Motive GPS Fleet Management Review

Motive Editor’s Score: 9.3/10

Why We Chose Motive as Best for Driver Accountability

We love that Motive has built-in driver accountability and safety features throughout its platform. For example, its CSA Insights feature for compliance, safety and accountability is designed to meet Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) specifications. Motive harnesses FMCSA data to help its AI-powered cameras and sensors identify risky driver behaviors. FMCSA data also helps the system improve a fleet’s electronic logging device (ELD) compliance, which is crucial if your business is audited.

Motive’s dashcam footage is reviewed by Motive company representatives, who provide additional context to help fleet managers fully understand safety and accountability issues. Combined with ongoing driver performance scoring, businesses that use Motive’s fleet management services can ensure drivers operate vehicles as expected and guide them to training when necessary.

Driver and vehicle safety is a significant focus for GPS fleet tracking services today. For example, our Force review details this vendor’s superb driver accountability features. However, Motive’s execution is superior, making it our choice for businesses seeking a system that prioritizes driver accountability.

See your entire fleet or selected vehicle groups with Motive’s Fleet View feature. Source: Motive

Ease of Use

Motive’s monochromatic interface is attractive and functional. Nearly all screen space is devoted to displaying fleet, driver and vehicle information. A narrow navigation menu down the left of the screen contains icons that lead to different parts of the program. When you select an option, the top sixth of the information pane tells you which section you’re in and presents related choices. For example, you can use the additional buttons in Fleet View to see your whole fleet or subfleets you’ve designated previously.

Here’s an overview of the system’s main sections:

• Fleet View: Fleet View offers a live look at your vehicles with up-to-the-minute traffic information from Google. We like how this view integrates weather information. For example, you can advise construction fleets not to travel to a particular site when rain is expected.
• Safety: All dashcam video recordings and safety-related events are in this section. Searching for particular incidents, vehicle and driver reports and incident logs is easy.
• Compliance: This section is reserved for managing and monitoring electronic logging.
• Fuel: In this section, you can access live and historic fuel data from each vehicle to get an overview of fleet and individual vehicle fuel efficiency. 
• Cards: Motive has partnered with Mastercard to infuse its solution with a unique credit card and spend management tool. This function helps manage driver and vehicle spending and makes credit card fraud easier to spot (for example, if the credit card was used at a location where the vehicle was not). We like that you can download financial records in CSV or Excel and upload them to the best accounting software platforms like QuickBooks and Xero.
• Maintenance: This section is split into two categories: daily vehicle inspections (helpful for when Department of Transportation mandates apply) and preventative maintenance.

You can also access dispatch, messaging, document retrieval, reports, a marketplace and an Earn Cash option from the left-hand menu.

The Motive dashboard for fleet managers and administrators is accessible on desktop, tablet and mobile devices. Source: Motive

Features

Here’s a look at the features we found most notable.

DRiVE Driver Scoring

Nearly all GPS fleet tracking platforms incorporate driver scores. Like other platforms, Motive awards drivers a score out of 100 based on their driving behavior. However, Motive’s DRiVE is a superior scoring tool. It’s a unique predictive risk model that allows a fair and far-reaching comparison of driver behavior. Drivers are measured against their colleagues as well as the hundreds of thousands of other drivers connected to the vendor’s database.

The system marks driver behavior and performance as very poor, poor, fair, good or excellent. It excels at identifying high-risk behaviors specific to drivers’ typical routes. 

DRiVE draws on the following five factors when calculating a driver’s score:

• Driver behavior: Driver behavior includes fatigue, compliance violations, hard braking, hard acceleration and speeding.
• Road conditions: The system accounts for obstacles, terrain and the road grade.
• Video evidence: The system looks at AI interpretations of footage from forward and dual-facing cameras. The road-facing camera looks for instances of close following (tailgating), unsafe lane changes and near misses.
• Vehicle aspects: Vehicle aspects include performance telematics figures, maintenance records and vehicle age, model and make.
• Environmental factors: Environmental factors include visibility, time of day, traffic conditions, weather and road surface conditions.

We appreciate how DRiVE recognizes that drivers making journeys on congested roads have a harder time than drivers on quieter, more remote freeways. It ensures no one is unfairly penalized due to the driving behaviors their routes may require. We like that Motive helps hold drivers accountable for poor vehicle operation while acknowledging unique driving circumstances and factoring context into safety scores.

DRiVE assesses a safety score over a four-week rolling period. It updates every Monday and considers the previous 28 days’ input. We love that it shines a greater spotlight on driver behavior and increases the chance of drivers receiving training to improve safety. Motive even asserts that its system is five times better at predicting accidents than other safety scoring methods.

