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| Verizon Connect | Samsara | Teletrac Navman TN360 | RAM Tracking | Quartix |
 |  |  |  |  |
| 4.7 | 4.6 | 4.6 | 4.5 | 4.1 |
| Best For Overall vehicle tracking app | Best For Best all-in-one solution | Best For Managing drivers | Best For Affordability | Best For Managing fuel costs |
| Key Features
| Key Features
| Key Features
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| Verdict Verizon has excellent driver and vehicle management features, but they come at a higher price than other fleet tracking solutions | Verdict A relative newcomer, Samsara is a great all-rounder that focuses on safety, but is slightly pricier than other solutions | Verdict Comprehensive data collection features to aid decision making, but no automatic route optimisation | Verdict Excellent budget option for vehicle tracking, but lacking some key vehicle management features | Verdict Great for keeping fuel costs low and tracking vehicles, but lacking a few key driver management features |
| Get free quotes | Get free quotes | Get free quotes | Get free quotes | Get free quotes |
The best route planning software is attached to Verizon Connect. Verizon scores a 4.7/5 for its overall offering, and a perfect 5/5 for tracking, making it our top-rated vehicle tracking supplier. The only shortcoming is its cost, scoring a 2.5/5 for affordability.
If your fleet drivers are still using Google Maps – or even paper maps – to get around, we’re here to tell you that there’s a better way. It’s called route planning software, and it’s a dynamic tool that can plot the most efficient, safe, and traffic-free routes for your drivers’ jobs. This smart software will slash your fuel costs, cut down on admin, and save your drivers valuable time and patience.
So, let’s take a closer look at what route planning is, how it will benefit your business, and – most importantly – who’s doing it best. But if you’re in a rush, you can get your own personal answer to that question. By filling out your business’ info in our free quote comparison tool, you’ll be matched with providers that suit your needs.
Verizon Connect
Best route planning software for defining territories
Accurate tracking capabilities
Extensive driver management functionality
Comprehensive vehicle management tools
Minimum 36 months contract length
Pricier than other fleet management systems
Lacks 24/7 phone support
| Price Guide | Typically £20-£40 per user, per month with contracts of 3 years – 5 years |
Verizon Connect commands huge respect as vehicle tracking system that, basically, does it all. Scoring the highest overall score of all the providers we looked at (4.7/5), Verizon Connect is known for its ease of use, which makes staying on top of your fleet an easy feat. Its live tracking dashboard is easy to understand at a glance – colour-coding vehicles according to whether they’re moving, stopping, or idle.
You can also create bespoke dashboards filled with reports replete with insights that can help guide crucial business decisions. We also think Verizon is great because of its range of driver and vehicle management features, scoring a perfect 5/5 for both of these categories in our research. With access to customised locations, geofencing, driving style data, and idling alerts, you have all the necessary tools to adapt your operation in real-time. This will ensure you’re being efficient and help you meet your lead time on contracts.
Verizon’s mobile app includes a leader board for drivers based on performance metrics. This helps to create a friendly, competitive, and safe environment. The app also includes navigation, the ability to see job updates in near real time, and detailed vehicle and driver statuses and histories.
To install a panic button, you’ll need to speak to your Verizon account manager. Panic messages are dealt with differently so these are responded to much quicker.
Verizon Connect runs into significant speed bumps when it comes to flexibility and price. The typical offering asks subscribers to commit to a three-year contract, and investing in Verizon can represent a big commitment for fleets that are still on the fence about switching their vehicle tracking system. Verizon is also pricier than the other providers we look at on this list, which is why it scores an average 2.5/5 for price in our research – the lowest score of all the providers we look at. If you’re looking for an option with short-term contracts, we’d recommend swerving towards Teletrac Navman TN360. For something on the cheaper end, we think RAM is a great alternative.
