FleetUp Review and Pricing

Why We Chose FleetUp for Customer Service

FleetUp’s desktop and mobile app interfaces allow you to monitor drivers whether you’re in the office or on the go. Source: FleetUp

FleetUp is one of several GPS fleet management vendors we reviewed that offers 24/7 customer support. But this company really distinguishes itself from competitors by answering call queries 97 percent of the time. FleetUp also assigns you an engineer to help integrate its services. For ongoing assistance, we love that a company representative will check in with your business quarterly. 

This dedication, regardless of the size of your fleet and in addition to a relatively robust online self-help database, makes FleetUp the best GPS fleet management service for organizations prioritizing customer support in their search for a GPS fleet tracking solution. FleetUp’s website states, “Customer experience is our passion,” and it showed in our investigation.

Ease of Use

The FleetUp dashboard for fleet managers and administrators is intuitive and well organized. Source: FleetUp

The FleetUp platform is user-friendly, featuring a clean, crisp interface with the information and reports you want no more than a click or two away. The system is very customizable, so you can configure it to easily get the information that’s most useful to your business. On the whole, FleetUp’s dashboards are easy to navigate, and the hardware is plug-and-play. Setting up alerts is straightforward, as is monitoring your fleet in almost real time. 

FleetUp works in a standard internet browser; there is no separate PC or Mac desktop application. We appreciate that updates are carried out server-side, so your IT team won’t need to check for patches. There are two mobile apps – one for drivers and one for supervisors – that can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play.

Although FleetUp works with all types of businesses, we like how there is a focus on the 14 sectors the company targets the most, from construction and trucking to field services and passenger transport on the platform.

While our review of Azuga explains why we selected that vendor as our best pick for ease of use in this category, FleetUp is a worthy competitor.

FleetUp Features

FleetUp is a data-rich fleet tracking platform that helps businesses quickly and easily save money by reducing fuel, better controlling maintenance costs and improving driver safety. Here are some of the features that stood out to us.

Dashboard tools

See where your vehicles are in real time with complete information on the FleetUp dashboard. Source: FleetUp

In our review of Force by Mojio, we praised the platform’s uncluttered and intuitive interface. We have a similarly high view of FleetUp’s software, which has an easy-to-use desktop dashboard and strong reporting tools. The reports section displays the most important statistics from the past 30 days based on data generated from your vehicles and drivers.

Across the top of the dashboard are the following sections.

• Advanced map: Get a live view of vehicles, containers and equipment, plus detailed information on issues like compliance data, mileage, driving events, engine codes, odometer readings and engine hours by clicking on the map.
• Dashboard/reports: View timely statistics based on vehicle and driver behavior.
• Trips: Access the details of every trip made by every vehicle being monitored.
• Compliance: Review statistics on legal compliance (like hours of service), ELD data and compliance with company policies (for example, unsigned logs and unsafe driving).
• E-maintenance: Manage preventive and reactive maintenance, and get notifications of new diagnostic trouble codes (DTCs).
• Geofencing: Create alerts for when vehicles enter or exit predefined areas and access current and historical instances.
• Alerts: Set notifications to be sent to system supervisors based on driver behavior and vehicle information. 
• Sharing: If you allocate company vehicles or assets to partners and want them to be able to monitor the property but not see your other vehicles and assets, you can set up partner accounts under this option.
• Job: Supervisors can add new jobs and assign drivers and vehicles to each one.
• Chat: Initiate two-way live chat with drivers.
• Drivers: Access records of when drivers clock in and out, as well as driver safety data.
• Dashcam: Receive reports of unsafe or hazardous driving when they’re detected by the dashcam.
• Settings: Modify alert and device settings.

When you choose a section, you see further options in a second navigation bar underneath the main menu. The screen layout makes it easy to view vital information and perform tasks.

Customizable Alerts

You can set up customized alerts for specific geographic areas. Source: FleetUp

We love that FleetUp’s built-in and customizable alert system is incredibly detailed and contains more than 30 options. When an alert is triggered, you and your colleagues can receive a notification by email, the FleetUp app, text message or a sound on the desktop dashboard. You can set the hours and days during which you receive alerts, as well as who receives them.

That last point is particularly important. If you set up a geofence alert, for example, to let a warehouse know your vehicle is close by, you can instruct the platform to message only the nominated person at the warehouse rather than all users. Also, by knowing the vehicle is nearby, the staff there has time to prepare for loading or unloading.

Supervisors can also set up alerts to capture speeding, revolutions per minute (RPMs), idling, rapid acceleration, hard braking and sharp turning. They can also monitor DTCs, engine temperature and low battery voltage, and get alerts when a panic button is pressed and when a FleetUp device is plugged or unplugged.

We also liked that users can send an alert to clients with the vehicle’s estimated time of arrival (ETA), which is particularly useful for keeping open, clear channels of communication with customers. You can send these alerts via email or text message, both of which contain a link to a live map showing the vehicle’s location and the time the driver is expected to reach the customer.

