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Real-Time GPS Fleet Tracking – Which Are The Best Systems?

(Last Updated On: February 17, 2024)

real time gps fleet tracking

As we all know, it is very important to choose the best real-time GPS fleet tracking software/system. It is necessary to have a Real-Time GPS fleet tracking system and software to monitor fleet vehicles and the drivers’ driving actions. A fleet tracking solution is a fleet management software that tracks the operation of fleet company assets such as trucks, facilities, and workers using GPS.

Fleet tracking solution systems are the leading technologies used in commercial operations. To pick the best Real-Time GPS tracking solutions for your fleet in the current year, we’ve reviewed top providers. Our top pick fleet tracking system is available for viewing, but you may also check out our top services for GPS fleet tracking below.

GPS tracking systems (telematics) assist trucking companies in knowing where their equipment and products are in real-time, providing information such as vehicle and driver performance and fleet information.

What Are the Benefits of Monitoring Software for GPS Fleets?

GPS fleet tracking solutions have benefits, such as increased driver safety, equipment maintenance, and fuel consumption management.

With it, companies can analyze the performance of vehicle drivers, route trends, and fuel consumption to increase fleet efficiency and save resources.

Are There Any Drawbacks of GPS Fleet Tracking Solution?

GPS fleet monitoring tools have two possible drawbacks: low workers’ morale and high upfront costs.

The company’s employees could become uncomfortable with the tracking system and perceive it as a lack of confidence/trust. Therefore, it is recommended to be upfront with the employees on how and why you track them. As a result, this will enable them to focus on the software’s advantages.

Technology for GPS fleet management can sometimes be pricey, which might be a drawback for some small businesses.

While the initial costs of route optimization and fuel consumption reduction may seem high initially, the long-term benefits often outweigh them in the long run.

What are The Features to Look for In GPS Fleet Tracking Solution?

Our team has extensive experience in using GPS fleet tracking solutions for our own fleet management needs. In our experience, the most important features to look for in a GPS fleet tracking solution are driver and vehicle safety features such as real-time tracking and monitoring, geofencing capabilities, and alerts for speeding or harsh driving behaviors. These features help ensure the safety of our drivers and vehicles on the road.

Another crucial feature is the integration of fuel cards, which allows us to easily track and monitor fuel purchases, helping us save money and improve the efficiency of our operations. The dashboards with trendy vital metrics also provide us with important insights into the performance of our fleet, allowing us to make data-driven decisions and improve our operations.

In addition to driver and vehicle safety, GPS fleet management tracking systems need to support accurate navigation, and communication, as well as dashboards with trending vital metrics, and ongoing customer service.

What Are the Costs of GPS Fleet Tracking Software?

The cost of a GPS fleet monitoring service can vary greatly depending on several important factors. These factors include the type of hardware needed, the number of devices required, and the specific functionality required by your fleet business.

Typically, the cost for each hardware unit includes an initial charge and a recurring subscription fee for the monitoring service features. The starting price for device hardware is around $100 and subscription services can range from $15 to $25.

However, some plans may require you to rent the equipment, which would then be applied to your subscription charge. The typical sales contract for these services ranges from 12 to 36 months, with only a few companies offering monthly packages and the option for customers to cancel at any time.

It is rare for companies to be able to test monitoring schemes risk-free because few companies offer free trials or money-back guarantees.

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Real-Time GPS Fleet Tracking – Which Are the Best Software/Systems?

First, you need to review and evaluate hundreds of GPS fleet tracking solutions to help you identify the best GPS fleet monitoring services. Then, compile the best GPS fleet tracking services selections that you’ve found.

#1 Search for the Best GPS Fleet Tracking Service

Your assessment process includes placing yourself in a small business owner’s perspective and generating details that will be readily accessible to prospective business clients. Do your due diligence by visiting business portals, contacting sales representatives, and considering clients’ public feedback.

