Based on a friend's unfortunate loss of a trailer to the bad guys in Oregon (thankfully no car was on it), I looked into GPS tracker options. Back when I got myself worked up about this risk a couple years ago, it looked like Dewalt had a "MobileLock" solution that people were pretty happy with, designed for tracking equipment and trailers. It's gone sideways since then and no longer seems to be a good option.

Amazon carries what looks like four solutions that have the same hardware. Amcrest, Spy Tec, Optimus, and Micron. The hardware combines a GPS receiver sensitive enough to work from inside a trailer and a 3g modem on the ATT network. Internal battery supposedly lasts a couple weeks, and there is also a hardwire option. It has a waterproof magnetic case option. It's the size of half a deck of cards, small enough to put in your kids pocket (and track them too). The online software looks fairly robust in feature set. You can setup GPS regions that throw alerts when entered or exited, and the alerts can be SMS or email based. You can track current location, path, battery status, signal strength, etc. Data is updated every minute to 10 seconds (contract price depends on update speed).

The price was low enough with a month-to-month contract that I bought one and plan to put it in the trailer hardwired to the winch battery.
If anyone has experience with GPS tracking solutions for trailers, I'd be interested to hear about it. I will report back my findings in a few weeks once I play around with this Amcrest unit some more. The first duty will be tracking one of my kids on our Disney trip in a couple weeks.

 

Looking forward to what you figure out....

Mike

 

I will be watching this also. So the Dewalt unit proved unreliable?

Thanks
Randy

 

No really sure exactly what happened, their reviews went from really good to crap over the period of a year.

 

In the process of having a new trailer built so this has me thinking I might want one of these.
Just doing some googling, I found some hardwired options, but I found this one that looks pretty interesting.
Yes up front it costs more up front $279, but you are paying close to that after a year with the per month units this comes with a 3 year service, it's battery operated with a 5 year battery so no wiring.
http://gpsandtrack.com/trailer-track-gps/
They have a hardwired option too which is cheaper.
Anyone have one of these?

 

I know at least 3 people who have it and really are happy w that. Considering that as the next trailer splurge. Apparently gives you daily texts and emails and links to a daily satellite shot. Also has. some system to alert you if it goes missing, updates every few min if you turn on "Alert" mode.

 

Spot trace

 

Would a signal from the tracking device be picked up if the trailer was inside a building?

 

The one I have is currently in the house (first floor of a 2 story house, no where near a window), and it seems to have a GPS lock on it. I will know more once I put it in the trailer.

 

The only issue would be the GPS unit draining the battery. Need a solar panel installed so the battery can be kept charged.

Before anyone states the obvious, if the trailer is inside then the solar panel won't work, but it is inside, it won't get stolen either.

 

I've got one and love it. It is very easy to set up and install. My trailer sits in a farm barn and picks up the signal while in the barn. The piece of mind is worth every penny. Very good customer service with gpsandtrack.com as well.

 

GPS tracker update:

My Amcrest unit is not really able to deal with the Aluminum walls of the trailer. I could put it outside, but then I'd need a way to charge it. It's not really designed for this duty. The software online is pretty good, but not mobile friendly. They work well in a car or backpack.

So on to the next solution: I'm trying a company called linxup, which makes sealed harsh environment units. Turns out to be cheaper than the amcrest for their smaller/simple unit. $25/unit and 120/year for 3g service. Updates are 10min while in motion, daily if not. They have geo fencing and motion alerts. It's small enough that think I can get it into my breakaway battery box. They also make a solar powered unit that you could plop on the top of a trailer.

There is another company called WHRZT - and their product is compelling for folks like us, however I have heard that their service has been down for months. A lot of scathing reviews online. Seemed almost too good to be true until I did some research.

 

I was looking into linxup as well, let me know what you think.