Azuga Fleet Management Review and Pricing
Azuga offers functionality that competes well with other GPS tracking services, but what makes it stand out the most is its easy accessibility. Its intuitive interface allows you to access a wealth of information on your vehicles and drivers in near real time. Combined, this greatly reduces the learning curve for businesses wanting to improve driver safety, reduce vehicle maintenance expenses and lower fuel costs. With plug-and-play hardware to boot and around-the-clock customer service, Azuga is the best GPS fleet tracking service for companies seeking a system that’s easy to use.
Azuga Fleet Management and Pricing
The Verdict
Azuga makes it easy to track your fleet regardless of whether you have a handful of vehicles or hundreds. With plug-and-play hardware that can be set up in seconds and easy-to-use software, including a mobile app, Azuga is our best pick for ease of use.
See how Azuga compares against its industry competitors by reading our overview of the best GPS fleet management services.
Azuga Editor’s Score: 9/10
Contract length | 8.0 |
|---|---|
Price | 9.0 |
Refresh rate | 8.0 |
Customer service | 10.0 |
Hardware type | 9.0 |
Functionality | 10.0 |
Why We Chose Azuga for Ease of Use
A wealth of details about your fleet is available on the Azuga dashboard. Source: Azuga
Azuga’s user-friendliness begins with its simple-to-install plug-and-play hardware. There is an intuitive user interface on both the desktop and app control dashboards that makes it easy to do what you want in a short amount of time. There is extensive online help documentation too and, if you need further assistance, customer care representatives are available 24/7. We love that you can call, email or message whenever you need them.
Additionally, Azuga collects usable, actionable vehicle and driver data, and it’s straightforward to run reports that help you improve fleet productivity and lower costs. We like that these analytics are simple to gather and understand. It’s for these reasons that we found Azuga to be the best GPS fleet management system for ease of use.
Azuga is not Better Business Bureau-accredited and many of its rivals aren’t, either. That said, Azuga does score very highly in online customer reviews.
What We Like About Azuga
- Azuga’s intuitive desktop and app control dashboards are packed with information that’s easy to access and interrogate.
- Businesses can receive 24/7 customer service by phone, email and ticketing, plus access extensive online support documentation.
- Azuga has a somewhat small but growing app marketplace with vendors offering improved routing and scheduling services, fuel card integration and better fleet management.
What We Don’t Like About Azuga
- Although 36-month contracts are common in the GPS tracking space, it would be better if Azuga offered shorter terms.
- Refresh rates on the Azuga platform don’t compare well to most other GPS fleet tracking services.
Ease of Use
Azuga’s desktop app for fleet managers and administrators allows you to see where your vehicles are currently located easily. Source: Azuga
When you log in to the Azuga platform, the cloud-based app dashboard is clear and intuitive. You can check in on drivers and vehicles in real time using the “Live Tab.” Other functions we like include the ability to run detailed reports and keep on top of jobs and maintenance across your business. You can’t customize the dashboard, but you can change the Azuga logo to your own to personalize the system’s appearance.
Although the system is very user-friendly, if you get stuck, Azuga has one of the most substantial collections of online guides and helpful content among all the GPS fleet management services we reviewed, on par with rivals Verizon Connect and FleetUp. Alternatively, you can choose to speak with a live support representative 24/7. Support is also available via email and an online ticketing system. Learn more about how easy Azuga is to use in the “Implementation” section below.
Azuga Features
Azuga is a feature-rich GPS tracking and fleet management platform supporting an expanding number of third-party apps. The below tools stood out the most in our evaluation.
Driver safety, training and rewards
We appreciate that Azuga successfully balances driver reporting and monitoring with training and rewards. Drivers are scored according to how often they idle, rapidly accelerate and harshly brake — what Azuga calls “crash event predictors.” If you want to know right away when a driver isn’t driving safely, you can set up the system to alert you immediately. If you have a policy of no cellphone use during driving, the app can block cellphone access or measure it.
Each driver gets a trip score, which rolls up into an average score, ranging from 0 to 100. If a driver scores 75 or more, they usually are considered a safe driver. If they score between 65 and 74, they should be put in the “watch list” category and those with scores of 64 or below should be considered risky. With this data, you can compare your drivers to see who the safest vehicle operator is and who needs additional training.
Azuga has a series of videos on better driving, and you can use the software to push specific training messages and videos to drivers based on their performance. The platform also rewards safe driving by identifying your most responsible drivers and distributing a prize, such as a discount voucher, via the driver’s email address or mobile app every month.
