of the latest gadget and technologies out there, unless you are willing to spend again. Also, maintaining and troubleshooting the systems remains the responsibility of the provider, so you do not have to worry about it. Even if you do not have the personnel to maintain the systems and the devices, everything will run smoothly.
Looking at it from a taxation point of view, renting your fleet management systems is more tax-efficient.