Force Fleet Tracking Review

Why Force Fleet Tracking Is Best for Driver Accountability

Force Fleet Tracking provides essential tools to maximize driver accountability, including driver scorecards, vehicle maintenance reports and detailed trip history reports you can store for up to 18 months. We like that businesses can set up live location-tracking links to help customers accurately track their drivers and view estimated time of arrivals (ETAs). Vehicle locations are accurate to within 10 feet ― ideal for delivery companies with multiple drop-offs on a single street or within a small local area. Additionally, Force’s impressive 10-second refresh time is faster than that of many competitors we reviewed. 

You can configure Force to notify you if a driver enters or exits a geofenced area, unplugs their tracking device or engages in unsafe driving behavior. It can even preemptively warn you when a vehicle needs maintenance based on user-specified intervals or usage patterns and display live engine management warnings. For all these reasons and more, Force Fleet Tracking is our choice for the best GPS fleet management system for driver accountability. 

Fleet managers can send customers live tracking links with their driver’s location. Source: Force 

Pros

• Force has near-real-time reporting with updates every 10 seconds.
• You can share driver locations with customers.
• You can receive alerts if a tracking device is unplugged.
• Force can store trip timelines and details for up to 18 months.

Cons

• The platform doesn’t have an app marketplace for third-party integrations.
• It doesn’t offer industry-specific GPS solutions like competitors like Jobber and Verizon.
• International coverage isn’t available.

Usability

We found Force Fleet Tracking’s platform quite user-friendly. Admins can access the software on computers and mobile devices while drivers can tap into the system via their dashboard on the mobile app. We like that fleet managers can access fleet data from anywhere. We also appreciate that the platform is hardware- and vehicle-agnostic, meaning it can work with any device or vehicle type. You have the flexibility to track whatever you need. You can also adjust the groupings on the dashboard for different employee categories: service personnel, delivery drivers and others.

Force offers near-real-time tracking, with refresh times of 10 seconds or less. This rate is quicker than that of many competitors we evaluated and can be a crucial tool for managers who need an accurate overview of driver locations. The platform’s tracking accuracy also underpins the Location Sharing links, which gives customers Uber-style live tracking for a user-specified period.

The desktop dashboard is laid out in a straightforward manner with six primary tabs:

• Vehicles
• Drivers
• Services
• Geofences
• Reports
• Alerts

The dashboard’s detail accessibility impressed us. For example, in the Vehicles tab, you can examine everything from vehicle identification numbers (VINs) and odometer readings to how many miles each driver has covered. We particularly like the Tire Check Analyzer, which uses photography to determine tire conditions. If any tire tread is approaching its wear bars, Force has established a 20 percent discount agreement with Goodyear to help reduce fleet maintenance costs.

Force Fleet Tracking Features 

Here are some of the top features you’ll get with Force Fleet Tracking:

Driver Safety

Force Fleet Tracking can help you improve driver safety and accountability with its RoadScore scoring technology. It can monitor hard braking and acceleration and track speeding, cornering and idling time. RoadScore generates an overall score out of 100 for each trip, adding each figure to a driver’s rolling average. 

The system can record concerning behaviors, factor them into individual and average driver scores and reports ― per journey or overall ― and add them to a ranking table. Fleet managers can review driver scores and reports to reward safe drivers and coach ones that need improvement. 

Force’s RoadScore generates driver scores based on driving behaviors. Source: Force

Driver Accountability

Force’s driver accountability features impressed us: 

• Geofencing: Force supports geofencing to ensure drivers are where they’re supposed to be. Geofence areas can be a specific dwelling or building, a radius from a particular location or a user-defined polygon. 
• Trip history reports: In addition to tracking driver location, you can hold drivers accountable with detailed trip history reports. Force creates an automatic record of every trip your drivers make, including details like start and end times, routes, mileage and driver performance. Trip history reports remain accessible for 18 months. (Read our Verizon Connect review if you prefer to access history reports longer. This vendor keeps two years of fleet data.)
• RoadScore: The RoadScore behavior logging system is a great way to support or disprove customer complaints about a driver’s behavior. Force believes RoadScore evidence is strong enough to stand up in disciplinary or criminal investigations.  
• Location-tracking links: Force’s live location-tracking links are an excellent accountability tool that can enhance the overall customer experience. We like that you can set the tracking links to expire at a specific time, a feature we haven’t seen with many competitors.

Trip history reports can be exported to spreadsheets in comma-separated values file format for tax, accounting or planning purposes. Source: Force

Tracking Alerts

A great way to keep your drivers accountable is to learn about their behavior as soon as it happens. Automatic alerts help you do this. Force Fleet Tracking offers 11 push notification alerts to keep fleet managers informed about everything from low fuel levels and vehicle recalls to speeding infringements. Location alerts notify you whenever an employee enters or leaves a job site or drives outside a customized geofenced area.

You can also get alerts when a driver engages in unsafe behavior, when a tracking device is unplugged or when a vehicle is bumped, towed or disturbed while parked. These alerts can help prevent fleet equipment theft. With vehicle health and even low fuel alerts, you can ensure your vehicles are maintained properly and optimized and drivers meet your expectations behind the wheel. 

