Netstar Review and Pricing: Best for Heavy Vehicle Fleets

True enough, heavy vehicles are one of the most powerful vehicles you can have in your fleet. They can drive longer distances and carry more cargo – the thing is, they also require extensive upkeep and monitoring. So if you’re looking for a vehicle tracking system that can help you with that, Netstar is the one. Even though Netstar scores a good overall score of 3.7/5, our research has singled it as the best for heavy vehicle fleets.

In this review, we’ll look at how Netstar satisfies the key features you need in a vehicle tracking system: vehicle tracking, ability to reduce fleet costs, and vehicle management. We’ll also look at its pricing, pros and cons, standout features, and match it up with the other providers we’ve researched. 

Expert Market’s team of skilled researchers and writers utilise independent research to drive you closer to the right business solutions, starting with our free quote comparison tool. You only have to answer a few questions, and our trusted providers will be in touch with personalised quotes for your fleet. 

Netstar’s pros and cons

✔ Pro: Competent driver management features

Scoring 4.5/5 in our driver management analysis, Netstar offers impressive driver management features to help you manage your drivers while they’re on the road. For starters, you can review up to a year’s worth of driving history data on the Netstar Dashboard. It’s the only provider that archives your data for an entire year, giving you the convenience to go back to a specific date and replay the entire journey. Even Teletrac, which scores a perfect 5/5 score in this category, cannot retain data as efficiently as Netstar. However, it does allow you to replay your driving history through an interactive map.

Netstar also levels up driver messaging. Once you pair your in-vehicle display with a compatible Garmin device or Mobile Data Terminal, you can assign jobs, send messages, and receive real-time responses. This invaluable feature allows you to spend more time on other avenues of your business while still maintaining a solid connection with your fleet managers and drivers. 

Lastly, Netstar includes Driver IDs on all of its plans, unlike Verizon, which you will need to pay additional fees to unlock. Driver IDs contain crucial information that gives you a comprehensive view of each of your drivers, including departure time, driver behaviour, and working hours. Without this, you’ll only be able to track your vehicles, and you won’t have any perspective on how your drivers are faring. 

✔ Pro: Satisfactory tracking features

Netstar scores 4.1/5 in our tracking analysis, a quality score that is backed by its array of features that help you stay on top of your fleet. An added bonus here is that Netstar’s tracking features also help you reduce fleet costs and enhance your security. 

Its automatic route optimisation feature is powered by its location data that designs and implements the most efficient routes for you. It can help you minimise your driving time and cut down fuel costs, which is one of the biggest fleet expenses. This is a notable difference from Radius, which scores 4.3/5 for tracking, as it doesn’t offer automatic route optimisation. 

In addition to automatic route optimisation, Netstar also keeps an eye on your mileage data to reduce fuel costs. Its telematics solutions utilise your mileage to improve fuel efficiency and minimise emissions. Netstar also has real-time traffic alerts, unlike Inseego (4.3/5). Traffic alerts inform you which roads are currently jam-packed, allowing your driver to avoid delays – saving you time and money.

✔ Pro: On-point asset tracking system

Netstar has a commendable theft prevention feature that uses pinpoint accuracy to help you protect your assets and recover quickly if need be. Netstar’s asset tracking system uses GPS technology and an Australia-wide 4G network to give you real-time updates about your trailers, containers, skip bins, tools, high-value equipment, and more. The tracking device is also easy to use, waterproof, UV-resistant, and durable enough to withstand the harsh Australian environment. It has a long battery life and can be mounted on assets that are exposed to rain, dust, and seawater.

On the other hand, Verizon, which scores a perfect 5/5 in this category, has a grey area regarding theft prevention. It only allows you to set alerts and time limits on your vehicles, which can detect out-of-hours usage, but it’s not solid enough to pass as theft detection. 

