A work van is a toolbox on wheels, and thieves know exactly what is inside. The National Insurance Crime Bureau counted 659,880 vehicles stolen nationwide in 2025, roughly one every 48 seconds. For a tradesperson, the vehicle is only half the loss. The drills, meters, and generators inside it are the half that pays the mortgage.
Job site gear disappears on the same schedule. Industry group CONEXPO reports that nearly 1,000 pieces of construction equipment are reported stolen each month to the National Crime Information Center. A tracker hidden in a tool chest is what turns a police report into a recovery, which is why contractors now put a Logistimatics asset tracker in the box instead of buying a second padlock.
Here is what tradespeople actually use, what each tracker does well, and where each one quits.
| Product / Brand | Best For | Battery Life | Network | Subscription |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Logistimatics AssetTrack Mini | Toolboxes, welders, and generators that sit still for weeks | Up to 5 years at one report per day | 4G LTE-M with NB-IoT and 2G fallback | $12.50/mo billed annually or $19.99/mo |
| Tracki | A single drill case or bag you carry with you | Days per charge in live mode | 4G cellular | Monthly plan required |
| Spytec GL300 | Tracking the van itself and its route history | 14 days per charge at once-daily reporting | 4G LTE | Monthly plan required |
| GPX Intelligence | Fleets of dozens or hundreds of vehicles and job site assets | Varies by device | 4G LTE | Custom quote |
Logistimatics AssetTrack Mini
The AssetTrack Mini is built for gear that sits still for weeks and then vanishes in 90 seconds. It reports once a day by default, which is how the battery stretches up to 5 years, and you switch it to every 5 minutes when a recovery is underway. The device costs $54.99, and the plan runs $12.50 per month billed annually or $19.99 month to month.
- Battery: up to 5 years at one report per day, and the lithium cell is field replaceable.
- Build: IP67 rated for water and dust, tested from -30°C to +70°C, so a wet trailer or a hot van roof is not a problem.
- Signal: 4G LTE-M with NB-IoT and 2G fallback, plus GPS, Wi-Fi, and cell-tower positioning when the gear ends up indoors.
- Placement: small enough to sit under the foam in a tool chest or behind a van panel where a thief will not dig.
In our 10+ years of consumer tracking, the gear that comes back is the gear with a tracker buried inside it, not clipped to the outside of the case.
Tracki
Tracki makes one of the smaller cellular trackers on the consumer market, and it ships with a lanyard and a magnet so you can attach it to a bag, a drill case, or a ladder rack. It runs on 4G cellular, reports through a standard phone app, and Tracki sells coverage options for people who work across borders.
The tradeoff is power. In live mode the unit needs frequent recharging, which is fine for a bag you carry every day and a problem for a toolbox you open twice a week. It also needs a separate waterproof case before it survives a real job site.
Spytec GL300
Spytec builds consumer trackers aimed at passenger vehicles and small business routing. The mapping is clean, the route history is genuinely useful at tax time, and Spytec lists 14 days per charge on the base GL300 at once-daily reporting, dropping to about nine days when the vehicle is moving.
That makes it a van tracker, not a tool tracker. It tells you where the vehicle went. It says nothing about where the toolbox went after the van turns up empty in a parking lot.
What a Van Break-In Actually Costs
The first cost is the day. You open the cargo doors at 6 a.m., find bare shelves, and spend the morning on a police report and apology calls instead of on the job.
The second cost is the replacement. Specialty drills, diagnostic scanners, and copper wire add up to thousands of dollars, and that money comes straight out of the quarter’s profit.
The third cost is the schedule. Every job on the board slides right while you re-buy tools, and on commercial work a missed milestone can trigger the penalty language your customer already wrote into the contract. A homeowner does not see a burglary either. They see a contractor who did not show up.
The fourth cost is the keys. Van keys, gate keys, site badges, and lockbox codes often ride in the same chest as the tools, so one stolen box means re-keying locks, re-issuing badges, and telling a general contractor that his site access has a hole in it.
The fifth cost is the claim. Filing on commercial auto or tool coverage means paying a deductible now and having a conversation about your premium at renewal. Without a tracker on the equipment itself, recovery is unlikely, so the claim is the only option left.
What Insurers and Police Need After a Break-In
Insurers want documentation: a police report, purchase receipts, serial numbers, and proof of forced entry. Even a clean file takes weeks to process. Meanwhile you still have to buy replacement tools this week to finish the work you promised.
