A plug-in OBD tracker suits most work utes, work vans and trucks, and a truck with no OBD2 port can be wired to its battery. It runs off the vehicle and shows every vehicle on one map on your phone, updating about every 60 seconds while driving. It costs A$199 (NZ$229) plus A$99.99 a year (NZ$99.99), with no contracts.
This guide is for a tradie or a small business with a few work vehicles, not a big fleet. Most of our OBD trackers go to people like that. Where owners tell us the vehicle type, about 3 in 4 of our OBD trackers are in a work van or a truck, and 63% sit in accounts with 2 or more trackers (Solid GPS account data, as at 10 October 2026).
Contents
- Which Work Vehicles Can Take a Plug-In GPS Tracker?
- Can I Fit a GPS Tracker to a Heavy Truck?
- How Do I Fit a GPS Tracker to a Work Ute or Van?
- What Will I See on My Phone?
- Can My Team See Where the Vehicles Are?
- How Much Does It Cost to Track a Work Vehicle?
- Do I Need a Fleet Management System or Just a Tracker?
- Do I Have to Tell Staff Their Work Vehicle Is Tracked?
Which Work Vehicles Can Take a Plug-In GPS Tracker?
Most work utes, work vans and light trucks made after 2006 can. They have a 16-pin OBD2 port, the plug a mechanic uses to read the vehicle’s computer, and the tracker plugs straight into it. Trucks with no OBD2 port can still take one, wired to the battery.
The port comes from ADR 79, the Australian rule on light vehicle emissions. It covers cars and light goods vehicles, such as utes and work vans, with a gross vehicle mass (GVM) of up to 3.5 tonnes. It made OBD2 standard on new petrol vehicles from 2006 and diesel vehicles from 2007, and New Zealand followed from 2006.
| Vehicle | Port | How the tracker fits |
|---|---|---|
| Work ute or work van made after 2006 | 16-pin OBD2 port | Plugs in, no tools |
| Light truck, 3.5 to 4.5 tonnes GVM | Check for a 16-pin OBD2 port | Plugs in, or the A$10 (NZ$10) wiring harness |
| Heavy truck, over 4.5 tonnes GVM, 12V or 24V | Often no OBD2 port | The A$10 (NZ$10) wiring harness to the battery |
| Work vehicle made before 2006 with no OBD2 port | None | The A$10 (NZ$10) wiring harness to the battery |
If you are replacing an old tracker that went dead when Australia’s 3G networks closed, the same check applies. Our guide to the 3G shutdown and GPS trackers explains what changed.
Can I Fit a GPS Tracker to a Heavy Truck?
Yes. The tracker handles up to 40V, so it runs on a 24V truck as well as a 12V ute. What changes on a heavy truck is the port, not the power.
The NHVR counts a truck as a heavy vehicle when its GVM is over 4.5 tonnes. Many heavy trucks have a different diagnostic port, often a round 9-pin one, and no 16-pin OBD2 port. In that case you skip the port and use the A$10 (NZ$10) wiring harness, which connects the tracker straight to the truck’s battery.
- Look for a 16-pin OBD2 port under the steering wheel, and if there is one, plug the tracker in.
- If there is no OBD2 port, order the A$10 (NZ$10) wiring harness with the tracker.
- Connect the harness to the truck’s battery, or have an auto electrician do it for you.
- Open the app and check that the truck shows on the map before it heads off.
How Do I Fit a GPS Tracker to a Work Ute or Van?
Plug it into the OBD2 port under the steering wheel. It takes no tools, and the tracker draws its power from the vehicle, so you never need to charge it.
For a permanent install, the A$10 (NZ$10) wiring harness wires the tracker to the vehicle’s battery instead of the port. Either way, when the vehicle is parked the tracker checks in every 24 hours and wakes up as soon as it moves. It can stand by for up to 6 months on the vehicle’s battery.
Not sure a plug-in tracker is the right kind for you? Our guide to the types of GPS trackers sets plug-in, wired and battery trackers side by side.
What Will I See on My Phone?
You see every vehicle on one map. While a vehicle is driving, its spot on the map updates about every 60 seconds, and when it is parked it checks in every 24 hours.
- Live location for each tracker, with no limit on how many trackers you add to one account.
- Trip history, so you can look back at where a vehicle went on any day in the past year, with up to 400 GPS points in each view.