Samsara
Best all-in-one route planning software solution
Comprehensive vehicle management features
Excellent driver management tools
30-second to one-minute data updates
Premium pricing
No fuel card integrations
| Price Guide | From £20 per user, per month with contracts between 1 year – 5 years |
When compared with other vehicle tracking companies, Samsara is still in its infancy. However, it’s already made all the right strides to become a major player in the industry. Scoring an impressive overall 4.6/5 in our research, our favourite aspects of Samsara are its quick, live mapping refresh times, and its range of vehicle management features that place your fleet’s wellbeing at the heart of your operation. What we believe sets Samsara apart from the bunch is its driver messaging system, which prevents drivers from reading messages while driving. Once you are alerted to your employee’s erratic driving, you can communicate directly in real time, ensuring that your fleet is safe in real time as well. A panic button comes as standard, it comes integrated into the device and can be triggered by the driver from inside the vehicle. Thanks to its strong set of vehicle management features, Samsara takes home a stellar 5/5 for driver management features.
Samsara provides safety scores for drivers based on a mix of harsh events, speeding events, and AI-detected unsafe driving behaviour. These safety scores help establish a culture of safe driving behaviours.
The downside to Samsara is that it’s not for everyone because it only scores an above average 3.1/5 for price in our research, Samsara is on the pricier end of the spectrum, ranging from £10.83 to £23.75 for a monthly licence. Samsara also requires you to take out a contract of at least three years, representing a long-term commitment that might not be the best course of action for all fleets. If this sounds like a dealbreaker for your business, we’d recommend looking at Teletrac Navman TN360, which scores a slightly higher 3.4/5 for price.
Teletrac Navman “TN360”
Best route planning software for driver management
Top-tier driver monitoring tools, including driver fatigue management
Provides real-time data updates for vehicle tracking and natural language insight creation from data
Offers one-year minimum contracts
Lacks advanced hardware features like cargo temperature and engine temperature monitoring
Moderately expensive product (with unclear pricing structure)
Broader feature set with predictive analytics at similar starting price competitor Verizon Connect
| Price guide (only in USD) | From $25 (~£20 converted) per user, per month |
Being able to collect lots of data to identify gaps in performance – or optimise your routes – is crucial when it comes to fleet management. Scoring an overall 4.6/5 in our in-depth research, Teletrac Navman speeds ahead with its innovative reporting features that will give you the confidence to make crucial business decisions. We also like Teletrac because it scores a 5/5 for driver management in our research. With features available like driver performance, crash reporting, and idling data, you’ll be in a great position to improve your efficiency and understand points of improvement within your fleet with Teletrac.
With its smart and futuristic reporting feature, you can simply write in search phrases like “show me fuel consumption by x vehicle for the past 7 days”, and – magic! Teletrac will generate a report and a chart graphic on command. It also has a solid range of vehicle and driver management features, including driver messaging, history, and behaviour management.
To ensure safe driving behaviours, Teletrac has driver scorecards which take into account unsafe behaviours, such as harsh braking, cornering, and acceleration. It’s mobile app includes key features such as messaging, the ability to replay a day, and navigation.
Scoring an above average 3.4/5 for price, it also isn’t the most affordable solution on the market. So, if this is a deal-breaker for your fleet, we’d recommend looking at RAM or Radius Fleet Services instead.
RAM
Best route planning software for affordability
Attractive range of features considering its reportedly low price
RAM Assist for job scheduling, customer management and driver messaging
Offers one-year subscriptions unlike Verizon Connect or Samsara
Lacks automatic route optimisation
Limited advanced features like lack of predictive maintenance
Opaque, quote-based pricing means we can't be sure of total cost
| Plan | Pricing (per vehicle, per month) |
|---|---|
| Lite | Custom (previously between £8.99 for 5-year contract and £14 for a 1-year contract) |
| Core | Custom |
| Plus | Custom |
Scoring a 4.6/5 for price in our in-depth research, RAM Tracking takes the pole position, alongside Quartix, as one of the best providers for fleets that aren’t looking to drop lots of money on their new vehicle tracking app system. With a low starting price of £14, RAM Assist has short contract lengths so, if your fleet doesn’t want to commit lots of money just yet, you’ll have that very welcome breathing space to make up your mind.
Aside from its alluring price point, we also like RAM Tracking because of its tracking features. Scoring a 4.6/5 in this category in our research, RAM Tracking gives you access to user-friendly fleet summary reports, 60-second update of data (or every 1,000 metres or every 90 degree turn), traffic alerts, and it allows you to customise your locations. All of this helps streamline your vehicle tracking and remove any noise that might put metaphorical speed bumps along your way.
