What do the calculators work out?
One question for each accessory: does it pay for itself? Each tab takes your own costs and your own assumption about how much of a loss the accessory removes. You get the payback in months, the net per year and the net over your period.
The last tab adds up the accessories you tick. It shows the package payback and which accessory pays back first.
The tool has no built-in prices, no fine table and no promised saving. Every amount and every percentage is yours.
| Accessory | What it reads or does | The loss you count | What you assume |
|---|---|---|---|
| Load sensor | Measures the weight on the vehicle | Overload penalties and time lost at weighbridges | The share you avoid |
| Driver ID | Ties each trip to a named driver | Distance with no job behind it, and time spent matching trips to drivers | The share that stops and the share of time saved |
| Immobilizer and panic button | Stops the engine starting when it should not, and raises an alarm from the cab | Theft and unauthorized-use incidents | The share stopped or caught early |
Where does each saving come from?
A sensor reports. The saving appears only when someone acts on what it reports, so each model counts one loss and one assumption that you control.
- Load sensor. Overload penalties and the hours lost to stops and reloading. Knowing the load before the road helps you avoid both.
- Driver ID. Distance with no job behind it, and the staff hours spent working out who drove. Once every trip has a name on it, both fall.
- Immobilizer and panic button. The cost of theft attempts and unauthorized use, plus an insurance saving if your insurer confirms it in writing.
It protects drivers. This tool puts no money value on that and counts only its cost. Decide on it as a safety measure, not on payback.
When a package can mislead
A strong accessory can carry a weak one. Read each tab first, then the package, and untick the weak accessory to see what changes.
How do you get realistic inputs?
| Input | Where to find it | Reality check |
|---|---|---|
| Penalties and lost hours | Penalty notices, weighbridge records, the dispatch log | Count only what reached you as a notice or a logged stop. |
| Distance with no job | Trip logs, odometer readings, job tickets | Estimate it from a sample of vehicles. Enter 0 if you cannot show any. |
| Admin hours | The person who matches fines and events to drivers | Time a few cases, then multiply by how many you get. |
| Incidents and their cost | Incident log, insurer statement | Count what your company carried, including the excess and the downtime. |
| Equipment and installation | A written quote from your supplier | Check that it lists the sensor, reader, relay, cables, installation and calibration. |
| Service and calibration | Supplier terms and your workshop | Count recalibration after work on the tank or the suspension. |
How do we calculate it?
All four tabs share one payback sum. Figures are yearly, stay flat and are not discounted.
Payback, net and break-even
The break-even share is the part of your assumed saving that is just enough to pay back inside the period. Below 100% there is a margin.
Load sensor
Driver ID
Immobilizer and panic button
Package
Worked example: 40 vehicles
These figures are examples, not prices and not measured results. They are the values the tool opens with, over three years. The load sensor is for 20 vehicles.
- Load sensor: 5 penalties at 1,500 and 60 lost hours at 60 are 11,100 a year. Avoiding half gives 5,550. Up front 16,000, service 600 a year. Payback 38.8 months, which is longer than the period. Net over three years: -1,150.
- Driver ID: 60 km a month with no job at 0.8 a km is 23,040 a year, and 20 admin hours a month at 40 is 9,600. Removing 30% of the first and saving 40% of the second gives 10,752. Up front 10,900 for readers and 60 tags. Payback 12.2 months. Net over three years: 21,356.
- Immobilizer and panic button: 3 incidents at 12,000 are 36,000 a year. Stopping 30% gives 10,800. Up front 20,000. Payback 22.2 months. Net over three years: 12,400.
- Package of all four: 66,900 up front, 37,662 saved and 1,400 of service a year. Payback 22.1 months. Net over three years: 41,886, an ROI of 59%. You need 63% of the assumed saving to break even. Driver ID pays back first.
- Without the load sensor: the package pays back in 19.5 months and the net over three years rises to 43,036.
The load sensor does not pay back on its own at these figures, yet the package looks fine. That is the point of reading each tab first.
How do you read the result?
- Read the verdict as a signal. «Pays back within the period» means the accessory recovers its cost inside your period. «Positive, but not within the period» means it saves money each year but needs longer. «No payback» means the saving does not cover the running cost.
- Look at the break-even share. If 30% of your assumed saving is enough, the case is solid. If you need 100% or more, it is not.
- Compare the payback with how long you keep the vehicles. A payback longer than that is a loss.
- Read the package last. Untick a weak accessory and see what changes.
Test it on a pilot
Record the starting figures
Fuel bought against trips, penalties, lost hours, distance with no job and incidents for the last 12 months.
BeforeFit a few vehicles
Choose vehicles where the loss is largest. Agree who reads the alerts and what they do about them.
Month 0Measure for three months
Compare with the starting figures and with similar vehicles that do not have the accessory.
Months 1 to 3Recalculate with the results
Replace each assumed share with what you measured, then decide on the rest of the fleet.
Month 4
What are the common mistakes?
- Counting a loss you cannot show. A saving needs a loss behind it. Enter 0 where you have no record.
- Assuming the sensor stops the loss by itself. Someone must read the alert and act on it.
- Using the same high share for every accessory. Start low and test it.
- Counting one loss twice. Driver ID and the immobilizer can both claim unauthorized use. Count it under one of them.
- Forgetting calibration and service. They come back every year.
- Putting a money value on the panic button. Judge it on safety.
What are the assumptions and limits?
The results are estimates from the values you enter. The opening values are examples, not prices or measured results. Published saving percentages mostly come from vendors in other markets and none was measured on your fleet, which is why the tool has no ready-made percentage.
Amounts stay flat and are not discounted. The tool does not model sensor failure, replacement or resale, and it does not judge the accuracy of any sensor: installation and calibration decide that. Penalty amounts and weight rules differ by country and route, so use your own notices. Which accessories your vehicles and tracker support is a question for your supplier. For cameras, choose the DSM and ADAS alarms first with the ADAS and DSM alarm selector.