Trip Detection

Pointeron can automatically detect when a vehicle starts and stops moving, grouping location data into discrete trips. This gives you structured driving history with start/end times, distances, and routes.

Tracking modes

Every asset has a tracking mode that determines how its location data is processed. There are three modes:

Trips (recommended for vehicles)

In trips mode, Pointeron analyzes incoming location data and automatically detects when a vehicle starts moving (trip start) and when it comes to a stop (trip end). Location points are grouped into trips, and the intervals between trips are recorded as stops.

This mode is ideal for:

• Vehicle fleets with GPS trackers
• Delivery vehicles where you need trip summaries
• Any asset that moves between fixed locations

Points (continuous recording)

In points mode, every location update from the device is recorded as an individual data point. There is no trip detection -- you get a continuous stream of location history.

This mode is ideal for:

• iCloud devices with infrequent updates (15-minute intervals)
• Real-time monitoring where you need a complete trail
• Assets that do not follow a start/stop pattern

Disabled

In disabled mode, no location data is processed or stored. The device may still send data, but Pointeron discards it. Use this mode to temporarily pause tracking without removing the device assignment.

How trip detection works

Trip detection uses ordered location history to separate stationary intervals from movement intervals. Stationary intervals are detected from dwell around a location, and movement intervals are evaluated between those stationary anchors.

Trip start

A trip is shown when a movement interval meets all of the following conditions:

1. It travels at least the configured minimum trip distance
2. It has enough movement evidence, either from corroborated speed samples or from aggregate distance over elapsed time
3. It is not just parked GPS drift, a single speed spike, or low-accuracy jitter

Trip end

A trip boundary is created when:

1. The asset remains within a stationary area for at least the configured trip gap threshold
2. The stationary dwell is anchored by location, not just by one low-speed sample
3. Movement before and after the stationary dwell each qualifies as a trip

Between trips

Long enough stationary periods can split one drive into separate trips. They are shown as stops or parked stays when the dwell interval is long enough to qualify for display. Short stopped periods inside a drive remain part of the same trip.

Configuration

Trip detection uses related configuration layers:

• Asset Trip Tracking controls how history groups and filters trips. Trip gap separates qualifying movement intervals; Minimum trip distance decides whether a movement interval is real enough to show as a trip.
• Asset Event Thresholds tune per-asset event behavior such as idle timeout, numeric speed or battery event thresholds, and Enterprise movement update webhooks. Configure these from the asset create/edit page; alert rules and delivery are configured separately from the Alerts page.
• Category Location Recording Rules decide which points are stored in history and provide defaults for filtering GPS jitter. Configure these from the category settings page.

Asset Trip Tracking and Event Thresholds have priority for that asset's trip and event decisions. Category Location Recording Rules remain category-level defaults for saved location points and history playback grouping.

Minimum trip distance

The minimum distance (in meters) a movement interval must travel before history shows it as a real trip. Increase it to suppress parked GPS drift, and lower it for fleets where short on-site movements should appear as trips. Distance-only slow movement can qualify when the aggregate distance and elapsed average speed are plausible.

• Lower values (100--300m) keep short trips but may preserve parked GPS drift as movement
• Higher values (500--1000m) are more reliable for highway driving and longer routes
• Very high values (1000m+) may hide short trips like moving between nearby buildings

Movement event distance

The minimum distance (in meters) the asset must move before Pointeron emits an Enterprise asset.movement.update webhook event. This threshold does not decide whether history shows a trip.

• Lower values (100--300m) emit movement update webhooks sooner
• Higher values (500--1000m) reduce webhook volume for highway driving and longer routes
• Very high values (1000m+) may skip movement update webhooks for short on-site moves

Trip gap threshold

The time (in minutes) the asset must remain stationary before Pointeron can split one movement interval from the next. The stationary dwell must be location-backed; speed alone does not split a trip.

• Short gaps (5--10 min) split trips quickly after stops, creating more granular trip records
• Medium gaps (15--30 min) are good for delivery and field-service vehicles that make frequent stops
• Long gaps (60+ min) treat extended pauses as part of the same trip unless the stationary dwell exceeds the configured gap

Trip data

Each detected trip includes the following data:

Trip states

A trip can be in one of the following states:

• Active -- The asset is currently moving; the trip is in progress
• Completed -- The qualifying movement interval has ended
• Processing -- Location data is being analyzed (brief transitional state)

Route playback

You can replay any completed trip with full route visualization. Route playback shows the exact path the asset took, with speed indicated by color along the route.

To replay a trip:

1. Select an asset on the Live Map or from the asset list
2. Open the History tab in the detail panel
3. Select a trip from the list
4. Click Replay to see the route animated on the map

During playback, you can:

• Pause and resume the animation
• Adjust playback speed (1x, 2x, 5x, 10x)
• Scrub the timeline to jump to any point in the trip
• View speed and location at any moment during the trip

Trip reports

Export trip data for reporting, analysis, or compliance purposes. Trip reports can be generated for individual assets or across your entire fleet.

Available export formats

Report contents

Trip reports include:

• Trip summary (date, start/end time, duration, distance)
• Start and end locations with addresses
• Average and maximum speed
• Number of stops and total stop duration
• Speed violations (if any speed limits were exceeded)

To generate a report, go to Reports > Trips, select the date range, assets, and format, then click Export.

Tips and best practices

GPS trackers (3-second intervals)

GPS trackers provide the best trip detection experience due to their high-frequency reporting. Recommended settings:

• Tracking mode: Trips
• Minimum trip distance: 500 meters
• Trip gap threshold: 15 minutes

With 3-second intervals, trip detection can accurately determine start and stop events within seconds of them occurring.

iCloud devices (15-minute intervals)

iCloud devices (AirTags, iPhones) report infrequently, which makes trip detection less reliable.

• Recommended mode: Points (not Trips)
• Reason: With 15-minute gaps between updates, Pointeron cannot accurately detect when movement starts and stops. A 10-minute drive might only have one or two data points.

If an iCloud or Find My asset is configured in Trips mode, Pointeron still treats its infrequent pings as sparse sessions rather than full GPS trips. Use Points mode when you want the clearest presentation for this type of device.

Mixed fleets

If your fleet has both GPS trackers and iCloud devices, use categories to apply the right settings to each group:

1. Create a "GPS Tracked" category with tighter Location Recording Rules for frequent GPS points
2. Create an "iCloud Tracked" category with wider intervals and more tolerant jitter settings
3. Set each asset's Tracking Mode, Minimum trip distance, and Event Thresholds based on its device type and operational use

This ensures each asset gets the optimal tracking configuration for its device.