AI-powered two-camera dashcam
A standard Azuga dashcam has forward- and rear-facing cameras. Source: Azuga
Azuga’s artificial intelligence (AI)-powered dashcam detects poor driving behaviors, analyzes them and sends the information back to your dashboard. Drivers can also press a panic button to start recording. We like that this technology employs dual cameras. The rear-facing camera monitors drivers for behaviors like yawning, eating and drinking as well as risky actions, such as hard braking, sudden acceleration and distracted driving, which the AI tags for future review and training. The front-facing camera observes accidents on the road, with recording starting six seconds before the incident and finishing five seconds after. This is an especially great feature because dashcams often reduce insurance premiums, offsetting the cost of use. [Related article: What Does Commercial Auto Insurance Cover?]
The dashcam gives drivers the opportunity to put right bad behavior. The camera beeps at them and there’s also a visual alert on the camera flashing. Drivers are given a few seconds to correct their action, but if they don’t, an electronic log is made of the incident and a video is sent to the fleet manager’s dashboard.
Data refreshes once a minute with Azuga — by far the slowest rate of the providers we investigated. For comparison, our review of Samsara found that it refreshes from one second to the next while our Verizon Connect review uncovered a refresh rate of about 30 seconds.
Fleet maintenance
The Azuga platform allows you to keep detailed service histories for all your vehicles. You can set convenient reminders to service vehicles at regular intervals to reduce operating costs, lower the risk of vehicles being off the road and prevent minor vehicle safety issues from turning into something major. Azuga also alerts you to developing maintenance issues with vehicles outside of the normal servicing schedule.
Fuel efficiency is always a significant concern for fleet managers and business owners. While Azuga’s maintenance scheduling will reduce fuel consumption significantly, it can also factor in driver behavior and the routes they take on jobs to find further savings.
Mobile app
The Azuga mobile app is just as helpful as the desktop version. Source: Azuga
Azuga’s mobile app, available for both iOS and Android devices, serves both administrators and drivers, and we love that much of the desktop dashboard’s functionality is available here too. Administrators can take care of all aspects of fleet management while on the go, from live vehicle diagnostics to seeing which driver is behind the wheel of a particular vehicle. If the app is installed on your driver’s phone, you can share location information with customers so they can better predict arrival times.
Admins and drivers can also communicate with each other in real time via the app, including sending location details, videos and images. For drivers, the app provides alerts on unsafe behaviors like speeding, shows the nearest selected points of interest like gas stations and ATMs (similar to Google Maps) and can even help drivers find their vehicle if they’ve parked far away.
Growing marketplace
The Route4Me app is available in the Azuga marketplace. Source: Azuga
Although Azuga doesn’t have the biggest app marketplace available (competitor Motive has over 110 integrations), there are 47 native apps you can take advantage of. Among them are nine routing and scheduling apps, including CAMS Prospero, a specialist app for the grocery sector. In fact, there’s a lot of deep integration with particular industries, including vehicle rental and tow truck businesses.
We particularly like the integration with Salesforce, whose emphasis is on helping Azuga users achieve greater customer satisfaction through efficient delivery and reporting. You can also plug Azuga into other fleet maintenance and management systems like Fleetio or fuel theft and fraud apps like Quivalon. We also appreciate the integration with fuel card accounts, such as Gascard and iomoto, for easier expense tracking.
Check out our review of Motive, which we found to have the most integrations, allowing you to streamline your use of business software.
Azuga Pricing
Azuga offers three per-vehicle subscription plans for its services:
- BasicFleet: For $25, this plan includes GPS tracking, alerts, notifications, driver scores, driver rewards, reporting, geofencing and unlimited support.
- SafeFleet: For $30, this plan adds enhanced safety and efficiency features to the BasicFleet package, including SpeedSafe, distracted driving, panic alert, vehicle diagnostics, messaging and fuel card integration.
- CompleteFleet: For $35, this plan gives you enhanced vehicle data and exclusive services, including one-minute GPS updates, custom reports and a quarterly fleet review, on top of everything at the SafeFleet level.
There is no charge for hardware except for the dashcams, which are priced at $29.99 each. The minimum subscription term is 36 months. Azuga doesn’t offer a free trial, but its services are less expensive than most providers. If you’re looking for an even cheaper option, check out our review of Force by Mojio.
If you want a GPS fleet management service with a minimal agreement length, we suggest reading our ClearPathGPS review or GPS Trackit review to see if one of those is the right option for you. They all operate on a 30-day rolling contract.
Implementation and Onboarding
Azuga has made getting started with its services as simple as possible. First, you’ll plug your tracking devices and any dashcams directly into the OBD-II port of your vehicles. The vendor asserts this should take no longer than 20 seconds per device. Make a note of which vehicle each device is being attached to as you go along. Then, you’ll set up your account online. Make yourself an administrator and create accounts for users, drivers and vehicles. We like that you can set different levels of access for each user and group vehicles by job type, location or whatever classification you choose.
