Vehicle tracking system is one of the diversities of transport tracking that is based on Global Positioning System (GPS). But there can be used some other systems of automatic vehicle location. Specialized software and the Internet are linked with the GPS device and help define the location of a vehicle.

This technology is also applied in dispatching services on transports as well as for transports logistics tasks solution (Transportation Management System, TMS) and automated systems for fleet tracking (Fleet Management System, FMS).

Automobile tracker is a device that is installed in a car. The main goal of such device is to track vehicle movement and control its location. Usually, tracker defines its location getting a signal from GPS and sending it with the help of GPRS to the internet server, on which an owner of a device sees the movements.

We can distinguish five generations of GPS tracking systems according to applied technical solutions:

1. The first fleet tracking systems were offline ones. They didn’t provided users with real-time tracking. GPS tracker recorded all data into its storage and then transmitted it to the server with the help of wire or wireless interface. Such system could only control the route of a vehicle post factum and couldn’t help in case of car theft.

2. The second generation systems used SMS or CSD for connection with the server. This system was very costly and almost disappeared with the development of mobile internet.

3. The third generation uses GPRS and EV-DO. It lowers mobile communication expenses and betters the accuracy of route defining. This is the most widespread system nowadays.

4. The fourth generation of GPS tracking also uses mobile communication as the transport system, but it differs from the third generation by using web technologies. The server is located at the provider company and secured data access can be done with the help of any PC through a web page.

5. Tracking systems of the fifth generation are the kind of global development and centralization of previous generation systems into one tracking center.

Besides systems for extreme conditions exist that are created for work in deserts, mountains, war zones and so on.