Vehicle Maintenance and Management

The e-maintenance dashboard on FleetUp. Source: FleetUp

FleetUp lets you schedule preventive maintenance to help keep your vehicles on the road. You can set up servicing events like oil and oil filter changes, as well as checks on the transmission fluid, brakes, tires, cooling system, alignment, belts and hoses, brake fluid, and more. You can choose servicing intervals by miles driven, engine hours or time intervals. 

We like that FleetUp’s hardware detects DTCs in each vehicle, presenting the DTC in the vehicle’s record next to a plain-English description of what might be wrong. You can also inspect the maintenance history of each vehicle at any time. When a vehicle goes in for service, you can assign a maintenance category and add notes to the record, as well as run reports on vehicle maintenance costs as a whole or focus on specific groups of vehicles and specific types of maintenance to understand how much you’re spending and where.

Route Optimization and Driver Efficiency Tools

FleetUp’s fuel analysis report is designed to help you identify which drivers are costing you fuel with excessive idling. Source: FleetUp

FleetUp’s route optimization feature enables you to cut miles driven and the time taken to reach destinations and increase the number of trips a driver can make each day. For recurring journeys, you can use the desktop software to set a preferred route, and that information will be fed to the driver’s app. FleetUp also helps drivers avoid toll roads, travel along roads permitted for the type of vehicle they’re driving and steer clear of road restrictions or anticipated traffic.

You can improve the efficiency of your fleet by training drivers to avoid bad habits. On the “Fuel” tab within the “Dashboard/Report” section of the control dashboard, supervisors can see which drivers waste the most fuel because of poor driving behaviors, including idling, hard braking, rapid acceleration, high RPMs and speeding. Based on that information, companies can identify the drivers who need further training and those who should be rewarded for efficient driving. FleetUp’s driver training module is comprehensive and built into the platform, similar to what Azuga and Samsara offer.

FleetUp does this well, with a 99 percent success rate on ETA provision and a 10 percent drop in fuel use among clients.

Equipment

FleetUp’s AI-powered dashcams have dual cameras. Source: FleetUp

FleetUp offers two GPS tracking devices: one standard model and one enhanced model that measures temperature and humidity to prevent cargo damage and spoilage. The vendor’s dashcams feature cab-facing and road-facing cameras that start recording when the built-in artificial intelligence (AI) detects an unsafe event. The video is then transmitted to the control dashboard for later review. Helpfully, the AI rates each incident as low-risk, high-risk or critical. 

Supervisors can even connect directly to the dashcams to get a live view of the driver and their road conditions via 4G, which we found impressive. We were also pleased to learn FleetUp has significantly improved its AI in recent months to better categorize events and risk levels to help managers make better sense of the videos they do receive. If you want a multi-camera feed from your vehicles, consider GPS TrackIt, which offers 4 live in-cab feeds.

Installation is straightforward, too, with an average fitting time of 10 minutes per unit.

Mobile Apps

FleetUp’s mobile apps are available for both office staff and vehicle operators. Source: FleetUp

There are two FleetUp mobile apps: one for drivers and one for supervisors. The supervisor app provides many of the same functions as the desktop control panel. For example, it gives supervisors access to real-time data and dashcam videos, as well as the ability to set up alerts for specific events and incidents, track fuel consumption and costs, manage maintenance schedules and expenses, generate reports on various aspects of their fleet’s operations, engage in two-way communication with drivers, and view the fleet on a map. You can also enjoy the opportunity to share trip data and ETAs with clients.

Meanwhile, divers can use their app to log hours of service for legal compliance and perform driver vehicle inspection reports (DVIRs). They can clock in and out, specify if they’re operating a vehicle for personal use and note if they’ve retired to the sleeper berth. The app allows drivers to chat with dispatch, receive jobs, select vehicles, complete and share DVIRs with mechanics and managers, and safely upload, organize and archive documents in the FleetUp cloud. We appreciate that the app also has a built-in AI-powered driving coach that provides on-the-road training to drivers. This is a valuable way of helping vehicle operators eliminate risky or wasteful behaviors. 

FleetUp Pricing Plans and Subscription Costs

There are four package options with Fleet Up:

• FleetUp Standard: This plan includes fleet management software and GPS vehicle tracking, with tools such as detailed trip reporting and advanced geofencing.
• FleetUp Compliance: In addition to the Standard features, you get electronic monitoring to ensure your drivers are operating within federal guidelines.
• FleetUp Advanced: Here, the Standard plan is enhanced with remote maintenance monitoring, fuel analysis and engine diagnostics.
• FleetUp Professional: This package combines all of the above plans for the most complete software suite.

There is no pricing on the vendor’s website; however, the company has indicated to us that these plans are priced between $20 and $40 per vehicle per month.