The DRiVE risk score interface on the Motive platform shows how your fleet performs. Source: Motive

AI Cameras With Human Backup

We were impressed by Motive’s top-notch AI cameras and its team of 400 safety experts who ensure every bit of footage uploaded to the platform is examined. They can provide context for fleet managers and help them better understand what they’re seeing:

• High-definition (HD) dashcam: Motive’s HD dashcam (up to 1440p) is built with AI that detects high-risk activity on the road and in the cab. Its powerful batteries can record even if the vehicle loses power or the engine is switched off. It stores up to 100 hours of footage in its internal memory and it’s easy for fleet managers to retrieve video.
• Human video review: When Motive’s AI-powered dashcam detects a particular driver behavior or event, it sends footage to your business’s dashboard and Motive’s in-house safety team. Motive’s reps will flag incidents that need immediate attention. We love this service because fleet managers can become overwhelmed when looking at a dashboard filled with dozens of videos. Motive’s safety experts can point them toward the most significant incidents that need attention. They use 60 metrics to help them weed out false positives and pinpoint additional infractions when reviewing a video. On average, it takes less than 10 minutes for a Motive employee to assess a video.
• AI Omnicam: We were also very impressed by the AI Omnicam, a feature we haven’t seen on any other system. This tool gives managers a more complete view, providing video coverage of a vehicle’s side, rear, passenger side and any particular cargo you’re monitoring. It gives a much rounder view of driver behaviors and provides better protection in case of cargo theft, cargo loading disputes and false crash claims involving a vehicle’s rear or side.

In a Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and Strategy Analytics study, Motive’s AI dashcam outperformed competitors’ AI dashcams by a wide margin. This is impressive enough but backing up machine insight with individual human scrutiny of each incident makes Motive a leader in this field.

Motive employees tag each item of dashcam footage with infraction details and additional context. Source: Motive

Driver Training

As part of your driver training program and Motive package, drivers can receive videos of particular infractions on their phones. An automatic message is sent for videos deemed serious enough to warrant a “coachable event” via the dashboard. You can switch off the messages if you prefer face-to-face coaching. In that case, you can sit down with your driver and highlight the particular videos on Motive’s platform. Either way, this solution provides the educational material you need to improve driver behavior.

Drivers can add notes to videos to give their version of events, concede what they did wrong and share what they’d do differently if they found themselves in a similar situation. Assuming you’re happy with their feedback, you can mark the incident as “coached.” We love this way of holding drivers accountable.

As with many other GPS fleet solutions, you can also use Motive to incentivize drivers to improve their vehicle operations by awarding them points based on whether they avoid dangerous driving behaviors like hard braking, accelerating quickly and speeding. Drivers can see each other’s scores and compete for gift cards and other prizes to raise driving standards across the fleet.

Drivers can see videos of their infractions and receive related training via the Motive app. Source: Motive

Fleet Manager Reporting and Oversight

Motive excels in the following essential fleet management elements that can help you reduce fleet idle time: 

• Custom reports: Fleet managers can run custom reports on Motive to analyze fuel use, vehicle maintenance, driver behavior, compliance issues and more.
• Fuel efficiency: Fuel efficiency is a critical aspect of fleet management. Motive’s Fuel Hub helps managers track fuel consumption by vehicle, driver and the entire fleet. It pinpoints behaviors like idling and hard cornering, which can affect miles-per-gallon metrics negatively and identifies the drivers (and vehicles) in greatest need of improvement. We like that fuel performance is benchmarked against the 700,000-plus vehicles that Motive monitors. 
• Fuel card: The Motive Fuel card is a helpful tool for fleet managers. It provides fuel and maintenance discounts and centralizes all fuel spend data, allowing granular monitoring by cardholder, amount, purchase date, vehicle type and more. Its integration with the platform’s AI elements delivers additional insights to help managers save money on fuel. We like how you can require drivers to unlock the card for each fuel transaction to reduce fuel fraud.

Other notable fleet manager features include the following:

• Driver management: Track compliance with hours-of-service (HoS) rules, ELD requirements and safety alerts.
• Dispatch management: Gain real-time visibility of trip progress and driver location. You can also message drivers in real time from the dashboard. We like that Motive is automating many management features, such as outcome confirmations―like successful deliveries―and job assignments.
• Asset tracking: You can monitor the movement of assets in real time, track asset usage patterns and identify dormant assets.
• Group messages: You can send group messages to your fleet and subfleets via the dashboard.

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

Intelligent Routing

Fleet managers see the real-time location of each driver, vehicle, trailer and piece of equipment on their Motive dashboard. The system considers driver status, vehicle health and HoS considerations automatically when determining optimal routes.

The platform’s intelligent routing is advanced. It can account for distance between stops, traffic congestion, customer time windows and more when choosing how to structure a driver’s day. It also considers traffic and the hours remaining in a driver’s shift when assigning drivers and routes. 

We like that the system can overlay weather and traffic information across routes to help fleet managers make informed decisions and ensure as many successful deliveries as possible.

