GPS Tracking 

GPS tracking is an essential component of every fleet; it is nearly impossible to carry out operations without one! The main features of GPS remain the same everywhere- it enables you to track and manage the location of all the vehicles in your fleet. It allows you to have one eye on the road alongside the driver. You can plan routes, improvise if there is traffic or an emergency, and assign tasks to the closest drivers- saving time and fuel. It also improves customer satisfaction due to faster deliveries and pick-ups. 

Samsara 

The Samsara GPS is an intuitive tracker which offers real-time tracking and alerts. It provides live information about the vehicle’s location, traffic updates, and the best routes available for your truck. The features are customizable- you can make changes for a more personalized and productive experience. 

Samsara’s customizations and personalized plans are one of its best features. Every fleet is different, and this fleet management solution provides industry-specific strategies ideal for your fleet. This feature ensures that every penny you spend on tracking solutions counts. You can tailor it to your needs. Small fleets will benefit the most from this GPS tracker. It allows you to look at dashcams and keep an eye on your fleet. You may also integrate fuel cards and choose what updates you want to highlight in your reports. 

Samsara’s notifications are updated by the second, without a lag and with complete visibility. It also comes with a unique roster of safety-specific features, ensuring vehicle compliance at all times. Its interface is also easy to use, and the payment plans allow you to pay for what you want. 

This GPS facility also allows you to monitor the behavior of your fleet. 

You can record behavior like harsh acceleration, rash braking, and fuel wastage. You can also set up geofences for your fleet. With Samsara, you can share your Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) with customers. It demonstrates transparency and builds trust and reliability between the fleet and its consumers. 

Pros:

• Real-time tracking with updates every second 
• It is flexible and can adapt to many industries
• Additional tools for the safety, maintenance, and management of the fleet 
• Customizable payment plans 

Cons:

• No free trial is available
• It has a limitation of at least three vehicles
• No trial period either. You must sign up for at least three years to avail of this GPS 
• The website does not include pricing online

Motive 

Formerly known as KeepTruckin, Motive is a popular tool for GPS for fleets. Its easy-to-use interface and trustworthy information logging appeal to many industry specialists. The GPS is compliant and supports instant reporting. The very motive of this GPS is to improve safety and productivity while reducing costs. 

Motive allows you to have complete fleet visibility. You can access all the information through your dashboard. This visibility helps you ensure that your drivers are always on schedule and are employing safe driving practices. You can receive live updates as quickly as every two seconds. The overall process saves you a lot of time, and the accuracy prevents unreliable guesswork. 

Additionally, with its Motive Vehicle Gateway, you may use vehicle tracking even when the driver does not connect to the vehicle gateway. Since it is cellular-enabled, it constantly records GPS data. You can automatically upload it to the fleet dashboard. All location data is backed up and recorded, so you can access it whenever you want!

With its precise GPS tracking, you can access the vehicle’s exact location. It uses advanced technology to gather specific addresses. Motive also facilitates sharing live ETAs, thus improving customer service. 

You can also track travel time, mileage, how many stops your drivers made, fuel consumption, and so on. Motive GPS comes with an app, which you can use both on Android and iOS. 

Pros:

• It provides 24×7 customer support
• It has extra features for team driving 
• You can avail of a Motive Card free of cost
• IFTA reports are covered
• Daily logs are easy to enter and record 

Cons:

• Many complaints about some billing issues are reported 
• You cannot obtain non-critical videos with the basic plan
  GPS Tracking
• It does not provide any unique features

ELD Devices 

An ELD is hardware that keeps track of a driver’s daily Hours of Service (HoS). It has replaced traditional paper logging and electronic onboard recorders, which were used earlier for this purpose. ELDs also record other activities like vehicle movement, engine health, driver activity, and so on. It keeps you in the loop and sends live updates. 

When ELDs were new to the market, they were only a commodity. Now, they are a necessity by law. Any driver who logs duty status for over eight days a month must have an ELD. Drivers from Canada and Mexico must also comply with this rule. 

ELDs are a long-term investment. Buying the right one helps prevent accidents and push your fleet to maximum productivity. Every ELD has different incentives to offer, so it’s crucial that you carefully go through each before choosing one. 