#2 Find the Best Service

In order to identify the best GPS fleet monitoring services, you should evaluate, for example, over 30 fleet management solution providers. It is important to consider the company’s experience in the field and the scope of monitoring functionality it provides. And also, consider if the service was aimed at all fleet sizes or just for small businesses.

#3 Research Each Service

In the next round of action, analyze the monitoring and safety capabilities of the service. Also, look at the dashboard user interface, the price and contract structure, or whether the company had recently offered a trial.

#4 Choose the Right One for Your Fleet

Depending on the best feature in each company, look for the best picks from the list.

And also dived further into different areas of operation, such as:

  • Maintenance charges and configuration
  • Minimum vehicle specifications
  • Refresh time of software
  • Accessibility of software
  • Contract length

#5 Customer Service

You need to perform sales calls and product presentations after deciding the final best choices. Review the cancellation procedures, support options, and overall customer experience of the finalists. Analyze video explanations of the solution you find online if the company did not provide demos.

 

Our Top 5 recommendations

Motive (formerly KeepTruckin)keep trucking eld motive

Motive (formerly KeepTruckin) is the best software/system for real-time GPS fleet tracking. It is specially designed to improve operational efficiency, safety, and compliance – key features for GPS fleet management systems.

Many fleets of all sizes, ranging from field services to trucking, have chosen Motive (formerly KeepTruckin) for their fleet management needs. With over 55,000 users, it is evident that the key features of Motive (formerly KeepTruckin) are highly valued by fleet managers.

Features

  • You can track drivers, trucks, and all company assets as well as devices from a single dashboard with Motive (formerly KeepTruckin) GPS tracking solution.
  • The System streamlines the coordination and dispatch of drivers using two-way signaling and workflow.
  • Ease compliance with ELD, IFTA, and DVIR.
  • The System uses actionable performance measures to reduce fuel use, maintenance expenses, and more.

Location GPS Tracking

Motive (formerly KeepTruckin) offers a range of services that help fleets of all sizes optimize their operations through GPS tracking and geofencing. The system provides real-time updates on vehicle location every 1-30 seconds, giving fleet managers the ability to monitor their trucks at all times. The standard $20 a month Starter subscription includes GPS tracking as well as real-time truck monitoring and geo-fenced region notifications.

In addition to location tracking, Motive (formerly KeepTruckin) records a variety of information on vehicle usage, fuel consumption, idle time, and more. The system’s ELD device tracks trucks and provides e-logs for trailer type and vehicle data, helping fleet managers stay on top of their operations.

The system logs each vehicle’s status as “underway” whenever it is traveling at more than 5 miles per hour, while stationary and off-time are logged based on vehicle speed and location. When the system is offline, data is uploaded once it connects to WIFI.

All of the information collected by Motive (formerly KeepTruckin) is uploaded to the system’s dashboard, which provides valuable insights into fleet maintenance, ETA, actual vehicle location, idle time, mpg, distance, and track health. With these tools, fleet managers can streamline their operations and keep their trucks running smoothly.

Dispatch and Workflow

Motive (formerly KeepTruckin) is a software that facilitates better fleet management. It does this by implementing automatic driver workflows. The software has the capability to auto-select trucks using HOS data, location, type of trailer, availability of vehicles, or suitability.

In addition to dispatch details in real-time, Motive (formerly KeepTruckin) provides information such as freight descriptions, addresses, pick-up times, etc.

Azuga

Azuga fleet tracking

For organizations of all types, Azuga Fleet is a cloud-based fleet software application. It has different fields, including shipping, pest control, commercial safety, specialist contractors, construction, leasing of equipment, manufacturing, and much more.