Fleet Maintenance Tools

The more vehicles you have off the road due to maintenance problems, the more pressure your drivers are under to meet demand and client expectations. Fortunately, with Motive, Fleet managers receive immediate alerts when a diagnostic code issue is flagged with a vehicle. Minor issues today may become more significant issues in the future, so the vendor has built preventive fleet maintenance tools into its platform:

• Inspection records: When managing fleet health, updating and retrieving complete inspection records for vehicles and assets via the dashboard is easy.
• Maintenance alerts: You can see onscreen alerts when maintenance is due soon or overdue. Motive’s automated reminders and real-time status reports can also tell you when action must be taken based on time, distance or usage hours. 
• Inspection mode: The Motive driver app’s Inspection mode allows drivers to check off various maintenance tasks and report potential emerging issues that might affect vehicle performance. We love how the system makes it easier for drivers to meet HoS requirements and complete compliance-related documentation to help extend the life of the vehicles and assets they’re responsible for.

Motive’s fleet maintenance tools can pinpoint fleet health issues. Source: Motive

Third-party Integrations

While the Motive platform is packed with built-in functionality, we appreciate that the provider has opened its software for third parties to develop useful integrations. Motive offers around 150 integration options, making it one of the largest app marketplaces of all the GPS fleet management services we reviewed.

There are eight safety-related integrations, including Nirvana Safety, which helps managers gain more insights into driving behaviors and pinpoint drivers who present the greatest risks. Apps to help you improve compliance, fuel consumption and fleet maintenance are also available. 

You can also choose from 19 insurance-related apps, which can help lower your commercial auto insurance premiums when you allow the insurers to see driver data. 

Mobile Apps

Like many of its peers, Motive offers two mobile apps: one for drivers and one for managers. 

The manager app helps fleet managers execute many of the desktop dashboard’s functions, including the following: 

• Monitoring vehicles, assets and driver locations with real-time GPS tracking
• Customizing the map view
• Accessing detailed driver, asset and vehicle information
• Managing maintenance schedules 
• Monitoring vehicle health telematics data
• Ensuring drivers are ELD-compliant 
• Viewing real-time dashcam images 
• Directly communicating with drivers through calls, emails or texts
• Contacting Motive’s 24/7 customer support team

The driver app is also superbly executed and can help drivers with the following: 

• Performing vehicle inspections and roadside vehicle checks
• Handling hours-of-service documentation. 
• Reducing driver paperwork
• Confirming delivery times 
• Communicating with fleet managers

Both apps are available for iOS and Android devices.

Pricing

Motive’s pricing is listed on its website, but you have to look hard to find it. With some digging, we discovered that the company’s electronic logging device costs $150 and GPS tracking prices start at $25 a month.

ELD plans are as follows: 

• Starter: The Starter package meets basic ELD needs.
• Pro: The Pro level allows International Fuel Tax Agreement reporting and has Wi-Fi availability. 
• Enterprise: The Enterprise plan offers advanced features for the largest fleets.

We were disappointed that Motive doesn’t offer a free trial. However, it will provide free demos. Its minimum contract length is 12 months, so it’s worth trying the demo first to see if this is the right platform for you.

Implementation/Onboarding

Motive’s implementation is straightforward. Plug-and-play device connectivity via OBD-II slots means setting up each vehicle with the required equipment shouldn’t take more than a few minutes. If drivers need help downloading and using Motive’s driver app or performing various functions, they can access easy-to-read guides on Motive’s website. 

We like how scalability is built into the system. You can add new drivers quickly by creating a profile for them in the software. To add a new vehicle, go to the dashboard and assign it its own Vehicle Gateway (the brand name of Motive’s in-vehicle tracking hardware device). Install the hardware in the vehicle and it pairs with the dashboard automatically when activated in an area with cellular coverage.

Customer Support

Motive provides 24/7 customer service assistance. You can phone the vendor, email the company, send a message via the website or use Motive’s online chatbot. We also like that there are direct links within the dashboard (both on the desktop and in the mobile apps) to all customer contact channels.

As noted, Motive provides an extensive online knowledge base with specific help guides for drivers, fleet managers, administrators and installers. In addition to instructions on fitting and using the hardware, there are guides on compliance, dispatch, fleet safety, telematics, maintenance features, application programming interface connectivity and more.

Limitations

• No free trial: We were disappointed that Motive doesn’t give businesses a chance to test its system on a handful of vehicles to ensure it’s the right solution. Consider reading our review of ClearPathGPS and our GPS Trackit review to learn about services with 30-day rolling contracts that make evaluating a fleet tracking system easy and convenient.

• No BBB accreditation: While Motive is an outstanding resource for driver accountability and is impressive in several other areas, it’s not accredited by the BBB. This may not be a dealbreaker for all businesses, though and as you’ll see in our review of Azuga, it’s not the only GPS fleet provider to be unaccredited.

Methodology

During our investigation of the best GPS fleet management services, we evaluated various providers on their equipment, platform features, scalability, usability, refresh rates and integrations. We also factored in pricing and customer service quality. After our reviews, it was clear Motive was the best choice for businesses prioritizing driver accountability tools. Its DRiVE scoring, human-reviewed dashcam videos and driver training options truly stand out.

Bottom Line

We recommend Motive for …

• Businesses focused on driver accountability for safety and financial reasons.
• Companies that want access to always-available customer support.
• Organizations that need a fleet management system that works out of the box.

We don’t recommend Motive for …

• Companies that need easy-to-find pricing.
• Businesses that want to test the software before signing a contract.