Additionally, there are two equipment packages (FleetUp Equipment Standard and FleetUp Equipment Advanced), as well as three add-ons for asset management (FleetUp Asset Container, FleetUp Asset Reefer and FleetUp Portable). These will almost certainly increase your price. If you want your GPS tracking platform to concentrate as much on assets as on vehicles, Samsara and Verizon Connect are better bets.

If you prefer, FleetUp will set you up with a fleet and telematics professional who will tailor the system to your business’s exact needs. There are costs to this which are as follows: 

Initial implementation costs are:

Costs thereafter for your professional are:

Although FleetUp is happy to do a demo of its system before you sign up, the company doesn’t offer a free trial, nor does it advertise information about minimum contract lengths. This makes it harder to gauge the value of the services and whether your organization will get enough return on investment. [See the additional costs to keep in mind with commercial car insurance.]

Implementation and Onboarding

Once you’ve signed up with FleetUp, you can log in to the desktop dashboard and enter the password given to you in your introductory email. You can then create accounts for each driver in your company. Also upon sign-up, we love that you’re appointed a personal FleetUp representative who can help you start implementation and onboarding. This rep will also contact you once per quarter to check in on your experience and provide any additional help you require, which is one of the ways FleetUp sets itself apart when it comes to customer service.

In terms of equipment, FleetUp will send you plug-and-play hardware that connects to the OBD-II port in your vehicles. They will take three to seven days to arrive and FleetUp’s team can install them for you if you want. If you want to install them yourself, it’s straightforward and you can go to FleetUp’s YouTube channel for step-by-step instructions.

For companies that want to integrate their FleetUp data, reporting and features with other business software, the company has an application programming interface (API). There is extensive API supporting documentation, similar to the REST API offerings from rivals Azuga and Force. If you need help integrating the API with your other software, we like that you can book time with a FleetUp engineer to assist you in achieving the outcome you want. No other provider we reviewed offers this service, which also goes to show the company’s outstanding level of customer service.

FleetUp offers native API integration with over 40 popular platforms like Salesforce, QuickBooks and HubSpot.

Customer Service

FleetUp goes above and beyond the 24/7 support offered by some of its peers. While it’s great that the company provides phone, email and online chat around the clock, we were really impressed by the company’s response rates: Representatives answer 97 percent of calls and typically respond to emails within 30 minutes. That timely, personalized support is also evident in the representatives FleetUp makes available to you.

As noted, every business is paired with a company representative who will steer your organization through installation and onboarding and then continue to check in with your team quarterly to ensure you’re getting the most out of FleetUp’s services. Additionally, you have access to engineers to help with any technology integrations. Plus, you can (for an added fee) be connected with a telematics professional who will seek to learn all about your business so they can recommend how to optimize your fleet’s performance. This support person can not only help set up the telematics aspect of your system, but also monitor staff and maintenance schedules. This kind of assistance is why FleetUp shines brighter than competitors when it comes to customer support.

If you’re interested in online resources, FleetUp’s website features blog posts, user guides, reference cards, videos, whitepapers, FAQs and data sheets.

Limitations

FleetUp’s range of apps and integrations are growing, but they’re still behind Motive with over 100 and Samsara and Verizon Connect with over 50..

One drawback of FleetUp is that it doesn’t offer a trial. While it’s nice that the vendor can provide a free demo, it would be better if potential customers had the opportunity to try the system themselves on one or two vehicles before committing their company to a contract, especially when the vendor isn’t upfront about pricing.

FleetUp is not accredited by the Better Business Bureau, which may be a red flag for some organizations. However, this isn’t the only GPS fleet management provider we reviewed that hasn’t received BBB accreditation, and this vendor does at least score highly on many customer review sites.

Recent product developments

As an established GPS fleet tracking leader, FleetUp constantly updates their platform to add new features.

They have recently introduced:

• Risk warnings for webcam incidents. FleetUp sorts dashcam footage into four levels of risk and event type.
• Partnership with ProMiles. FleetUp and ProMiles began offering a joint service to automate all aspects of IFTA compliance and fuel tax reporting.
• Partnership with Alert. FleetUp and Alert teams up to provide a service to help rental companies communicate better with customers.

Methodology

To determine the best GPS fleet tracking services, we closely examined a variety of providers based on the type of equipment offered, software capabilities, scalability, ease of use, pricing and refresh rates. We also took into account customer service and online user reviews. When searching specifically for the best vendor for businesses concerned about customer support, we paid particular attention to opportunities for one-on-one guidance, online resources, and contact methods and availability. FleetUp was the clear choice because it combines the typical customer service access you would expect with multiple chances for hands-on help.

Bottom Line

We recommend FleetUp for …

• Businesses looking for ways to reduce fleet costs associated with labor, maintenance and fuel.
• Organizations that need dedicated customer support.
• Companies that want to share ETAs with clients, suppliers and partners.

We don’t recommend FleetUp for …

• Companies that require suppliers to be BBB-rated.
• Businesses that want to test the software before signing a contract.