Professional GPS tracker: locate your industrial and logistics assets anywhere, for years

Updated October 23, 2026

A professional GPS tracker is a self-contained device fixed to a company asset (container, skip, trailer, cart, tooling) that calculates its position by satellite and sends it over a cellular network to a tracking platform. Unlike a consumer tracker, it is designed to run for several years on a single battery, withstand shocks, water and extreme temperatures, and be managed by the hundreds or thousands from the same software.

We design industrial GPS trackers, in two models (Europe and worldwide), and the platform that uses their data. This page explains how to choose a GPS tracker for industrial and logistics assets, what really drives its battery life, and how to follow the same object outdoors and inside your buildings.

• Battery life: up to 8 years at one position per day (Europe model), replaceable 7,000 mAh battery.
• Ruggedness: IP68, IK07, −40 to +85 °C.
• Network: LTE-M and NB-IoT with built-in SIM; coverage in Europe (Europe model) or more than 190 countries (worldwide model).
• Indoor + outdoor: GPS outside, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) inside buildings, in the same device.

Professional vs consumer GPS tracker: what really changes

Trackers sold for cars, bikes or pets are recharged every week or every month and managed one by one in an app. On a fleet of 500 containers or 200 skips, that model does not work: nobody recharges 500 devices. The criteria for a professional GPS tracker are therefore different.

Our professional GPS trackers: Europe model and worldwide model

Both models share the same housing and battery. The Europe model targets maximum battery life in Europe; the worldwide model adds global coverage, more satellite constellations and options for air transport.

Both trackers are CE and RoHS certified. The choice depends mainly on geography: assets that stay in Europe → Europe model; assets that travel outside Europe or by air → worldwide model.

GPS tracker battery life: what really makes it vary

The advertised battery life depends first on the number of positions per day: going from one to four daily positions halves the battery life of the Europe model (8 years → 4 years). But in the field, another factor weighs just as much: failed GPS searches.

When a tracker is parked under a metal shelter or in a hangar, it searches for satellites without finding them. On a fleet we analyzed, one failed search used as much energy as about a hundred successful positions (240 seconds of GPS on, against a median of 2 seconds for a successful fix), and the trackers that failed most lasted half as long as the others. Three settings fix this problem:

• Take a position when movement starts and stops, detected by the accelerometer, rather than at a fixed interval while the object is parked.
• Limit the duration of a GPS search so that a failure costs less.
• Switch to Bluetooth indoors: under a roof, a BLE anchor gives the position without turning on the GPS.

That is why we configure each deployment to the real rhythm of the assets, not with a single position frequency.

GPS outdoors, Bluetooth indoors, with the same device

GPS needs to see the sky. In a warehouse, a workshop or a storage hall, it is off by tens of meters or stops responding. Our trackers therefore combine two technologies:

• Outdoors, the tracker positions itself by satellite, with an accuracy of about 5 meters in open areas.
• Indoors, it detects Bluetooth beacons and anchors fixed in the buildings: the platform then knows which zone, aisle or dock it is in.

The same container can be followed on the road between two plants, then in the workshop where it is emptied. To understand how Bluetooth Low Energy works, see our guide to Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE).

Use cases: industrial assets and logistics

Reusable containers and packaging

Bins, racks, pallet boxes and carts circulate between suppliers, plants and customers, and some are lost at every rotation. A GPS tracker on each container gives its current site, idle time and trip history. One manufacturer tracks 3,000 containers across several sites from a single map.

Skips, roll-off containers and equipment

In waste management, skips are dropped at customer sites and then forgotten. The tracker shows where each skip is and for how long, so rental can be billed to the day and collections planned.

Inter-site logistics flows

Between two production sites, the platform rebuilds the full journey of each piece of equipment and measures the minimum, average and maximum transit time of each step. Bottlenecks and blocked shipments become visible without manual records.

Airport equipment and air cargo

Ground carts, containers and equipment shipped in the hold: the worldwide model detects take-off, switches off GPS and radio during the flight, then reactivates them on landing, in line with air transport requirements. See our page on the GPS tracker for aviation assets (RTCA DO-160G).

Tracking bins, racks or containers between your plants and suppliers? See our page on reusable container tracking.

A platform to use the positions

• Locate an asset immediately and trace its movement history.
• Create geofences and receive alerts on entry, exit or when an asset stays idle too long.
• Run multi-site inventories and compare theoretical and actual rotation times.
• Pair a tracker with an asset and make the tag ring or blink from the Android or iOS app.
• Push the data to your ERP, WMS or CMMS through an API.

How to choose a professional GPS tracker: 6 questions to ask

1. How many positions per day do you really need? One position at departure and arrival is often enough; it is the first lever for battery life.
2. Where do your assets go? Europe only, or worldwide and air transport.
3. Do they spend time indoors? If so, plan the Bluetooth relay, otherwise indoor positions will be wrong.
4. What physical constraints? Water, high-pressure washing, shocks, cold or heat.
5. How is the battery changed? A replaceable battery avoids throwing away the device after a few years.
6. Where does the data go? Check that an API can send it to your business tools.

Frequently asked questions about professional GPS trackers

What is a professional GPS tracker?

It is a self-contained device that calculates its position by satellite and sends it over a cellular network to a platform. It differs from a consumer tracker by a battery life of several years, a waterproof and shock-resistant housing, and centralized fleet management.

Is there a professional GPS tracker without a subscription?

To follow an object remotely, the tracker must transmit its position, so it uses a network. That connectivity cost always exists, whether billed separately or included. On our trackers, the SIM card is built in and connectivity is included in the annual platform license: there is no carrier contract to manage.

How long does a professional GPS tracker battery last?

It depends on the number of positions per day and on reception conditions. The Europe model lasts up to 8 years at one position per day and 4 years at four; the worldwide model up to 6 years at one position per day. The battery is replaceable.

Does a GPS tracker work inside a building?

Poorly: satellite signals barely pass through roofs and metal structures. Our trackers then use Bluetooth Low Energy to locate themselves with fixed anchors, and cell-tower positioning as a last resort.

What happens in an area without network coverage?

The tracker keeps taking positions and stores them in memory, then sends them as soon as it is back in coverage. The trip history remains complete.

Can an asset used by an employee be tracked?

Tracking a company asset (container, skip, tooling) is the simplest case. If the asset is used by an employee, for example a vehicle, tracking must comply with data-protection rules such as the GDPR: a stated purpose, information to employees and a limited retention period.

Let's talk about your project

Tell us which assets you want to track, how many and where they move: we will propose the tracker, the position rhythm and the matching battery life. Contact us.