Geotab GO9: What It Does, Specs and Uses

What Is the GO9?

The GO9 is a small vehicle tracking device that plugs into the diagnostic port, either directly or through a harness. It was a major step up from the GO8, with Geotab listing four times the memory and five times the RAM of the earlier unit. Because it has been in the field for years, many fleets have GO9 units in service today and add new vehicles to the same account.

What sets the GO9 apart from the newer GO10 is breadth. It reads almost every vehicle protocol Geotab supports, from the J1850 era through modern CAN, so one device type can cover a wide spread of model years.

GO9 at a glance: 16-pin plug, three status LEDs, the buzzer, the IOX connector and antennas sealed inside.

What Does the GO9 Do?

Tracks location and driving. GPS position, speed and idling are logged, and a 3D accelerometer and gyroscope capture how the vehicle is being driven and what happens in an impact.
Reads engine data across generations. Legacy protocols such as J1850 PWM and VPW, J1708 and KWP2000 sit alongside standard CAN, single-wire CAN and medium-speed CAN.
Records collisions. More than 100 minutes of second-by-second data is held in a collision buffer, and the last 72 records go out right away after a collision-level event.
Coaches drivers. An onboard buzzer rated above 85 dBA gives the driver audible feedback in the cab, and it also sounds the diagnostic beeps used during installation.
Expands with IOX. Up to five IOX modules can be chained, including the IOX-BT for Bluetooth, which the GO9 does not have built in.
Watches battery health. Voltage logging helps flag weak batteries, failing alternators and starters.

What Do Fleets Use the GO9 For?

Light-duty service fleets. A pest control or cable company running pickups and vans can plug a GO9 in through a short harness and have trip history, idling reports and fault codes within minutes of power-up.

Fleets with mixed model years. A landscaping or property maintenance fleet with a mix of new trucks and older work vehicles can keep one device across the roster because the GO9 still reads older protocols.

Driver safety programs. Delivery and courier fleets use the in-vehicle buzzer as immediate feedback, then review the collision buffer when an incident does happen.

Existing Geotab fleets. Fleets already running GO9 units across their vehicles get consistent data and reporting when adding similar vehicles.

Plugged straight in, a GO9 sits in knee range; on a T-harness it tucks up under the dash out of the way.

What Are the GO9's Key Specifications?

Spec	Detail
Dimensions	75 x 50 x 23 mm
Weight	70 g
Supply voltage	12 V and 24 V systems
Operating current	120 mA typical, 250 mA maximum at 12 V
Sleep current	4.5 mA at 12 V, 3.0 mA at 24 V
Operating temperature	-40 to +85 °C
Cellular	Carrier-specific versions, including LTE CAT-1 for AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile
GNSS	GPS and GLONASS; Galileo and BeiDou added on E1 and later hardware; about 2.0 m CEP
Accelerometer	3D, ±8 g, with ±250 dps gyroscope
Memory	64 Mb flash, up to 80,000 logs offline
Indicators	Ignition, GPS and cellular LEDs; buzzer above 85 dBA at 10 cm
IOX expansion	Up to 5 modules, 2750 mA pass-through
Bluetooth	Not built in; available through IOX-BT

What Should Installers Know About the GO9?

Geotab asks for the serial number to be recorded and the device added to MyGeotab before it goes in the vehicle, and the vehicle should be checked against Geotab's vehicle-specific install notes first. No dash antenna and no splicing are needed for a standard install; the GPS and cellular antennas are inside the case. In practice most installs use a T-harness so the device can be tucked up under the dash rather than hanging off the port where a driver's knee can knock it. Vehicles without a diagnostic port, and trailers or equipment, can be done as a two-wire or three-wire install. When IOX modules are chained, add up each module's maximum draw and keep the total under the 2750 mA pass-through limit. Geotab also states a GO9 should not be moved from one vehicle to another, so plan a removal and reinstall through the account rather than a quick swap.

Who Is the GO9 Right For, and Who Should Choose Something Else?

The GO9 fits fleets that already run it, fleets with a wide range of model years, and anyone who wants basic tracking, engine data and driver feedback in a compact plug-in unit.

Fleets buying for late-model vehicles and wanting built-in Bluetooth, onboard equipment inputs or last-gasp tamper alerts should look at the GO10. For new installs on older vehicles, Geotab now steers buyers toward the GO9B, which adds far more storage and a newer LTE platform. Machines that get wet, dusty or pressure washed need a GO9 RUGGED. We can supply and install any of them and help sort out which one each vehicle needs.

What Are Common Questions About the GO9?

How do we know which GO9 hardware version we have?

Geotab separates GO9 hardware into versions below E1 and E1 and later. The later hardware adds Galileo and BeiDou satellite support on top of GPS and GLONASS. If you are unsure which units you have, we can check them with you before planning any changes.

Does the GO9 work in heavy trucks?

Yes. It reads J1939 and J1708, and heavy trucks are usually installed with a 9-pin or 16-pin T-harness instead of plugging in directly.

Can we add Bluetooth beacons to a GO9 fleet?

The GO9 has no Bluetooth radio of its own, so it needs an IOX-BT module for Bluetooth features.

Adding vehicles to a GO9 fleet? API Signal provides the hardware and harnesses, and we do the install on site at your yard, where the vehicles park between jobs. Phone 803-513-1009 or start with Get a Quote.

Sources: Geotab GO9 product document, Next Gen GO (GO10) product update, Geotab vehicle tracking device page. GEOTAB is a registered trademark of Geotab Inc. API Signal is an independent installer and is not Geotab.

Every Geotab Product →Trackers, cameras, asset trackers and IOX add-ons. Get a Quote →The GO9 supplied and installed on one written quote.

Geotab GO9