RAM provide Driver Behaviour scorecards so you can easily compare driving behaviour and deal with any unsafe behaviours.
Where RAM Tracking has more ground to cover is when it comes to its vehicle management features. Compared with other providers, like Verizon or Teletrac Navman TN360, which all score above 4/5 in our research in this category, RAM Assist scores a disappointing 1.9/5. This is because you miss out on fuel management, vehicle diagnostics, fleet maintenance, cargo temperatures, and engine temperature.
Quartix
Best for managing fuel costs
One of the cheapest providers on the market
Provides free installation
You can trial the software before you commit to a subscription
Doesn't automatically optimise your routes
Lacks automated maintenance scheduling tools
No vehicle diagnostics capabilities
| Plan | Price (per month, per vehicle, billed annually) |
|---|---|
| Infopoint | Custom (previously £9.90) |
| Infoplus | Custom (previously £11.90) |
| Infofleet | Custom (previously £16.90) |
| Add-ons | Custom (previously £1) |
The one thing that is on every fleet manager’s mind in this economy is fuel prices – and we don’t blame you. Whether it be because of inflation or supply shocks, paying for fuel is becoming a definite pain point of your operation. Quartix comes equipped with fuel management features that will help you take some of that stress off your shoulders and avoid gas wastage.
Scoring an overall 4.1/5 in our research, Quartix gives you CO2 emission reports to estimate the emissions of all your vehicle. It is also integrable with Fleetcheck, allowing you to access data obtained from fuel cards. This gives an extra level of depth to fully understand how you’re using your fuel, and which areas of your fleet you can target to help cut back on spending. Thanks to its low price range, short contracts, and strong tracking functions, Quartix is great for small, field service companies. All of these features highlight why Quartix scores a high 4.6/5 for price in our research, making a great option for fleets that don’t want to stretch their wallets.
Quartix’s driver league table ranks the best to the worst drivers so you can easily pick up on bad and unsafe driving behaviours. You can also access a panic button feature for an extra £1 a month.
However, Quartix doesn’t have the strongest performances when it comes to driver management and product features. Scoring a 3.5/5 for both categories, its mobile app gives you the ability to track vehicles in real time but Quartix misses out on key features, such as crash reporting, driver messaging, and asset tracking, which can handicap the agility of your fleet. If you want providers that are stronger in these arenas, we’d recommend looking at Samsara or Teletrac Navman TN360.
What happens now:
To find out more about what kind of shape fleet management might take at your business, simply provide us with a few details about your current fleet’s demands. Our form is brief (it takes about 30 seconds), free forever (promise!), and easy to fill in (about four questions).
We’ll ask about how large your current fleet is, what kind of vehicles are in it, and for your postcode. Then, we’ll match you with some of the UK’s finest fleet management providers. They’ll then be in touch to provide quotes tailored to the unique demands of your business.
What is route planning software?
Route planning software allows you and your fleet managers to plot out the best routes for drivers, before they hit the road. By optimising the journey, you can help trim fuel and labour costs, while navigating any road closures and avoiding the worst of any traffic.
Route planning comes in three types:
1. Dynamic route planning
A dynamic route planning solution lets you plan routes in real time, redirecting and reassigning vehicles as you see fit. You’ll be able to see exactly which vehicles are available, where they are, and whether they’re right for the job at hand – all from your smartphone or tablet.
To achieve this, though, you’ll need to integrate your route planning software with a vehicle tracking tool. This involves both hardware (the part that actually tracks the vehicles) and software (the bit allowing you to see you vehicles’ status in real time, and reroute them accordingly). We’ll get to vehicle tracking and fleet management a bit later, but first…
How does dynamic route planning work?
Well, let’s say an urgent piece of work comes up. Looking at your dynamic route planning tool, you see Tom’s stopped to fill up on fuel, and Dick’s on the wrong side of the city.
Don’t fret, though – Harry’s just finishing up a delivery in the area! You tap into his live location via your route planning tool, and divert him to the site of the job. Simple!