✗ Con: Not the best value for money

A peek into our pricing analysis shows that Netstar is not the best bang for your buck as it only scores 2.7/5. It offers bespoke pricing plans depending on your fleet size and chosen features but, given its set of features, we’d recommend opting for our top scorer in our pricing analysis, Radius, which scores 4.1/5. Its entry point is at $13 per vehicle, per month, and you can optimise its pay-as-you-go option for up to two years. This is a less restrictive commitment compared to Netstar’s rolling contracts. The contract starts with the Initial Period, and it will continue indefinitely unless you cancel your subscription before the Initial Period ends.

✗ Con: Only offers basic product features

Netstar sits in fourth place in our product features analysis with a below average score of 2.3/5. While it has the essential product features, like hardwired options, cloud-based options, and on-board diagnostics, these are still basic when compared with Verizon, which has a near-perfect score of 4.9/5 in our product features category.

Netstar does not have cargo and engine temperature sensors, which helps detect temperature changes to prevent overheating and engine damage. This is a helpful feature, especially for trucks that travel long distances as they are more prone to overheating. Verizon, on the other hand, uses point diagnostics to detect temperature changes. 

Another thing Netstar missed is fuel card integration. While its tracking features help you cut down fuel costs, fuel cards are a convenient addition to your fleet as it tracks fuel expenses and generates fuel efficiency reports. It also gives you handy discounts on fuel, which is a great perk considering the rising petrol prices. With Verizon, you can integrate fuel cards from Fleetcor, which works with 90% of fuel sites across Australia, including Shell, Coles Express, Caltex, Woolworths, BP, United and 7-11.

How much does Netstar cost?

Netstar ranks fourth in our pricing analysis with an above average score of 2.7/5. It offers tailored pricing plans based on fleet size and chosen features. Unfortunately, Netstar does not display its plan packages online for its Australian clientele, but our analysis into its prices showed that it’s a rental service, so you do not have sole ownership of the tracking systems. Another downside to Netstar’s pricing is the contract duration. It’s basically a rolling contract that begins with an Initial Period, and will continue indefinitely unless you cancel the contract before the Initial Period ends. 

Among all the other providers we’ve researched, Radius offers the best value for money. Ranking first in our pricing analysis with a score of 4.1/5, Radius’ plans start at only $13 per vehicle, per month. Its flexible contracts and pay-as-you-go payment methods give you more wiggle room and do not lock you up with long-term contracts. Lastly, Radius offers automatic vehicle diagnostics, retains fleet maintenance records, and monitors your engine and cargo temperature – a valuable set of features that Netstar misses. However, Netstar has a more intricate system of tracking your assets to prevent theft, since Radius can only detect out-of-hours usage instead of using GPS tracking to pinpoint the location of your stolen vehicles. So, if you are looking for budget-friendly options with permissive contract options and satisfactory features, Radius is our best bet.

If you want to find the best prices for your fleet, you can use our free quote comparison tool. You just have to tell us a few things about your fleet, and we’ll link you up with top providers. They will then be in touch with tailored quotes.

Netstar’s standout features

Built-in NHVR-approved Electronic Work Diaries

Work diaries are log books legally mandated by the Heavy Vehicle National Law for heavy vehicle drivers to keep track of their work and rest periods. With Netstar, you have built-in electronic work diaries, a cloud-based log book that automatically calculates your work hours. It also sends automated alerts to let you know if it’s time for a break, so you do not work past the recommended driving hours. And since Netstar’s electronic work diaries are approved by National Heavy Vehicles Regulator (NHVR), it’s much faster and easier to track employee hours and stay compliant to the law. 

Verizon also offers work diary solutions, although it only allows you to partner with Logmaster, a mobile app that you can use to record driving hours and information. It is worth noting that you don’t have to pay additional fees to make use of this perk with Netstar. 