Samsara ELD 

If fleet management is your top priority, then Samsara ELD is the one for you. This ELD sports a plug-and-play installation system. It connects to the vehicle through the OBD port. Being a relatively new service provider in the ELD market, Samsara has quickly made a name for itself. It is a cloud-based technology, so all the data is recorded and backed up. It is an FMCSA-approved device, making it a good choice for you. 

The ELD records and displays diagnostic information too. It records engine health and driver activity, among other things. Samsara also offers customer support 24×7. 

You can access the HoS report along with other information through the dashboard. The ELD generates timely reports, which give insight into crucial information about your fleet. 

Some of its features are:

• Fuel management
• Asset tracking 
• Cloud-based data technology
• Audit trail provisions
• Emergency dispatch 

Motive ELD 

This ELD has a user-friendly interface and is also pocket friendly! This combination of features makes it an ideal choice for many. It offers features that make fleet management easy. It works in unison with GPS for a better overall experience. 

With Motive ELD, you can set daily compliance tasks and goals. As the interface is easy to use, none of the activities are time-consuming. The device is fully compliant and government-approved. 

You can manage multiple drivers and keep track of them. Drivers can simultaneously use the same device and switch identities when they change vehicles. This ELD also provides regular maintenance and diagnostic reminders so that your fleet is always in excellent condition. Motive also provides modules and booklets for driver coaching, which helps train rookie drivers and eventually streamline all operations. 

It also has a feature called the Smartrip Match Tool. With this tool, you can pair unidentified trips with recommended trip drivers. It also allows you to notify them immediately. This feature saves up a lot of time and energy. It also comes with an Assessment Mode which facilitates quick and easy highway examinations. 

Some features of this device are:

• IFTA fuel tax reporting 
• USB ports
• Bluetooth connectivity
• WiFi connectivity
• Vehicle tracking and inspection 
• Driver coaching features 

Dash Cams 

Dashcams are cameras situated on the dashboard of a vehicle. They capture live footage of the road and sometimes of your drivers too. Dashcams provide relevant insight, especially in case of an accident. They provide evidence of foul play as well as innocence. 

You can use a dashcam to observe your driver’s behavior as well. Some of them are dual facing- they record videos of the road and the driver. It allows you to see if your driver is driving well, the road conditions, what speed they are driving at, and so on. In a court case, dashcams provide invaluable evidence. 

Samsara 

Lens: Dual-facing camera 

Price: $839.40

Dimensions: 108×41×61 mm

Samsara’s dash cams capture high-quality footage with unparalleled speed. It is a dual-facing camera so that you can watch the driver and the road. The videos are recorded in 1080p. More impressively, it has a speed of 30 frames per second and uses infrared LED for videos recorded at night. This ensures complete visibility even in the dark. 

Due to the high quality and processing speed of the videos, Samsara dash cams are an excellent choice for all fleets. You can rely on the device to be a good source of evidence in court. It enables you to take immediate action to protect your fleet. 

This device comes with an audio speaker built inside it. It allows you to communicate with your drivers and let them know they are being watched. In case a driver displays disorderly conduct, you can reprimand them immediately and prevent an accident from happening. 

You can use videos of unsafe driving to determine which drivers in your fleet need to be retrained. You may also integrate driver scorecards with the dashcam to identify which drivers are repeat offenders. 

Pros:

• Integration with driver safety scorecards 
• High-quality video obtained on any device 
• Reports about harsh driving activity

Cons:

• You cannot view the driver in real-time 
• It is expensive
• Clips stop at one minute

Motive 

Lens: Dual-facing camera 

Price: $400 down payment, $40 monthly fee 

Dimensions: 108×41×61 mm 

Storage: 66 to 104 hours 

Motive provides a Smart Dashboard Camera providing a 1920×1080 vision of the road. The dashcam records at a pace of 15 frames per second and uses AI technology to provide additional safety features. You can also keep an eye on your driver. The resolution for this camera is 1280×720. 

This intuitive dashcam recognizes dangerous driving behavior. Activities like overspeeding, harsh braking, harsh acceleration, etc. are detected. It records the footage of this behavior and uploads it to the Motive dashboard, where you can evaluate the behavior yourself. You can also see when the dash cam is plugged in and out. 

Motive uses DRIVE risk scores as evidence for video footage. The videos also have global accessibility, which means that you can view them from anywhere on the planet. 

Pros:

• Easy to install 
• Real-time behavior correction 
• Detects harsh driving activity 

Cons:

• Customer support is not prompt