The expansion of e-commerce has been a bane and a source of complications for the logistics sector. While the demand is high, the need for improved service and speed has proven challenging. But it is not all doom and gloom.
GPS (global positioning system) technology has revolutionized truck navigation systems and facilitated the development of unique business solutions. One such solution is telematics advancements that have made it simpler for GPS fleet operators to track various fleets worldwide.
Though GPS is a promising technology, the never-ending solutions pose another problem: how can you select the best GPS device for trucking companies when there are so many options?
In this comprehensive guide, we will cover the top-rated trucking GPS devices along with their features.
Factors to Consider When Choosing GPS Devices for Trucking Companies
The ability to follow all of their commercial cars in real-time with GPS tracking devices gives fleet owners a chance to streamline their fleet operations, which leads to better resource utilization and client satisfaction.
But how can you pick the best truck navigation system to meet your fleet management needs when there are so many options? Here is a list of important things to take into account when choosing the best GPS solution for fleet management:
Accuracy and reliability
Accuracy and reliability are crucial when choosing the best GPS-tracking gadget for your fleet. It’s critical to pick a tool that satisfies your unique functionality, precision, and dependability needs. While each device has advantages and disadvantages of its own, the application and particular use case ultimately determine its suitability.
Real-time tracking capabilities
You should be able to track any car in your fleet’s precise location using the system’s live tracking and real-time functionality. It is easier to predict each vehicle’s estimated arrival time (ETA) at the destination if you know its current location. In the event of a collision or a car breakdown, it also offers emergency response. It stops car theft and unauthorized use.
Route optimization and navigation features
The simplest and most fundamental function a navigation system should have is route planning. A navigation system typically presents alternate routes based on your preference for the quickest, cheapest, or most practical path. You can decide to stay away from things like borders, ferries, tolls, and motorways. If you stray from the intended path, the system will automatically reroute and direct you to the appropriate lane.
Moreover, up to 50 waypoints can be added to integrated navigation systems. Additionally, you can frequently view the history of your journeys and decide whether to go back or forward.
Compatibility with fleet management systems
When buying a GPS, one of the first things to check is that it works with your fleet’s model. It is crucial because it guarantees that the device can gather all the information it delivers and that you can easily use all its features.
The performance of your fleet is unaffected by the device. Since most fleets have a standard OBD-II connector, any high-quality OBD-based tracking device should function with your car. Before purchasing, confirming the compatibility with your fleet-management system is best.
Durability and weather resistance
Quality and durability must be considered when selecting a GPS device for your truck. There are several inexpensive GPS devices for trucking in the market. However, their technology’s hardware and software fall short of the best standards. Additionally, suppliers are hesitant to maintain or upgrade outdated machinery. Therefore, be careful to choose the appropriate GPS tracker for your fleet.
Moreover, water-resistant trackers can endure an odd drop of water without harming the chip or internal circuitry. If you plan to use GPS trackers for dogs, children, drones, automobiles, trucks, boats, and other items, this feature is crucial to look for. Outdoor GPS tracking devices must be sturdy enough to last for the amount you paid.
Comparison of GPS Devices for Trucking Companies
| ELD Device | Features | Pricing | Customer Rating |
| Matrack Vehicle Tracker |
|
Starting at $7/ month | 4/5 |
| Verizon Connect |
|
Custom pricing plans | 4/5 |
| Samsara |
|
Depending on the features and services you select, the membership is payable annually in advance and costs typically between $27 and $33 per vehicle every month. | 3/5 |
Top 15 GPS Devices for Trucking Companies
Matrack Vehicle Tracker
Matrack Vehicle Tracker offers simple, cost-effective asset and truck navigation systems solutions, giving individuals and businesses cutting-edge, simple, and reasonable options.
Additionally, they offer knowledgeable, prompt technical and customer assistance while continually responding to the particular requirements of each client and business. The characteristics are as follows:
- Give precise ETAs and keep an eye on your staff and equipment.
- To reduce fuel use, track car diagnostics and maintenance requirements.
- Driver/operator behavior can be accessed and monitored day and night. Analyze the miles traveled at or above 80 mph and any harsh or extreme braking.
- New, user-friendly dashboard with iOS and Android apps that is easy to use. Add additional users and groups with different levels of access.
- You may set up or modify geofences through the mobile application or web platform. Get unlimited free email and SMS geofence alerts.
- The integrated dashboard that comes with the Fleet Trackers will direct your drivers to stop at the petrol stations in the area with the best prices.
