Fit and connect a tracker
Tracking is an optional paid module. If Tracking is not in your sidebar, open the Modules panel in Settings: Not in plan there means it is not part of your plan - contact us to add it. Once it is, the owner switches it on and off from that same panel.
Where to find it: Settings → System → Modules → GPS tracking
Which trackers work
Any Traccar-compatible device - bring your own hardware or use our stock Sinotrack units. You pick the device's protocol in the wizard, and each protocol has its own server port. If yours is not listed, choose Something else and send us the make and model: over 200 protocols are supported, and we confirm the right port for your device.
Add the tracker
- Open Tracking and click Add tracker.
- Pick the vehicle the tracker is fitted to. Every car from your Vehicles page is listed, tracked or not.
- Choose the protocol your device speaks.
- Enter the IMEI - 10 to 17 digits, printed on the device's label.
- Enter the SIM number if you know it: the SIM's own mobile number, the one you top up and text commands to. It is not the 19-digit ICCID printed on the card.
- Continue to the Connect step - it shows the server address and the port for your protocol - then click Start listening. Fleetola registers the device and waits for its first report.
Where to find it: Tracking → Add tracker
Point the device at the server
The Connect step shows the server address and the port for your protocol. For a Sinotrack unit you send three texts to the tracker's SIM from your own phone - Fleetola never sends SMS. Each command uses the factory password 0000, and the tracker replies SET OK:
- Text 8040000, a space, then the server address and port from the wizard. This points the tracker at Fleetola.
- Text 8020000, a space, then your SIM provider's APN. This switches on its mobile data.
- Text 8050000 30. The tracker now reports every 30 seconds.
Commands vary slightly by firmware, so check the leaflet in the box if a reply does not come back. Any other device is set up with its maker's app or config tool, pointed at the same address and port.
The first report
A tracker usually reports 2 to 5 minutes after power-up. The pairing screen checks every few seconds and shows the moment the car appears. You can close it - the tracker keeps trying, and the same status is on the vehicle's Info tab whenever you come back.
It never reported
Work through these in order - it is the order most likely to find the cause:
- The tracker is pointed at the exact server address and port the wizard shows.
- The SIM has an active mobile data plan and the APN is set.
- The IMEI matches the label digit for digit - one wrong digit looks exactly like a dead tracker.
- The device has power and the ignition has been on since fitting.
Once a tracker has connected even once, the address, port, APN and IMEI are all proven right. A later silence is power, wiring or mobile coverage - check the car, not the config.
Tip: A wrong port looks identical to dead hardware: the device reports to a door nothing is listening on. Not sure of the protocol? Ask us rather than guessing.
Replace or remove a tracker
Replace device, on the vehicle's Device tab, swaps the hardware and keeps the vehicle's whole tracking history - only the IMEI changes. Picking an already-tracked car in the wizard does the same, and warns you first. Remove stops Fleetola listening and returns the car to the untracked list. The same IMEI can be added again any time, to that car or any other.
Related guides
- GPS tracking for your fleet - A live map of your fleet: what the paid tracking module includes and needs.
- Immobilise a vehicle - Cut the fuel from wherever you are - owner-only, a recorded reason, honest delivery.