Why Trucking industry is debating over Odometer vs GPS accuracy?

We often get confused because the data of distance traveled by a vehicle is different on odometers and on a GPS, this error gap does affect the overall expense of a fleet business. Yet, it is true to say that a GPS is a more precise alternative than a speedometer since it determines the amount of time it would take to travel from point A to point B instead of relying on mechanical mistakes. But before that we must first know how speedometers and GPS estimate speed in order to comprehend why a speedometer occasionally gives slightly off readings. Both mechanical and electronic speedometers are options for vehicles. Depending on how the vehicle is being operated, mechanical odometers might have an inaccuracy of up to 12 percent. The electromechanical odometer calculates the electronic pulse counter readings from the speed sensor, which results in smaller errors of 5–7 percent, making electromechanical ones more accurate.

Since odometers are made up of numerous mechanical components, mechanical mistakes are common. The odometers calculate the data on each revolution of the vehicle’s tire. The data error starts from the different tyre sizes. The speedometers also gauges velocity by coming into indirect contact with the tyres. Therefore, a change in any tyre property leads to wrong data. The most frequent instance of this is a variation in tyre size, followed by variations in tyre pressure, typical wear and tear, temperature, and load. However, GPS is more accurate than a speedometer because it measures the vehicle's speed using just mathematical methods. The position of the satellites and their distances are used to calculate the position of the vehicle. The time it takes a radio signal to travel from a satellite to a receiver is used to measure the distance. Thus, through complex mathematical calculations the data from a GPS becomes more accurate.

In conclusion, GPS accuracy clearly outperforms odometer accuracy in comparison because tyre condition and other similar factors have no impact on the precision of the acquired data.
Also Read — Which Is More Accurate, a GPS or an Odometer or Google Maps?