Verizon Connect ELD
Verizon Connect asset tracking solutions can help you monitor your priceless equipment. Look for fresh approaches to improve workflows, increase utilization, monitor maintenance, and prolong the life of your assets. According to our research, this GPS device has the following features:
- Utilize your mobile device (iOS or Android) to track the positions of your vehicles in close to real-time and maintain control over them while you are away from the office.
- Set up geofence alerts to construct a virtual wall around your assets to protect your equipment. You will be informed if an asset moves.
- Near real-time movement, notifications will assist you in rapidly recovering your precious belongings after a theft.
- You can track, monitor, and manage your priceless trailers and equipment with asset monitoring systems for enterprise fleets.
Samsara ELD
Small enterprises and Fortune 500 clients can use Samsara’s GPS fleet tracking systems, which can be tailored to meet their needs. Samsara’s user-friendly, simple platform offers configurable contracts, real-time tracking, and industry-specific tracking schedules.
By receiving software (and service) that suits their needs rather than paying for generic packages targeted at larger organizations or businesses in different industries, this ensures that every dollar is put to good use. Samsara’s features include:
- With an immediate overhead picture of your assets, guesswork is eliminated. Easily aid in route navigation and assist law enforcement in finding stolen property.
- Find the closest charging station, or watch the weather and traffic. Quickly adjust to shifting circumstances so that your drivers can maintain their schedules.
- Provide top-notch customer service with real-time location links to provide your clients with precise ETAs.
- Automatically receive notifications through text or email whenever your assets enter or exit particular locations or whenever there is unusual activity.
- Improve your field services by tracking truck positions in real-time, avoid failures by monitoring engine diagnostics and problem codes, and save money by cutting back on idle time.
- Plan and analyze routes, stops, and performance data to find outliers and trends that can be corrected with coaching.
- Easily interface with several third-party dispatching and routing programs to centralize operations.
Azuga
Azuga’s geofencing asset tracking technology lets you track all of your trucks, which provides real-time location and movement information. Your garden maintenance will be made simpler, stolen equipment will be readily recovered, and you’ll be able to spot and stop expensive unauthorized use consistently.
Furthermore, having real-time tracking makes it simpler to maximize the revenue from asset deployments. With a simple mobile app, you can keep tabs on your assets while on the go. Its key features are:
- Real-time awareness of the whereabouts of your assets is essential for ensuring their security. In the event of theft, safeguard priceless assets, prevent unauthorized use, and enhance recovery efforts.
- Streamline billing with reports that detail when and where assets were used, broken down by the client. Your firm will expand and flourish if you can monitor revenue.
- Recognize when equipment starts to move, enters or leaves geofenced zones, or stops for an extended period. It lets you monitor your job’s progress and ensure everything runs smoothly.
- Streamline asset delivery, repair, and pickup by always knowing where assets and workers are. Make sure you’re making the most of your resources.
Teletrac Navman
Avoid repeatedly logging into different systems to gather the required information. To keep your business operations operating smoothly, you can connect all your systems in one location and streamline your technological environment using the Teletrac Novman GPS tracker.
Teletrac Navman’s features are as follows:
- Organizations can reduce operational costs by making better business decisions by having real-time access to the information that matters most to their operations.
- Your insurance claims history can be improved.
- Utilize digital maintenance technologies to keep automobiles safe on the road.
- Utilize acceleration sensors or smart dashcams to keep an eye on driver behavior.
- Digitise driver scorecards and develop a rewarding system.
- Make sure the time spent on customer sites is within the expected ranges.
- Find and direct the closest driver to urgent work.
- Process automation and digitization can reduce workloads for your entire staff.
- Quickly respond to client requests with real-time data and the most efficient vehicle routing.
- Establish a brand that represents sustainability and safety.
- Service delivery transparency for billing and invoicing.
Logistimatics
The vehicle tracking system by Logistimatics is simple to use and may be used to track cars, trucks, vans, or any other type of vehicle. Access the dashboard directly from your computer or mobile device to see the current location of your car. View and download historical location data to learn critical driving-related insights. Its features include:
- A GPS vehicle monitoring gadget and effective tracking app can help you protect your auto assets right now.
- You can hear what’s happening at the location of your tracker thanks to live audio monitoring.
- You will receive a notification on your phone, tablet, or computer if your tracker departs or enters a specified region.
- You may easily add additional users to your account if you need to share the tracker’s location data with them.
