Samsara vs KeepTruckin; What’s the best fleet management system?
October 25, 2019Disclosure: This is a professional review blog. Bear in mind that some of the links in this post are affiliate links and if you go through them to make a purchase I will earn a commission. Keep in mind that I link these companies and their products because of their quality and not because of the commission I receive from your purchases. All of the products are tested thoroughly and high grades are received only by the best ones. I am an independent blogger and the reviews are done based on my own opinions.
Samsara vs KeepTruckin; What’s the best fleet management system?
Contents
Before we get started, let’s define what is a fleet management system and what makes it great. An FMS is a software that helps companies and organizations manage, organize, and coordinate their work vehicles from a central data platform. The purpose is to have the fleet operating fluently by reducing costs, improving performance and establishing compliance with government regulations. This is done through several data collections. A great FMS is one that has several tools that greatly comply with a wide range of different organizations and companies.
Samsara
Samsara’s FMS is composed of several features that make it a great software because it can accommodate the needs of different organizations. This flexible software is equipped with;
- Real-Time GPS Tracking
- Trailer Tracking
- Safety & Dash Cams
- Routing & Messaging
- Documents
- Fleet Maintenance
- WiFi Hotspot
- ELD Compliance
- Refer Monitoring
- Reporting & Alerts
- Developer APIS
This software is pretty convenient as it brings a 2 way messaging option between the driver and the person on the other end. It’s also equipped with trailer tracking for theft detection, GPS tracking for live vehicle location and trip histories as well as geo-fence alerts, real time route tracking, reporting & alerts to manage fuel efficiency with vehicle health and activity with driver behavior. It has in-cab WiFi, cellular data included and works with any mobile device. For the organizations who seem to spend more on fuel than their vehicles show, this software is also equipped with proof of delivery, fuel, and more. One thing that I really like about it is that it’s capable of scaling to 10,000 vehicles which allows you to scale your organization/company as well knowing you can keep track of all those vehicles.
KeepTruckin
KeepTruckin is a well equipped software that meets many if not all of the common needs. The reason for 50,000 companies trusting KeepTrcukin is that it’s equipped with:
- ELD Compliance
- GPS Tracking
- Smart Dashcam
- IFTA Fuel Tax Reporting
- Fleet Safety Coaching
- Vehicle Utilization
- Vehicle Inspections
- Vehicle Diagnostics
- Messaging
- Driver Workflow
- App Marketplace
- Open API
- Asset Tracking
- Facility Insights
- WiFi Hotspot
You’ll find that your needs can be met with all the features that this software offers starting with GPS Tracking that tracks in real-time and shows breadcrumb location history, Smart Dashcam, Fleet Safety and Coaching which analyzes the fleet’s performance and where there’s room for improvement being convenient for driver coaching, and Vehicle Utilization to track excessive idling and reduce fuel costs. With KeepTrcukin you also get the Asset Tracking feature to give you location based insight on your most valuable assets. This feature comes in handy for companies that have high caution assets to keep under tight supervision.
Comparison
ELD Compliance:
- Samsara and KeepTruckin generally have the same benefits for the ELD Compliance which in both cases allow you to connect your operations, hence HOS and records of duty status, GPS tracking, WiFi hotspots, sensor data and much more all in one simple platform. They both allow you to maintain compliance everywhere with built-in WiFi hotspots thus removing the need for data plans. Samsara and Keeptruckin help you avoid the cost of proprietary e-logging hardware with its FMCSA-approved capability to any iOS or Android device.
Safety & Dash Cams/ Fleet Safety and Coaching:
- Samsara and KeepTruckin both promote driver coaching and fleet safety with this feature. The benefits with this feature are that the dash cam identifies unsafe driving such as speeding, approaching cars excessively, cornering , and more. Samsara makes a difference with its in-cab voice coaching that automatically uploads footage from the incident to Samsara dashboard. They both offer trend reports, driver scoreboard and other statistics that help you coach your drivers but I especially loved the fact that Samsara offers in-cab voice to alert the driver. This benefit adds to the many lifesaving precautions has Samsara.
In conclusion Samsara and Keeptruckin each have more or less the same features and benefits that should surely comply with the needs of the customer company. The prices for each vary depending on what you’re looking for as a company and what you have as well. Here are the links to the pricing pages for you to obtain a quote and compare the prices for your company.
When all’s said and done, I remain with Samsara’s software for its outstanding efficiency numbers and effectiveness. With 250K in avoided incident costs, 50% reduction in vehicle idling, and 30% less customers who claim payouts.
History
As you read this article you might have thought; This Fleet Management thing comes in handy, I’m sure glad it exists. But that wasn’t always the case. The emergence of this technology is not too old but has been here for only a few decades. It started off very undeveloped from unit record equipment, to the power of mainframes, to electronic vehicle ordering, to the dawn of personal computers in the 80’s to the internet revolution in the 90’s, and finally to the emergence of mobile devices, this technology has made a big impact in the industrial world. As servers became more common, businesses began utilizing personal computers, and phones became smarter and more present in workplaces, a trend emerged to develop fleet management applications and communication devices which led to the birth of all these great software programs that we have at our disposal today. According to an article from Mike Antich on Automotive Fleet, for years a solution was being searched for to cure the problem but now drivers are part of the solution and hold the key to improved fuel economy, safety, and managing maintenance costs. At the dawn of this great emergence, dramatic differences were viewed between drives who use this technology and those who don’t. If you wish to learn about the history of Fleet Management more in debt, visit Automotive Fleet
If you’ve made it this far then that means that you must’ve really been intrigued by this article. Let me know what your thoughts are about Samsara vs KeepTruckin or about the article on Automotive Fleet Don’t be shy to suggest a truck related subject for my next article. If you liked this article you should check out a few other similar posts:
Written by William Migezo
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