We were particularly impressed by Force’s advanced crash detection algorithm, which was developed by Bosch and based on airbag technology. This feature provides real-time updates on crashes, who was driving and where the incident occurred. It can even help notify first responders, potentially saving lives.

Force tracks driver activity to monitor safety concerns. Source: Force

Vehicle Health and Maintenance

Force Fleet Tracking has excellent fleet health and safety features. The platform monitors each vehicle’s health and provides instant notifications if something’s wrong, for example, if there’s an engine management error. You can also set up predictive health alerts if something needs immediate attention. We like that Force stores maintenance data for future reference and can even identify which specific cylinder is experiencing an issue.

The vehicle screen includes everything from International Mobile Equipment Identity and VIN data to odometer readings and details of individual journeys. You can check diagnostic codes, learn about vehicle recalls and even check the battery voltage of individual vehicles. Fleet managers can access the Maintenance tab under Services to view all service intervals, when the last service occurred, when the next one is due and how much it will cost. This guidance can even direct you toward replacing fleet vehicles that are proving costly to maintain.

Idling Data

We like Force’s detailed idling data, which can convey a vehicle’s idling time percentage and drivers’ average idling times. A cost-saving calculator reveals how much you could save if you reduce idling time. Drivers can view their idling data and administrators can get an overview of the entire fleet’s idling time. 

Force’s detailed idling data can reveal how much your business could save if it reduces idling time. Source: Force

Force Fleet Tracking Cost                

Force Fleet Tracking is one of the most affordable GPS fleet tracking systems we reviewed and we appreciated its transparent pricing. Plans start at $20 per vehicle, per month, and include free GPS tracking devices (the company ships them free), potentially saving your business hundreds of dollars.

We also like that Force offers its services on a month-to-month basis with no contracts or hidden fees. In contrast, many competitors impose contracts of up to three years. There’s also a 14-day free trial that allows you to test the platform risk-free. 

Force Fleet Tracking Setup

Force Fleet Tracking prides itself on being an easy-to-use platform with quick installation. Since each plan includes plug-and-play GPS trackers, installing a device is as simple as plugging it into your vehicle’s OBD2 port. Once installed, it can begin tracking data. Fleet managers can create user accounts to view the Force dashboard on a computer, tablet or smartphone.

Force used to focus on vans and smaller trucks. We’re happy to note that the vendor has extended its hardware to cover heavy-duty vehicles from Class 6 to Class 8. Customers can specify their vehicle types and relevant cables will be bundled automatically into their order at no extra cost. 

The company says it can comfortably accommodate fleets of any size and nature.

Force Fleet Tracking Customer Service

• One-on-one support: Force representatives are available by phone, email and web chat Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. While these hours are generous, some rivals provide 24/7 support. For example, our review of Motive highlights this vendor’s 24/7 phone, email and messaging support.
• Online resources: Force also provides helpful online resources, including frequently asked questions (FAQs), a blog, a product overview video and a platform demo. However, some competitors have much more comprehensive online help. Read our review of FleetUp to learn about this vendor’s robust knowledge base.
• Customer self-service: It’s worth noting that Force is one of very few GPS fleet tracking firms that allows customers to self-serve and place an order without speaking to a rep. Some business owners and busy fleet managers may prefer this approach, which bypasses haggling over pricing. 
• Customer feedback: We like that Force is proactive and acts on customer feedback. The company frequently revises services and features based on customer requests. 
• Upgrades: We also like that Force’s software receives regular incremental updates instead of occasional generational leaps. There won’t suddenly be a new interface to learn midcontract. 

Force Drawbacks

Force has a lot going for it, but we did identify several drawbacks: 

• Limited user base: Force now supports Class 6, 7 and 8 trucks and says it can comfortably accommodate fleets of any size and nature. However, it primarily targets a very specific user base: small businesses in the field and home service industries. The service may not have the breadth of features to fully accommodate businesses with large fleets of trucks and trailers. For example, in our review of Azuga, we detail its heavy-duty industry-based features like reverse gear alerts for trucks that aren’t allowed to travel backward for safety reasons.  
• No international coverage: Force only works across the United States. If your drivers regularly cross into Mexico or Canada, it’s not the right service for you. If international coverage is necessary, read our review of Samsara. This vendor can accommodate fleets that must access Mexico and Canada. 
• No dashcams: Force doesn’t currently have dashcams, although one is in development.  

Methodology

Choosing a GPS fleet tracking system can be challenging, so we’ve done much of the heavy lifting for you. We spent hours researching and analyzing GPS fleet tracking systems to identify the best solutions on the market. We looked at hardware, features, pricing and contracts, usability, refresh times and customer support. We attended hands-on demos when possible and watched detailed product videos. When searching for the best GPS fleet tracking system for driver accountability specifically, we focused on driver performance tracking, routing and navigation, vehicle health and alerts and reports.

Overall Value

We recommend Force Fleet Tracking for …

• Businesses in a home or field service industry.
• Small businesses that need to track anywhere from two to 30 vehicles.
• Fleets that want low pricing with no contracts.

We don’t recommend Force Fleet Tracking for …

• Large fleets of over 100 vehicles.
• Companies that trade regularly in Canada, Mexico or other foreign countries.
• Fleets with heavy-duty vehicles.
• Buyers who need dashcams ― though one is in development.