- Recognize the pace at which your cars are traveling and take appropriate safety measures.
- Make geofences that alert you whenever your car enters or leaves a specific area. Check out the location and time of previous vehicle stops.
Amcrest
The Amcrest GPS Tracker has exceptional technology that connects directly to your vehicle’s OBD-II port and sends updates to the server every 30 seconds, with optional upgrades available (15 sec, 5 sec, and 1 sec).
You will never run out of battery juice because the inconspicuous 4G GPS tracker gets power directly from the OBD connector. You can add multiple devices to a single account to track several vehicles. Amcrest’s features include:
- With real-time tracking, you may set up personalized Geofence zones that notify you whenever someone enters or exits the zone.
- You will receive fast push notifications, SMS or email alerts for no-go zones, speeding, address start and stop locations, speeding, braking, and sudden acceleration.
- The car OBD also delivers fault codes, maintenance notifications, battery voltage, fuel economy, idling, and other helpful information!
- Amcrest will supply you with a Lifetime US Warranty and Lifetime Support.
Optimus
Optimus GPS tracking system makes it an immersive experience for you if you want to know the current location of a loved one, a vehicle, or an object. This unique tracker helps you keep tabs on the people and things important to you.
Track your company’s vehicle fleet to increase quality control and collect logistics data. Keep an eye on a loved one’s vehicle to ensure they arrive at their destination safely. Optimus’s features include:
- Track your company’s vehicle fleet to increase quality control and collect logistics data.
- Keep an eye on a loved one’s vehicle to ensure they arrive at their destination safely.
- Even if you are thousands of miles away, you can always be notified by email, SMS, or push notification when the following events occur.
- You can view the real-time location of all your assets from one account or segregate assets into individual accounts, giving you peace of mind and assurance that you can rapidly identify a stolen asset.
- View the assets’ activities throughout the day, including roads traveled, parked locations, addresses, and other details.
Spireon
Ensure that your fleet is operating at peak efficiency. FleetLocate from Spireon is a simple-to-use yet sophisticated fleet management solution designed to help organizations get the most out of their workers, cars, and assets. FleetLocate’s rich data is the backbone that drives fleet intelligence, productivity, and profitability, from simple GPS vehicle tracking to economic ELD compliance. Spireon features include:
- The GPS tracking gadget is modular and works with light, medium, and heavy-duty vehicles.
- Spireon’s upgraded video-based safety solution, CamCoach, now includes new crash-prevention features. Drivers will now be warned if they are tailgating, and if an accident occurs, managers will be able to see when and where it happened within their FleetLocateTM interface.
- When combined with the additional risky driving behavior indicators provided by the AI dashcam, you can expect safer drivers, cheaper insurance rates, and fewer accidents.
- To limit liability risk, address safety hazards in real-time, and save records.
- Access data fast from a single, simple platform that is supported by the majority of platforms.
ClearPath
ClearPath GPS fleet tracking solutions offer excellent real-time visibility, data insights, tools to improve fleet operations, and excellent customer service. What truly distinguishes ClearPath GPS is its unwavering commitment to its customers’ success daily. ClearPath’s features include:
- They are also ranked first in consumer evaluations on sites like TrustPilot and Capterra.
- Learn about driver behaviors to break bad habits before they cause an accident.
- Receive real-time notifications of unusual behavior and take action right away.
- Set up dashboards and warnings to avoid disputes throughout your entire organization.
- You can set up personalized notifications depending on any scenario specific to your company and fleet.
- ClearPathGPS also provides virtual time cards because it records every start, stop, and total time at each place to provide the most accurate time cards.
GeoTab Go
The Geotab GO9 fleet tracking system has been completely revamped and improved and now includes a gyroscope, more memory, and a quicker processor. With this additional capability, you may create a fleet tracking system that supports more vehicle types, such as higher fuel efficiency and excellent electric car compatibility.
In our opinion, the below mentioned are its best features:
- Through the patented algorithms and the accelerometer on the GO gadget, Geotab gives superior harsh-event data (acceleration, braking, cornering, etc.) and crash reconstruction.
- Extract useful data about the condition and health of the vehicle. Keep track of the VIN, odometer, engine issues, and more.
- Gather detailed information on your car’s location, speed, journey length and duration, engine idling, and other factors.
- The new Global Navigation Satellite System module (GNSS), enabling quicker latch times and more precise location data, is introduced with the GO9.
- For Geotab GO car tracking devices and network interfaces, Geotab uses authentication, data encryption, and message integrity verification.
- You can improve driving behaviors like speeding and idling by playing an auditory alert or coaching the driver with spoken words (available as an Add-On). Instantaneous feedback can improve fleet safety, reaffirm corporate policy, and motivate your drivers to make the necessary corrections immediately.
- Vehicles transmit data from several subsystems, such as the engine, drivetrain, instrument cluster, etc.
GPSTrackit ELD
The GPSTrackit ELD updates tracking information every 30 to 60 seconds. On this user-friendly web platform, you can access various automatic reports. After using this product, our team discovered that it offers tools for interactive real-time mapping of the locations of vehicles, traffic patterns, and potential risk factors along the route.
The following are the key characteristics of this software:
- Displays driving performance reports and takes appropriate action.
- It notifies drivers of harmful and risky driving behaviors.
- Your drivers can log their hours and leave the house more quickly using GPS Trackit’s ELOGS.
- The electronic logbook software solution goes beyond compliance, assisting drivers in avoiding violations and streamlining regular logging operations with a robust array of HOS logging and DVIR recording functions.
NexTraq
NexTraq is more than just a provider of vehicle and asset tracking services. They are a trusted GPS fleet, ELD compliance, and mobile workforce management partner for all customers, aiding you with every vehicle, mobile asset, and employee daily.
NexTraq’s salient features are as follows:
- It incorporates enhanced safety features such as phone banning and in-vehicle alarms.
- NexTraq GPS fleet management software assists organizations in maintaining ELD and IFTA compliance.
- It has road-facing and dual-facing cameras, allowing you to watch the cab and the road.
- It employs dashcams to give in-cab alerts to drivers who engage in risky behavior.
- Its software is available in the United States and Canada, making it ideal for cross-border firms.
- To improve driving skills, dozens of driver training courses are available.
- You can specify how frequently the data is refreshed, from 30 seconds to 15 minutes.
FleetGo
It’s difficult to tell which business or product is superior in today’s technology-driven environment. In our opinion, with FleetGO’s smart fleet tracking technology, you can analyze, assess, and optimize your everyday operations.
Maintain control of your fleet, grow your business, and With our clever, comprehensive, and cheap telemetry systems, you can get real-time information into your fleet 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Its salient features include the following:
- Track vehicles and drivers easily, as well as historical itineraries, destinations visited, time spent, and kilometers traveled.
- By tracking your fleet in real-time, you can optimize operations, detect suspicious actions, and collect vital information on your cars and drivers.
- When a vehicle enters or exits a predetermined region, you will receive instant communication (WhatsApp, sms, call, email, notice), or you will be notified if there is any unexpected activity within or outside predefined hours.
- All excursions and itineraries are displayed in easy-to-navigate lists, and each trip may be explored in detail with an endless history.
Rhino Fleet Tracking
The Rhino Fleet Tracking system provides extensive capabilities at an affordable price. You can understand how your vehicles are treated in a straightforward interface, from fuel economy and speed to tracking locations. It lets you track service records, landmark stops, fuel card usage, and other details.
This tracking system’s features include:
- Access reports and data quickly and easily to enhance productivity – and profits.
- Rhino Fleet Tracking with Amazon Alexa allows you to track your fleet using your voice.
- Real-time fleet tracking systems from Rhino Fleet Tracking can help you reduce the high expenses of vehicle breakdowns by ensuring your fleet runs as efficiently as possible.
- The tracking system does so for you and informs you of any unauthorized driving activity at any time of day from anywhere in the world.
- Fleet managers will receive warnings if a specific vehicle exceeds the specified speed limit at any moment, allowing them to correct the errant driver and provide assistance for improvement.
Conclusion
GPS tracking devices have transformed the way we navigate and maintain tabs on trucks to enhance security. This technology and its associated devices offer a range of features and benefits to meet diverse user needs.
Consider the different types of devices mentioned above, and their features, to make an informed decision. With the robust tracking device for your trucking companies, you can sit back, relax, and not constantly worry about your fleet.
James Johnson is a former truck driver who now works as a writer, specializing in the trucking industry. With over 15 years of experience on the road, James has a unique perspective on the challenges and opportunities faced by truck drivers and the trucking industry as a whole. His writing focuses on issues such as safety, regulation, and the latest industry trends. His work has been featured in several trucking publications and he has received recognition for his contributions to the industry. In his free time, James still enjoys being around trucks and often attends truck shows and other industry events.