A tracker costs less than one service visit; fitting one into a finished caravan costs several. Importers who want to know where their stock, demo units and hire fleet are get the decision right only while the order is open: which circuit powers the device, where it is mounted, and who owns the data plan.

What tracking changes for a dealer or hire fleet

For most importers this is not about theft recovery. It is about knowing which units are still on the water, which are in the yard, and which demo has been out with a customer for three weeks. A hire fleet reads the same data as utilisation: out, back, distance covered, and where a unit was last parked. Distance since the last bearing, brake and tyre check comes from the same feed rather than the customer's account. When a unit does disappear, the first hour is worth more than the first week.

Why the provision belongs in the build sheet

Retrofit is where importers lose money. A device wired to the nearest live cable, with an antenna behind an aluminium composite panel, produces a tracker that works in the yard and fails wherever it matters.

• Feed type. A permanent 12V feed keeps reporting while the caravan is stored; an ignition-switched feed protects the battery but goes silent once the caravan is unhitched.
• Protection. The circuit needs its own fuse, rated to the device and reachable by a technician.
• Separation. Nothing belonging to tracking should be spliced into the brake, breakaway or road lighting circuits.
• Mounting. A concealed position with antenna clearance from the panel and frame, chosen on the drawing rather than on the bench.
• Access. A service point that does not require half the interior to be removed.

The published range shows how much of this architecture is documented per model, which is what a tracker joins. The 21ft off-road caravan with Bluetooth battery monitoring lists 2 × 200Ah lithium batteries, an 875W solar system, a 2000W inverter, 120A charging and a wireless rear view camera; the 16ft models list 2 × 100Ah deep-cycle batteries, 2 × 150W solar panels and a 1000W inverter. Monitoring is already part of the electrical system — tracking is the next line on it.

Device choice is a market decision

A device that works on one market's networks may be useless in another, so match the unit to the networks your buyers use, with a SIM arrangement you can administer. Settle early who owns the subscription: the importer holding dealer stock, or the hire company running the fleet. Data protection rules differ, and a rental agreement that never discloses tracking is a problem in some markets and a formality in others, so check locally before advertising the feature. If your insurer asks, answer with the device specification rather than a promise about recovery rates.

What to put in the order and in the handover

Write tracking into the order as precisely as a solar panel: feed type, fuse rating, mounting position, antenna clearance, and whether the factory fits your device or only the provision for it. At handover, pass on the subscription owner, the platform that reads the unit, and the disclosure note hire customers sign. Dealers should also name the staff who can view locations, because stock visibility is useful only until it becomes a dispute about where a unit was driven.

LZM is a China-based off-road caravan manufacturer and exporter supplying Australia, New Zealand and the United States. Its published range sets out the 12V, battery and solar specification model by model — the level of detail at which a tracking provision should be written. Importers planning a first order can review the full off-road caravans for importers range before the specification is frozen.

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