2. Multi-stop route planning
If your fleet deals in jobs requiring stops at several different destinations, this type of software is for you. Essentially, it calculates the quickest, most economical routes between stops, allowing your drivers to get there with minimal fuss, and ensuring your customers stay satisfied.
Multi-stop route planning software factors in real-time conditions out on the tarmac to offer the right route, every time. You’ll also get ETAs for each stop, helping you keep customers in the loop while their deliveries are on the way.
3. Plan vs. actual route comparison
Of course, you can plan to your heart’s content, but if your drivers aren’t actually following your neatly-optimised routes, then… well, it’s just not going to work.
That’s why plan vs. actual route comparison tools are so handy. By comparing the prescribed route with the one your driver actually took, you can ensure your drivers are sticking to the plan. This method also allows you to understand the reasons behind any deviations from the set route – helping to drive better strategic planning, and ensure more effective, accurate schedules going forward.
So, that’s what route planning software looks like. But which providers are doing it best?
How did we find the best route planning software?
We've researched 29 market-leading fleet management and vehicle tracking systems to evaluate them in terms of functionality, usability, accuracy, and aesthetics so we can make the most useful recommendations to UK businesses.
Our rigorous research and assessment processes mean these products have been scored and rated in six main categories of investigation and six subcategories – in fact, we covered 51 areas of investigation in total. We then gave each category score a ‘relevance weighting' to ensure the product's final score perfectly reflects the needs and requirements of Expert Market readers.
Our main testing categories for vehicle tracking systems are:
Price: the cost associated with using the vehicle tracking software, including upfront costs, subscription fees, hardware costs (if applicable), and any additional charges for advanced features or add-ons.
Tracking: the core functionality of the vehicle tracking software, which involves monitoring and tracking the location and movements of vehicles in real-time, such as GPS tracking, route optimisation, and geofencing.
Driver Management: the features and tools provided by the vehicle tracking software to manage and monitor driver activities. This can include driver behaviour monitoring, driver performance reports, and driver identification.
Vehicle Management: the functionalities that allow for the efficient management and maintenance of vehicles, such as vehicle health monitoring and maintenance scheduling.
Product Features: the additional functionalities and capabilities offered by the vehicle tracking software beyond basic tracking and management, such as real-time alerts and notifications or driver routing and dispatching.
Support: the resources, assistance, and guidance provided by the vehicle tracking software company to users, including phone support, email or chat support, and online forums.
Verizon stands tall as our number one vehicle tracking software with a great overall score of 4.7/5. However, this score doesn’t put it out of reach of its competitors, as Samsara’s score of 4.6/5 and Teletrac’s score of 4.5/5 put both of them in reach.
If Verizon’s affordability score of 2.5/5 is turning you away, however, then you might want to consider RAM, who scores a 4.6/5 for affordability, while still offering a great tracking offering (also 4.6/5).
Of course, there are other options out there that may better suit your business. If you’d like to receive tailored quotes, we’re here to help. Simply fill out our quote tool, and you’ll be matched with providers that can work with your business’ needs.
Frequently asked questions
As a rough example, though, let’s take Maxoptra’s pricing plans. Its cheapest package is priced at £35 per vehicle, per month, on a 12-month contract. For this, you get both manual and automated route planning, printable driver manifests, and scheduled exports, compatible with Excel.
Maxoptra’s more expensive tier (£50 per vehicle, per month) adds in real-time customer ETA updates and SMS notifications, while also enabling connection to a separate vehicle tracking system. Beyond that, Maxoptra only offers a completely bespoke solution, at a completely opaque price.
For example, most free route planning software allows you to plot out a course for only one vehicle, rather than the multiple, simultaneous routes you’ll need for larger fleets. You’ll also get a limited amount of stops per route optimisation, absent customer support, and an interface that’s clunky to use (and not that much fun to look at, either).
Don’t tie your business to static, snail-paced technology that already belongs in the history books. Shelling out now for a more advanced system that does everything you need it to (and more) will pay dividends in the long run – that’s why we recommend fleet management software so highly.
To explore how vehicle tracking can boost your business, let us help. Simply complete our quick, no-qualms quote-finding form, and we’ll provide you with tailored quotes from a range of leading fleet management software suppliers.