Remote worker safety solutions

Netstar employs a remote/lone worker solution, a vital feature that ensures your drivers are safe, even when they are working alone or in a remote location. It works through a GPS tracker and SOS duress button, which alerts you in case of emergencies. This complies with the Work Health and Safety Regulations. You can configure your alerts through email, messages, or on your Netstar dashboard. This feature is unique to Netstar and provides an upgraded version of the driver safety scores that Verizon employs to monitor driver performance and behaviour.

Unique AVM IDs

Our deep dive into Netstar shows that its unique selling point is its Automatic Vehicle Monitoring (AVM) ID, which improves its tracking capabilities. The AVM ID assigns a unique number that you can use to track the location of your driver or vehicle. It’s a helpful tool in case of lost or stolen vehicles, as it uses GPS technology to track specific vehicles and locations accurately. It provides a highly detailed input of your fleet than Radius, which only detects whenever your vehicles are driven outside the regular working hours.

What kind of business is Netstar best for?

Our independent research names Netstar as the best for heavy vehicle fleets, with an overall score of 3.7/5.

Netstar offers NHVR-approved electronic work diaries that help heavy vehicle fleets stay compliant without sacrificing efficiency. Work diaries are specifically designed to monitor the driving hours of heavy vehicle drivers, like trucks and buses, so that they do not overwork themselves and drive towards danger. It monitors their driving time, departure time, and break periods. 

It’s worth noting that driver fatigue is one of the leading causes of road accidents in Australia, accounting for 20 to 30 per cent of the total cases. By providing these electronic work diaries, Netstar helps you save more time filing work diaries and instead allows you to focus on your driver’s safety and productivity. 

How does Netstar compare with other vehicle tracking systems?

Earlier, we mentioned the key factors you should consider when choosing a vehicle tracking system: vehicle tracking features, ability to reduce fleet costs, and vehicle management features. With an overall score of 3.7/5 in our independent research, here’s how Netstar matches up with the other providers we’ve looked into:

Netstar’s vehicle tracking features

Netstar ranks fourth in our tracking analysis, scoring 4.1/5. While it may offer live/active tracking, sends you alerts and notifications about your driver’s behaviour, and helps with identifying geofences, we’re hitting the brakes at its data refresh rate. It’s notably slower at one to five minutes when compared with our top-scorer, Verizon (5/5), which has a refresh rate of 30 seconds. Faster refresh rates mean you can enjoy real-time tracking updates on the status of your vehicles and where they are on the road.

Netstar’s ability to reduce fleet costs

Netstar has a commendable automatic route optimisation feature, which uses location data to design and implement the most efficient routes for you. Radius, despite having a much higher 4.3/5 score for tracking compared to Netstar’s 4.1/5, does not provide automatic route optimisation.

Netstar also uses telematics to monitor your mileage. This can help you save money on petrol expenses, increase efficiency, and minimise emissions. Another commendable feature that Netstar offers is real-time traffic alerts, a helpful perk that informs you which roads are currently congested so you can avoid delays on your journey.

Netstar’s vehicle management features

Netstar does not offer vehicle diagnostics, an important feature that could help you detect any issues with your vehicles straight away, helping avoid extended periods of downtime. As such, Netstar’s score drops to 3/5 for vehicle management. On this note, Radius proves to be a better option. Scoring 4.7/5 in our vehicle management insights, it automatically syncs the data into your vehicle diagnostic reports and lets you know immediately once a faulty system lights up in one of your vehicles. However, Radius does not retain fleet maintenance records, as it only allows you to set self-reminders to sync the data instead of syncing it automatically.

We also applaud Netstar’s theft prevention feature, which uses GPS technology and an Australia-wide 4G network to detect your assets anytime, anywhere. On the other hand, Verizon scores a perfect 5/5 for vehicle management, but it only allows you to set alerts and time limits on your vehicles to detect theft attempts.

Does Netstar have good customer reviews?

Netstar has a pretty impressive set of features, but there are very limited customer reviews available to back it up. Here’s a user review we got from Capterra, where Netstar scored 2/5: