Geotab vs Custom Telematics Software

What Geotab does well and who should keep it as is

Geotab is one of the most widely deployed telematics platforms in the world. Its GO device plugs into a vehicle’s OBD II or heavy duty J1939 port and reports GPS position, engine diagnostics, fuel use, idling, harsh braking and accelerometer events. MyGeotab turns that stream into maps, rule based alerts, maintenance reminders and reports, Geotab Drive handles electronic logs and driver vehicle inspection reports, and the Geotab Marketplace adds partner products such as dashcams and trailer sensors. Tepia treats that hardware and data layer as an asset to build on, not something to replace.

If your needs look like the list below, you probably do not need custom work at all:

• Managers mainly want location, trip history, safety scorecards and engine fault alerts.
• Compliance means hours of service logs and inspection reports, and Geotab Drive already covers your drivers.
• Your reseller has configured rules and reports that your team opens every week.
• No customer, dispatcher or technician needs fleet data inside another system.

Where Geotab alone stops fitting your fleet

Telematics tells you where a vehicle is and how it is being driven. It does not know what the vehicle is supposed to be doing. That gap is where operators feel friction, and Tepia hears the same patterns from fleets that call us:

• Jobs live somewhere else. Work orders or delivery stops sit in a separate system, so nobody can see that a truck idling at a site for 40 minutes is on a scheduled install, or that it never arrived.
• Drivers juggle apps. A driver opens one app for logs, a second for stops and a third for photos and signatures. Every switch is a chance to skip a step.
• Mixed hardware. Acquisitions or leased units bring Samsara, Motive or factory connected vehicle data alongside Geotab, and leadership wants one view.
• Customer visibility. Shippers and facility clients want live arrival windows and proof of service in a portal, not a report attached to an email.
• Rules unique to your work. A refuse hauler cares when a lift arm cycled at a specific address, a ready mix supplier cares about drum rotation, and a utility needs to know which crew worked which circuit.

None of that is a flaw in Geotab. It is the difference between a telematics platform and the operational software that should sit on top of it.

Geotab vs custom telematics software, side by side

Tepia uses this comparison during Discovery. The custom column assumes software built on top of existing telematics data, which is almost always the right scope, rather than new tracking hardware or firmware.

If most of the right column describes problems you already have, the case for a custom layer is strong. If only one row does, a single integration may be enough.

Building on Geotab instead of replacing it

For nearly every fleet Tepia works with, the answer is to keep the Geotab devices and build around them. Geotab exposes its data through the MyGeotab API and SDK, and its data feed pattern lets a server pull new GPS logs, status data and fault codes incrementally rather than polling each vehicle. MyGeotab Add Ins can place a custom page inside the MyGeotab interface, so fleet managers do not have to learn a new tool for every view.

A typical hybrid Tepia builds looks like this:

• A Node.js or .NET service pulls the Geotab feed into PostgreSQL on AWS or Azure, keyed to your own vehicle, driver and job records.
• A React Native driver app shows the day’s stops, captures photos and signatures offline, and links to Geotab Drive where hours of service apply.
• A React dispatch board compares planned routes against actual positions and flags late or missed stops before the customer calls.
• A customer portal shows live arrival windows and proof of delivery without exposing the full fleet map.

Our telematics integration team works with Geotab, Samsara and Motive data, and the driver app development page covers the in cab side in more depth.

How Tepia approaches Geotab and custom telematics software

Every Tepia engagement follows six phases, and on fleet work each phase is anchored in what drivers and dispatchers do on a real route.

1. Discovery: ride alongs with drivers, time with dispatch, a review of your MyGeotab rules, groups and reports, and a test pull from the API to see what your devices actually send. Deliverables are an Investigation Summary of data sources, an Interview Summary, and User Stories such as a dispatcher reassigning a stop after a breakdown.
2. Design: a design questionnaire, moodboards and a style guide, then wireframes for the driver stop screen, the dispatch board and the customer tracking page, checked in a cab at arm’s length.
3. Development and Testing: an Alpha on a handful of vehicles and a Beta at one depot, with test plans for feed gaps, duplicate positions, offline capture and user acceptance by dispatch.
4. Training: short sessions for drivers at shift start and longer hands on sessions for dispatchers and fleet managers, built on real route scenarios.
5. Launch: migration of vehicle, driver and route history, a depot by depot rollout, and support reps available through the first weeks of live routes.
6. Support: issue resolution, monitoring of the Geotab feed, and feature requests such as a new vehicle class or sensor.

Discovery usually runs 1 to 3 months, development and QA 2 to 6 months, and rollout about a month. See our process for the full detail.

What to look for in a company building your fleet app

If you are comparing development partners for fleet software, ask questions that expose real telematics experience. Tepia expects to be asked every one of these:

• Have you worked with telematics APIs directly? Ask how the team handles feed gaps, device swaps and positions that arrive out of order.
• How does the driver app behave with no signal? Rural routes and loading docks lose coverage, so stops, photos and signatures must queue and sync later.
• Who owns the data and the code? You should own the warehouse, the source code and the cloud accounts.
• Who is on the team? Tepia assigns a US based project manager and hand picked engineers working US overlapping hours, so dispatch questions get answered the same day.
• Can they show shipped apps? Look for live apps in the App Store and Google Play, not mockups. Tepia built Maximum Controls, an iOS, Android and admin portal product for gate control and IoT access.

Read how to choose a fleet management software developer, browse our work, or talk to Tepia about your fleet.

Frequently asked questions