Police want something actionable. “My van was parked on the street” gives an officer nothing to work with. A geofence alert that fired the minute the box left your yard, paired with a live map showing your toolbox sitting behind a house two towns over, gives them an address and a timeline. Tracking data is the difference between a case number and a knock on a door.
Disadvantages of GPS in Agriculture and on Rural Job Sites
Farmers and rural contractors lose gear the same way, but tracking it is harder. The disadvantages of GPS in agriculture start with coverage. A tracker on the LTE-M cellular IoT network still needs a signal to send its position, and signal thins out fast once you are past the last grain elevator.
Thieves use those dead zones deliberately. Stolen implements and tool trailers get parked inside metal barns where nothing gets out. Three fixes work in practice:
- Choose a tracker that stores positions on the device and uploads them the moment it finds signal again.
- Mount the unit high on the equipment and away from thick steel, since a few inches of placement often decides whether it reports at all.
- Run a once-daily schedule so the battery is still alive months later, when you actually need it.
How Thieves Try to Disable a Tracker in a Van
Search how to disable a tracker in a van and the same three tactics show up on every forum: look for a blinking LED under the seats, follow any wire back to the battery, and sweep with a cheap RF detector.
Placement and power beat all three. Put the unit inside a plastic tool housing or a structural cavity nobody reaches without pulling panels. Use a self-powered device so there is no wire to trace. Set a slow report schedule, because a tracker that transmits once a day is close to invisible to a scanner listening for constant traffic. Our guide on where to hide a GPS tracker walks through specific spots.
If you are tracking a family member or employee, it’s best practice to inform them and maintain a clear, transparent security policy. Federal and state laws vary on tracker placement; consult a local attorney if you are unsure of your jurisdiction.
Tracking a Van That Is Always Moving
Hardware needs change the day you hire a second driver. One van needs a hidden asset tracker. Five vans need real-time GPS tracking on a single map, arrival windows you can quote to a customer, and an alert when a vehicle moves at 11 p.m. Tool trackers and vehicle trackers do different jobs here, and most growing shops end up running both.
Logistimatics is sized for owners running three to ten vans. If you dispatch dozens of vehicles across several states, look at platforms built for that scale, including our sibling brand GPX Intelligence and Verizon Connect. Both price by quote and expect a real onboarding process rather than a magnet and an app.
What a Tradesperson Should Fit and Where
Start with the battery, measured in the unit you care about. Gear that sits parked needs years between charges, not days, because nobody remembers to top up a tracker buried in a tool chest. Then check the build: IP67 or better, since van interiors get wet, dusty, and hot.
After that, it comes down to concealment and honesty about cost. Pick a unit small enough to hide where a thief in a hurry will not look, and expect a subscription, because every cellular tracker pays for the network that carries its location. At $12.50 per month billed annually, that is the cheapest insurance on the van.
Do not wait for the 6 a.m. discovery. Browse our equipment trackers and put one in the tool chest that would hurt the most to lose.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Do GPS trackers work inside metal van toolboxes?
A tracker needs a cell signal to report, and thick steel weakens that signal. Most units still connect when you place them near the lid, against a plastic component, or in the top tray rather than at the bottom under a stack of steel. Test the location once after you install it, then leave it alone.
Can I set up alerts if my tools leave the van or job site?
Yes. Every Logistimatics plan includes unlimited places of interest, which are the geofence zones you draw around a shop, a yard, or a job site, plus unlimited alerts when a device crosses one. On a once-daily reporting schedule the alert arrives on that schedule, so raise the reporting rate when a box is high value and accept the shorter battery life.
Will an AirTag work just as well for my tools?
An AirTag works well for a tool bag that stays around people, because it reports its position through nearby iPhones. On an empty lot, in a rural barn, or in a chop shop, there are no nearby phones, so the location stops updating. A cellular tracker sends its own position anywhere it finds signal, which is what recovery actually requires.
Do I need a separate subscription for each tool tracker?
Yes. Every cellular device carries its own SIM and its own plan, which runs $12.50 per month billed annually or $19.99 month to month. All of your devices still show up in one app, so a contractor with four trackers manages them from a single login.
Is it legal to put a GPS tracker on my work van and tools?
Tracking property you own is legal, and that covers your van, your trailer, and your tool chests. Tracking a vehicle you do not own is a different question, and federal and state laws vary. If employees drive your vehicles, tell them the vehicles are tracked and put the policy in writing.