- Movement alerts, sent to your phone if a vehicle moves when you did not expect it to.
- Geofence alerts, sent when a vehicle leaves an area you draw on the map, such as your yard.
- Kilometres driven, as an estimate, because the app measures the straight line between GPS points rather than the road.
Out of mobile range, the tracker keeps a record of the route and uploads it when the signal comes back. It has a built-in 4G SIM with unlimited data, on Telstra and Vodafone in Australia and Spark and Vodafone in New Zealand. The app runs on iPhone, Android and a web browser.
Can My Team See Where the Vehicles Are?
Yes, in 2 ways. You can send a view-only live link, which shows where a vehicle is but can’t change the tracker or its settings. Or you can share the account login, which gives full access.
To be plain about what it does not do: there are no separate logins for each driver, no way to assign a driver to a vehicle, and no reports. A small team that just needs to know where its work vans and utes are can do without them, and the section on fleet systems below covers who can’t.
How Much Does It Cost to Track a Work Vehicle?
Each tracker costs A$199 or NZ$229, paid once, then a plan from A$99.99 or NZ$99.99 a year. There are no contracts, the first 31 days are free, and one account holds as many trackers as you need.
| What you pay | Australia | New Zealand |
|---|---|---|
| OBD tracker, paid once | A$199 | NZ$229 |
| Yearly plan, per tracker | A$99.99 a year | NZ$99.99 a year |
| Monthly plan, per tracker | A$11.99 a month | NZ$11.99 a month |
| 3 work vehicles, trackers plus 1 year of the yearly plan | A$896.97 | NZ$986.97 |
The plan covers the SIM, the data and the app. Each tracker comes with a 12-month warranty, standard shipping is free, and the tracker is sold in Australia and New Zealand only. The OBD GPS tracker page shows what comes in the box.
See every work ute, work van and truck on one map on your phone, with a tracker that plugs into the OBD2 port and runs off the vehicle. It updates about every 60 seconds while driving.
Do I Need a Fleet Management System or Just a Tracker?
Most small businesses with a few work vehicles need just a tracker. A fleet management system adds tools built for big fleets and heavy transport, and it is often sold by quote rather than with a price on the page.
| What you get | Plug-in OBD tracker | Fleet management system |
|---|---|---|
| Every vehicle on one map | Yes | Yes |
| Trip history and geofence alerts | Yes | Yes |
| Logins for each driver, and driver assignment | No | Often |
| Reports | No | Often |
| Driver scoring, engine and fuel data | No | Often |
| Electronic work diary (EWD) and job dispatch | No | Some |
| Price on the page | A$199 plus A$99.99 a year (NZ$229 plus NZ$99.99), no contracts | Often by quote |
You need the bigger system if your drivers keep a work diary under heavy vehicle fatigue rules and you want it on a screen. An electronic work diary is a system approved by the NHVR that drivers can use instead of a written one. The same goes if a road manager tells you to enrol a truck in the Intelligent Access Program, which Transport Certification Australia runs. Our tracker is neither of these.
Trailers and plant with no engine have no port at all, so a battery trailer GPS tracker suits them better. For the wider trade-offs, read the pros and cons of GPS trackers, and check what to look for in a GPS tracker before you buy.
Jason runs a small fleet of delivery vans with our OBD trackers. He sees every delivery van live on one map, and he gets an alert when something is off.
Do I Have to Tell Staff Their Work Vehicle Is Tracked?
Yes, in most states. Tell staff in writing before the tracking starts, and get their consent in writing as well, because the 5 states with a tracking device offence need consent and not just notice. New South Wales and the ACT also set a notice period before tracking can begin.
Our guide to GPS tracking laws in Australia sets out the rules state by state. If your team worries that a tracker means you don’t trust them, our GPS tracking myths article covers how to talk it through.
Sources
| Source | Used for |
|---|---|
| ADR 79/00, Emission Control for Light Vehicles | The rule covers M1 and N1 vehicles with a GVM of up to 3.5 tonnes |
| NHVR: what is a heavy vehicle | A heavy vehicle has a GVM over 4.5 tonnes |
| NHVR: electronic work diary | An EWD is approved by the NHVR and replaces a written work diary |
| Transport Certification Australia: Intelligent Access Program | Road managers tell operators when a heavy vehicle must enrol |
| Solid GPS account data, as at 10 October 2026 | Vehicle types and account sizes for our OBD trackers |