The Azuga platform is built around end-user simplicity, from its plugin hardware and intuitive app to its detailed but easy-to-use dashboard. That makes the implementation process especially straightforward. When you log in to the app or the desktop software for the first time, you’ll just need to pair each device with a vehicle for the system to start monitoring.
Further enhancing Azuga’s usability is an application programming interface (API) that you can use to link the platform to other apps you use in your business. The API documentation is comprehensive and, with the right configuration, allows you to take advantage of Azuga’s reporting and functionality in the software platform of your choice. Most of the features offered on the dashboard can be integrated into your current software solutions, thanks to an extensive API REST interface, allowing for even greater efficiency.
Customer Support
Azuga provides expert assistance 24/7 via email, phone and online ticketing. If you prefer to receive support by phone, the number to call is handily featured in the upper-right corner of the vendor’s website. If you prefer to figure out things on your own, the company’s online knowledge base, with more than 600 helpful articles, is probably the most extensive on the market. On the Azuga site, you can also find a blog, webinars and even a return-on-investment calculator to see how GPS fleet management can save your business money.
If 24/7 support is essential to you, Azuga is one of four GPS fleet management providers we reviewed that offer it — the others are Samsara, Verizon Connect and FleetUp. See our FleetUp review to learn why we found it to be the best option for businesses concerned about customer service.
Limitations
Like many of the GPS fleet management vendors we reviewed, Azuga doesn’t offer a free or even paid-for trial. For first-time users of GPS tracking software, this and the 36-month minimum contract Azuga mandates require a leap of faith. You have to be sure that GPS tracking is right for your business and that Azuga is the right supplier because you’re committed for three years. You may wish to try another provider first, one that does have a free trial or shorter contract terms, to see if your company benefits from the technology before investing in Azuga’s services.
We also have to note that Azuga’s refresh rate is disappointing. Although the company may argue that a 1- or 10-second refresh adds no particular additional value over their 30-second to 2-minute refresh period, the market seems to disagree as many of Azuga’s competitors highlight their quick refresh rates heavily in their marketing.
Methodology
When examining GPS fleet management services and looking for the best option for businesses prioritizing ease of use, we considered whether the provider offers plug-and-play hardware and how simple the setup process is. Installing hard-wired GPS equipment means higher costs and vehicle downtime, but Azuga makes it easy to start using its equipment and software almost immediately.
We also viewed videos, read product guides and analyzed customer opinions online to determine how easy each system was to use and the level of help the vendor provides to users. We further examined the technology used, industries served by the companies and whether they had a mobile app. For usability, Azuga stood apart from its peers. [Learn how to choose a GPS fleet tracking solution.]
Azuga FAQs
What’s the difference between GPS and telematics?
Azuga’s GPS tracking system is a telematics system because it allows companies to know what their vehicles and drivers are doing when out on the road. Telematics relies on GPS information to provide data. Telematics systems like Azuga’s then use that data to encourage better driving, reduce fuel spending and lower maintenance costs.
What are Azuga’s driver scores and driver incentives?
Azuga’s equipment collects information on driver behaviors like hard braking, speeding, hard acceleration, engine idling, cornering, distracted driving and seat belt usage. Based on that data, Azuga determines a driver score, and businesses can identify and reward their best drivers and provide training to their worst-performing ones. There are incentives for drivers to follow the best practices for fleet safety compliance and to operate their vehicles at the highest level of safety and efficiency.
When does Azuga GPS tracking start working?
Once it’s been installed, Azuga’s GPS tracking works every time the engine is switched on and stops working when the vehicle is turned off. The data it collects about the vehicle and driver is sent to the Azuga platform, through which fleet managers can then run reports and monitor driver actions.
Bottom Line
We recommend Azuga for …
- Businesses that want a plug-and-play solution and easy-to-use interface.
- Companies that want (or may want in the future) the ability to track assets as well as vehicles.
- Business owners who need 24/7 customer support.
We don’t recommend Azuga for …
- Businesses that want faster data refresh rates than 30 seconds to 2 minutes.
- Business owners who don’t want to commit to a long-term contract.
- Organizations that need hard-wired vehicle trackers.
Azuga Fleet Management and Pricing
The Verdict
Azuga makes it easy to track your fleet regardless of whether you have a handful of vehicles or hundreds. With plug-and-play hardware that can be set up in seconds and easy-to-use software, including a mobile app, Azuga is our best pick for ease of use.