The fleet stops asking where the vehicle is

GPS gives a position. It does not give pack voltage. 21.8 V with the unit in service, on a 24 V system, sits below 22.0 V. That is the threshold we use for a critical battery. With the engine running, a healthy pack is charging, above the 24 V nominal. At 21.8 V the job is to bring the unit in before the next start, not to diagnose the alternator from a desk.

Is GPS enough to run a fleet in Mexico?

Between July 2025 and June 2026, 50,891 insured vehicles were stolen. 8,246 were heavy (AMIS, via Plano Informativo). In 2023 most of those thefts involved violence (Marsh Mexico). A geofence, a panic button, and a remote engine cut deal with that. They do not see a pack at 21.8 V or an expired policy. Either one stops the unit.

In Latin America, Berg Insight measured 20.9% of commercial vehicles connected in 2024 and projects 40% in 2029. On the fleet that is connected, what gets installed most often is still location.

Is service every 10,000 km enough?

Service every 10,000 km assumes the failure respects the interval. In equipment maintenance, about 18% of failures relate to age. The rest do not show up on the odometer (ARC Advisory, via ReliaMag). The interval still gets done. You also need that unit’s reading: voltage, temperature, fault code.

Heavy vehicles are involved in at least 35,000 crashes a year. More than 9 in 10 cargo crashes are attributed to the driver (INEGI and IMT, via La Crónica). A stopped cargo truck is estimated near USD 600 a day, in a published range of 400 to 800 from a payments company, not a CANACAR or ANPACT average (The Logistics World).

When does a 24 V battery alert close?

There is one open alert per vehicle and per fault. If voltage stays low, the row updates with the latest sample. Marking it seen does not close it. On a 24 V pack, a close on a new reading requires voltage back out of the critical zone, or the fault code gone. Héctor proposes the service plan. The shop makes the diagnosis.

The connector is OBD-II. The camera is a separate device. The 0–100 score joins four readings: documents and expirations, mechanical condition, driving, and maintenance. Karvia flags which document expires. It does not issue a finding or a hologram.

Diego reviews units and open alerts. Héctor reads voltage, codes, and service history. Elena checks policies, licenses, and expirations. Andrés takes trips and driving events for that unit. Any action that changes a rule or a record waits for a “yes, confirm.”

Other readings from October

On a 12-unit fleet the customer reports two battery failures that never reached a no-start. That is the customer’s report, not a controlled test.

On 314 trips and four unit types, estimated diesel variation concentrated in engine speed (29.1%), road speed (28.7%), grade (25.2%), and altitude (7.5%). Together they cover about 90% of that sample. The sample is small. Engine speed and road speed can be corrected with the operator. Grade and altitude belong to the route. One bus ran 3.49 L/100 km above expected on its route, about 70 L a month, near MXN 2,000. If the vehicle does not report fuel flow, that figure is estimated, not measured at the pump.

One cargo unit logged 16 idle events in a week, about 80 minutes with the engine on and speed at zero. The customer asked for the rule on the rest of the fleet and turned it on with “yes, confirm.”

On one unit with a camera, at 9:59 and on the route, there was a phone-at-the-wheel event. Andrés left a proposed session with the operator. More than 9 in 10 cargo crashes are attributed to the driver. One event is not a lower crash rate.

How many units does Karvia report as of October 2026?

Five months after commercial start: more than 450 contracted vehicles in 9 fleets (hotels, buses, delivery, and services), about 195,000 km monitored, and more than 4,800 alerts. These are Karvia figures, with no external audit. Contracted is not the count of units installed and reporting that day. The rate of alerts closed by a later reading is not calculated either. Without that rate, 4,800 alerts do not say whether the noise is low.

Where the numbers come from

• Insured theft, July 2025 to June 2026: AMIS, via Plano Informativo. Violence in 2023: Marsh Mexico.
• Connected commercial vehicles in Latin America: Berg Insight, via TyN Magazine.
• Failures and equipment age: ARC Advisory, via ReliaMag. Cargo crashes: INEGI and IMT, via La Crónica. Cost of a stopped truck: The Logistics World.
• Battery, diesel, idling, phone use, and the October 2026 figures: Karvia. No third-party check.