Features

At our team, we have experience using Azuga Fleet, which provides an extensive range of features including fleet monitoring, electronic records, maintenance control, equipment tracking, roadside assistance, safety management, and reporting. We have found it to be an excellent tool for managing fleets, providing us with valuable insights into battery performance, driver behavior, and fleet maintenance trends through its data science module. Here are its most prominent features:

  • Fleet monitoring, electronic records, maintenance control, equipment tracking, roadside assistance, safety management, and reporting are key functions.
  • Within a suite, Azuga Fleet provides management telematics, insurance telematics, as well as data science modules.
  • Emissions, road-use charges, and toll collections are all included in governance telematics.
  • The insurance telematics module provides price and cost assessment, premium monitoring, and order management for commercial vehicles.
  • The data science module provides users with data analytics to understand different trends, such as battery performance, driver behavior, fleet maintenance, etc.

Teletrac Navman

teletrac navmanNavman offers comprehensive fleet monitoring services for small and medium-sized businesses. Overall, in areas such as software accessibility, safety functionality, monitoring options, and overall ease of use, it provides excellent services.

You can watch the actions of drivers, increase fuel economy and optimize routes. Some support advantages, such as free delivery of electronics, are also included in the enterprise.

Features

Our team has had the opportunity to work closely with Teletrac Navman, using their software interface and testing its capabilities firsthand. Here are its most prominent features:

  • Part of what distinguishes Teletrac Navman from its rivals is its scalability.
  • Its low minimum requirements for vehicles ensure that it works with fleets of all sizes.
  • The company offers 36-month business contracts and ensures compliance with ELDs, IFTA, and DVIR.
  • Also, their software interface is one of the best we have tested;
  • The interface is useful to inform small businesses of traffic and poor weather; it has an intuitive interface and information overlays.

Telematics data is analyzed by the System, and suggestions are made on how you can cost-effectively introduce electric vehicles to your fleet. It also provides valuable fleet data such as cost analyses etc.

Quartix

Quartix fleet tracking

Quartix offers a range of benefits for fleet owners looking to save money and improve performance. One of the main advantages is the broader array of scheduled reports and real-time updates that are available through the platform. This allows for more data and detail about your fleet, enabling you to build more proactive strategies.

For example, Quartix offers a range of fuel efficiency reports, including mileage and gas reports, speeding and safety reports, and route mapping. These features can help you optimize your fleet for maximum efficiency and cost savings.

In addition to scheduled reports, Quartix also offers real-time analytics through the device dashboard. This provides live report information that can be used to make on-the-fly decisions and improve overall fleet performance.

According to Quartix, the platform adds more than 150 new fleet customers each month, with over 350,000 support facilities provided to date. This makes it a popular choice for fleet owners looking for a professional reporting solution.

In addition to its reporting capabilities, Quartix is also known for its transparent pricing and plan options. You can find detailed information on its website, and live chat support is available for further assistance. This makes it an ideal solution for small fleet companies looking for a GPS monitoring solution.

To further explore the benefits of Quartix, the platform also offers a demo option. This allows you to try out the solution firsthand and see how it can help you optimize your fleet for maximum efficiency and cost savings.

The service is an effective solution for professional fleet reporting, but there are many other factors that also make it a good solution for business owners. The price and plan of Quartix are explicitly published on its website.

Verizon Connect

verizon fleet management

Verizon Connect thrives by offering highly flexible service. A single service package replaces three major GPS fleet tracking firms (Telogis, Fleetmatics, and Verizon Network Fleet). This allows the company to deliver numerous fleet-tracking solutions to companies worldwide.

Verizon provides international telematics systems and good GPS technologies that back the software. When midsize fleets are bigger and require more features and functions than a small business fleet, Verizon Connect offers the tools available to fleet operators to control all aspects of their fleet. This is especially important since more trucks mean more drivers, which means more information pouring through a dispatcher.

Due to the company’s position as a leading telecom provider, its offerings are backed by the credibility of a large corporation. This also means that you will be able to set up packages that are perfect for your company. With Verizon Connect, fleet operators can customize their service packages to match their unique needs. This level of flexibility is what sets Verizon Connect apart from other fleet tracking solutions in the market.

Verizon Pricing

Verizon Connect does not publish its prices online, like many businesses we have tested in this field. The service contract may seem simple, but it may also offer the specific resources your business needs.

Adding to Verizon Connect networks’ scope, this functionality makes it suitable for organizations with medium-sized fleets. To help businesses reduce risk and optimize driver safety, Verizon Connect introduced Integrated Video for Fleet in August 2020.

This module implements AI and machine learning to record driving incidents and video reviews in near real-time. It is extremely useful for medium-sized fleets to track and defend their larger fleets.

Get Verizon Connect HERE>>>

Feature comparison of Real-Time GPS Fleet Tracking Systems

Features Motive Azuga Teletrac Navman Quartix Verizon Connect
Real-time tracking Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Route optimization Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Driver behavior monitoring Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Fuel monitoring Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Vehicle maintenance tracking Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Mobile app Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Alerts and notifications Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Analytics and reporting Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Customizable dashboard Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Integration with other software Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
In-vehicle cameras Yes (optional) Yes (optional) Yes (optional) No Yes (optional)
Electronic logging device (ELD) compliance Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Predictive maintenance Yes (optional) Yes (optional) No Yes Yes (optional)
Dispatch and scheduling Yes (optional) Yes (optional) Yes (optional) No Yes (optional)
Driver coaching and training Yes (optional) Yes (optional) Yes (optional) No Yes (optional)
Mobile device management Yes (optional) No Yes (optional) No Yes (optional)

 

Conclusion – What to Consider for the year 2024?

In 2024, we expect to see the integration of artificial intelligence with GPS fleet monitoring tools, following the trend seen in many other tracking systems. Using computer-generated sensory input like video or haptics, fleet tracking will quickly gain an immersive perception of the real-world situation. This advancement could lead to windshields serving as display screens for traffic warnings or mapping fleet routes in the future.

Moreover, we anticipate a decrease in the cost of GPS fleet monitoring software in the coming years. As GPS technology becomes standard in the transport industry, it becomes more affordable, and this will allow even small organizations to utilize it. With these advancements in technology, we can expect the transportation industry to become more efficient and cost-effective. But the advancement of technology could be a double-edged sword. New technology equates to more services and better functionality for GPS systems. Usually, more services and features equal an increase in price. So we wouldn’t be surprised if the upper price point of GPS systems increases as the newest tech and most advanced AI is added on.

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About the author

Robert Rigman

Robert Rigman

Former independent OTR trucker that left the road to dedicate his time to research new technology for the transport industry. When the ELD Mandate was approved many questions and daily challenges came up and there was no answer to them. ELDdevices.net was born from the combination of my passion for trucking and my affinity for research and writing.

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One Response

  1. Hey Robert, great post.
    With computer-generated sensory input such as video or haptic feedback, an immersive perception of the real-world scenario will swiftly join the fleet tracking field. As a result, in the next years, deploying windshields as screen displays for traffic alerts or charting fleet routes could become a reality. GPS technology is now ubiquitous in the transportation industry and is becoming less expensive, making it accessible to businesses of all sizes.

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Share what you learned!

About the author

Robert Rigman

Robert Rigman

Former independent OTR trucker that left the road to dedicate his time to research new technology for the transport industry. When the ELD Mandate was approved many questions and daily challenges came up and there was no answer to them. ELDdevices.net was born from the combination of my passion for trucking and my affinity for research and writing.

One Response

  1. Hey Robert, great post.
    With computer-generated sensory input such as video or haptic feedback, an immersive perception of the real-world scenario will swiftly join the fleet tracking field. As a result, in the next years, deploying windshields as screen displays for traffic alerts or charting fleet routes could become a reality. GPS technology is now ubiquitous in the transportation industry and is becoming less expensive, making it accessible to businesses of all sizes.

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Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

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