Asset Tracking: How much more revenue could your fleet generate?
Most fleet decisions are made with partial information, tribal knowledge, or assumptions about how assets move.
They end up leaking revenue in places that are hard to spot but not hard to measure. Trailers sit idle, get stuck at customer yards, move empty when they shouldn’t, or disappear into “ghost asset” status. Asset tracking doesn’t eliminate these problems, but it reveals them. Once you can see where time and capacity slip away unnoticed, you can recover the revenue your fleet is already capable of generating.
Without guessing. That’s the beauty of it.
What Is Asset Tracking in Fleet Management?
Asset tracking in fleet management is the practice of monitoring the real-time data (location, status, usage, etc.) of trailers, vehicles, and equipment through the use of telematics, GPS, and similar technologies.
It combines technical telemetry (GPS/GNSS positioning, cellular IoT communication, BLE sensor data) with operational fleet management KPIs (dwell time, utilization, load status) to create continuous visibility for each individual asset.
The Benefits: What You Should Expect From Effective Asset Tracking
The biggest challenge of asset tracking in fleet management is getting consistent, reliable data from each asset. It’s relatively straightforward, then, to translate that data into revenue-generating insights.
All the benefits of reliable tracking technology can be summed up in one sentence: locating missing revenue opportunities.
Below we mention the most common ones. Not all will apply to your business — that’s fine. You should, however, find at least 3–5 relatable opportunities. If you can’t tell whether one applies to you, you likely don’t have enough data yet — which is a benefit in itself.
- Missed backhaul opportunities
- Yard hunts and operational delays
- Poor cube utilization inside trailers
- Empty miles caused by poor visibility and planning
- Underutilized trailers that sit idle for weeks or months
- Revenue lost to “ghost assets” (marked falsely “in use”)
- Lost turns due to extended dwell time at customer locations
- Premature maintenance costs due to inefficient asset rotation
- Unbilled detention because fleets can’t prove how long assets sat
- Excess trailers purchased because no one knows what’s available
- Customer non-compliance (door left open, misuse, unauthorized use)
If you want a simple test to know whether you’re missing revenue, start here: pick five trailers at random and track their last 30 days of activity.
If you struggle to answer where they were, how long they sat, how many turns they made, or whether they were empty or full at critical points, that’s your signal. You lose revenue because the fleet is invisible. Asset tracking doesn’t magically create new revenue opportunities — it reveals the ones you already have.
We’ll discuss what makes a specific technology reliable in the final section of this article.
The Two Levels of Visibility Asset Tracking Unlocks
The two levels of visibility you unlock are: the asset-level view and the business-level view.
The asset-level view is the operator’s lens. It’s the most practical way to think about asset tracking because optimization starts at the unit level. It answers: What is this specific trailer producing?
The business-level view is the executive’s lens. Here you evaluate fleet design and capital allocation. It answers: Do we have the right amount of assets, and are they earning what they should?
3 Tips When Choosing Leading Asset Tracking Systems
Besides price and features, ask every provider these questions. They will expose problems before they happen.
1. How much time does installation take?
If installation takes hours per trailer, you’re already behind — every minute offline is a minute not generating revenue. Choose hardware that installs fast and requires minimal wiring so it doesn’t disrupt maintenance.
Faster installation also means faster time-to-value because you begin collecting actionable data immediately.
2. Does the hardware endure harsh weather conditions?
Asset trackers live the same life your trailers do: heat, cold, vibration, dust, rain, snow, and yard abuse. If the device fails in real conditions, your visibility disappears. Durability is not optional — it determines data consistency.
Look for ruggedized, IP-rated, solar-powered hardware designed for long-term outdoor exposure.
3. What percentage of tracking units stay operational in real fleets?
The technology has one job: tell you the truth about your assets every day. Reliability separates a dashboard full of missing data from one you actually trust.
Look for proven performance in high-volume fleets and a long track record of keeping assets visible for years. For example, Swift Transportation improved their working trailer tracking units from 25% to 93% using the SkyBitz platform.
If you want reliable asset tracking, start with a solution that gives you uninterrupted visibility and doesn’t fall apart in real fleet conditions. SkyBitz was built for exactly that. Take a look at our trailer tracking options.