A Trucking Owner’s Guide to the Best ELDs on the Market

With ELDs now being widely used throughout the trucking industry, it can be difficult to find a provider that meets your needs.

Each provider offers its own unique features and benefits, making it important to do as much research as possible in order to find which one works best for you and your company. We thought we’d help you on your way by doing a roundup of the best ELDs on the market--with an emphasis on those made for the largest group in the trucking industry--small fleets.

As the premier provider of ELDs for small fleet trucking companies, we'd like to lend some insight.

ELD Provider Choices

GPSTab

GPSTab is a comprehensive suite of fleet management tools, including an ELD, asset tracking, and Dispatch Board. It has everything you need to run your trucking business, all in one place. It’s also run and managed by folks with hands-on experience in the trucking industry, making them knowledgeable about what small and medium-sized fleets need.

This highly-rated, no-contract software is well-known for its simplicity, allowing drivers and dispatchers to get their job done with ease. The admin portal provides a user-friendly experience, making every feature readily available on the home screen. In addition, its hardware is plug-and-play, requiring no professional installation. 

GPSTab’s customer service department is available 24/7--with live support-- for its customers, and speaks 5 languages including Russian, Ukrainian, Uzbeki, Polish and Spanish. Their large library of How-To’s and manuals is available for users on its website.

A key advantage that GPSTab offers its customers is the fact that it does not require a contract to utilize its hardware and software. You can pay on a month-to-month basis, with no fee for canceling, due to their belief that they will retain you as a customer with their exceptional product and knowledgeable customer service.

GPSTab also offers a wide variety of safety equipment for your fleet, such as cameras, tail light trackers, asset trackers, and truck diagnostics. Collecting or watching footage, tracking assets, and checking your truck’s key parameters can all be done with ease in the GPSTab admin portal. 

Pricing: $29/vehicle/mo

App Rating: 4.6

Samsara

Samsara is one of the largest companies on this list, providing comprehensive software with a boatload of data smaller fleets probably won’t use, but larger fleets may want.

Specializing in IoT (the internet of things), their software is solid and offers a good user experience with less of an emphasis on simplicity and more on comprehensive information. Their major focus is data, so it’s not for the faint-hearted, but for those willing to incur the cost of professionally installing the hardware, and weather the learning curve of learning the system, the back-end data can ultimately be helpful for your fleet, especially for enterprise-level operations.

Samsara’s customer service is also available 24/7, however, it’s reported that phone support is more sparse and the stress is on getting customers to submit online tickets through their website, which can lead to suboptimal response times. They do have an extensive list of manuals available online. 

Samsara also requires its users to sign contracts. Users are required to sign up for a mandatory 3-year contract, where cancellation fees are required to leave.

Samsara has a full range of safety solutions, offering their users cameras, tracking equipment, and telematics.  

Pricing: $45/vehicle/mo

App Rating: 4.3

KeepTruckin

KeepTruckin joins Samsara as a frequent choice of large fleets.

KeepTruckin’s ELD hardware is considered to be simple to use, with a good interface, and can be installed without professional help, making it user-friendly overall.

Its customer service is available 24/7, and there is a phone number available for people to call online. While KeepTruckin’s service is solid, reviews point to some issues with wait times and unanswered calls. There is an ample amount of articles and manuals available online for users.

KeepTruckin offers one-year contracts to their users but requires a buyout, so customers wind up paying the remaining fees if they cancel early. They offer some monthly contracts. 

Like the others on our list, KeepTruckin offers useful safety equipment such as cameras, tracking, and vehicle diagnostics. 

Pricing: $35/vehicle/mo

App Rating: 4.3

Verizon Connect

Verizon Connect is run by none other than Verizon, the massive telecommunications company, so they have gotten traction in the market with larger fleets.

Verizon Connect has hardware that is easy to install and begin using. Additionally, its software is also pretty straightforward and doesn’t require much training, though, for reasons from customer service to application glitches the app is rated low.

While its customer service is available 24/7, Verizon Connect’s downfall, as far as customers are concerned, is its subpar customer service. Reviews show a stream of complaints about bad service and no resolution to problems, with many companies being left in the dark for months on end. 

Similar to their phone services, Verizon Connect requires its users to sign a contract for their services. Their contracts can be for long periods, making it difficult to switch providers. Additionally, they have penalties for canceling the contract early.

Verizon Connect has a wide array of safety solutions, including cameras, trackers, and performance reporting.

Pricing: $40/vehicle/mo

App Rating: 3.3

Geotab

Geotab is well-known for providing telematics and fleet data to its users, though many of their best features to do so are only available in their Pro and ProPlus subscriptions. 

Its application’s interface has been rated by customers as not as user-friendly as some of the others on this list, making the learning curve pretty large. No doubt that is the reason for its lower rating as an app. If you’re able to allow for a long ramp-up, its reporting features can be easy to use and provide useful information for your fleet.

Geotab’s customer support seems to struggle to meet expectations, specifically by not meeting customer demands in a timely manner. However, they are available 24/7 for users. They have a unique feature in the form of a community page on their website that allows users to post and ask questions. 

Geotab does not always require a contract but they have a 36-month contract available. As mentioned before they have a couple of options as well, which include Base, Regulatory, Pro, and ProPlus. Each has a different level of pricing and differs in what it provides users. For example, much of their fleet optimization and truck diagnostic features are not available on their Base and Regulatory options, which are more affordable.

Geotab, like the others on this list, also offers cameras, tracking, and telematics.

Pricing: Depends on what option you choose

App Rating: 3.3

Transflo

Transflo is a rebranded reseller of Geotab, so some of the products have a similar feel.

Its application is not considered to be very user-friendly, and it can be difficult to use. Additionally, there have been some reviews stating that it does not work properly. The app, in fact, has the lowest rating of all reviewed apps in this ELD category.

Transflo doesn’t offer 24/7 support for customer service, but they’re currently available for users between Monday and Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. EST. Problems with accessibility and punctual help have been reported.

Currently, Transflo offers users a 3-year contract, so in the case of a cancellation, a fee should be expected. 

Transflo also has dash cameras, tracking, and truck diagnostics available. 

Pricing: $31/vehicle/mo

App Rating: 2.2

In summary, 

• GPSTab’s app has the highest-rated performance of these providers reviewed, with 24/7 service, no installation required, and no contract requirements. It is designed especially for small to midsize-fleets and offers a lower price point.
• Samsara has catered to enterprise companies with some ease of use sacrificed for extensive data, requiring a larger learning curve. They require contracts and are priced higher.
• KeepTruckin is a solid alternative for large fleets with an easier interface and contract requirements. They fall in a mid-range price.
• Verizon Connect has a large fleet emphasis, but a disappointedly low app score and a record of problematic customer service. They are priced toward the higher end.
• Geotab’s software is noted to not be as user-friendly, tiered pricing minimizes offering at lower levels, a community forum promotes discussions, and the app is rated lower.
• Transflo has the lowest rating of these apps reviewed, citing functions that don’t operate well, issues with customer service, and a more difficult user interface. They offer a low base price.