It’s hard to know which fleet tracking solutions are the best fit for your fleet. This comparison will help you understand the key differences between two leading fleet tracking options: Force Fleet Tracking and Samsara.
Both GPS fleet tracking solutions at a glance
| Force Fleet Tracking | Samsara | |
| Price From | $20 per vehicle per month | ~$40 per vehicle per month, plus hardware costs |
| Best for | Small businesses, home-service based businesses | Transportation, logistics, and heavy industry |
| Pros |
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| Cons | Not suitable for enterprise fleets with GPS integrated into proprietary systems and dashboards |
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| Free trial | 14 day free trial, free demo, free hardware that ships in 2 days | 14 day free trial |
Force Fleet Tracking overview
Force is a GPS fleet vehicle tracking solution designed for small businesses. It’s straight-forward, affordable, and provides a full suite of powerful features for home-service based companies.
There are no contracts or commitments required to get started. GPS hardware is included, and with 2-day shipping, you’ll be up and running before you know it. Force’s GPS tracking solution alleviates all of the major operations troubles that businesses with multi-vehicle fleets face with the ability to monitor vehicle health to avoid unexpected breakdowns and reduce manual tracking and paperwork while simultaneously improving driver safety records, all while tracking your vehicles in real time.
Samsara overview
Samsara is a comprehensive tracking platform for large-scale fleets. It provides fleet managers with tracking, fuel and maintenance data, and equipment monitoring for trailers, large trucks, production facilities, and construction sites. Samsara offers a wide variety of hardware add-ons including tracking devices, dash cameras, environmental monitors, temperature probes, and asset trackers to support use cases for industrial applications.
Samsara provides robust solutions for enterprises, however their years-long contracts and complex implementation processes aren’t flexible or simple enough for small businesses.
GPS fleet tracking feature comparison
| Force Fleet Tracking | Samsara | |
| Live vehicle tracking | ||
| Route Replay | ||
| Reports | ||
| Map of all vehicles | ||
| Plug-and-play devices | ||
| Hard-wired GPS trackers | ||
| Vehicle health monitoring | ||
| Speeding alerts | ||
| Disturbance alerts | ||
| TireCheck feature | ||
| Predictive maintenance alerts | ||
| Maintenance reports | ||
| Demonstrated fuel efficiencies | ||
| Industry-specific integrations |
When it comes to feature sets, there’s a lot of overlap on the safety and maintenance functionality of the solutions.
Force’s driver and vehicle safety features are a great example of applied improvements for small business owners focused on driver accountability and safety. The system continuously assesses driver behavior, scoring them out of 100 for each trip, and each trip contributes to a rolling average. This RoadScore, combined with other alerts like speeding and harsh braking shows business owners which drivers need training and provides an opportunity to reward safe drivers.
The Force platform also alerts you to hazardous or unauthorized behaviors, like if a driver exits their geofenced area, unplugs their tracking device, or engages in unsafe activities. The system stores detailed trip histories with start and end times, mileage, speed, routes, and driving behavior.
Comparatively, Samsara’s platform has extra features for fleet managers in the logistics space with asset tracking and sensitive load monitoring. For example, truckers with refrigerated units to worry about can look into refrigeration monitoring systems and public work fleets like snow plows can now use real-time coverage maps to track which streets have been plowed.
Both solutions monitor the overall maintenance status of your vehicles and provide preventative maintenance alerts, but Force stands out with its TireCheck feature. Both solutions also boast fuel savings, with Force customer trends showing savings of up to 40% on fuel costs.
Try the solution that was made for you. Start a free trial of Force Fleet Tracking today with no obligation.
Integration comparison
Force integrates easily into small businesses’ existing workflows using Mojio’s full partner ecosystem of location-based and telematics service integrations. In addition to the full partner ecosystem, Force has a direct integration with Housecall Pro. This integration lets you automatically generate an SMS text message to your customers with a link that will let them track your service vehicles en route, similar to the experience of watching your dinner be delivered. Force is the only fleet tracking solution that has a direct integration with Housecall Pro.
Samsara’s Connected Operations Cloud allows transportation and logistics businesses to harness Internet of Things (IoT) data. They have an open ecosystem of 3rd party integrations and a large app marketplace. Their open API allows organizations to ingest data into the platform then share it with other tools like asset management or payroll providers. This means that large enterprises with developers can build custom solutions using the extensible APIs.
Help center comparison
In addition to being a plug-and-play solution, Force has a dedicated post-purchase help center to help set small business owners up for success and better understand the platform. Force recognizes that small business owners are rarely engineers with lots of time to set up. Whether it’s help getting started, setting Force’s app up, or troubleshooting, find step-by-step articles to easily solve any problem. Force also offers free live demos.
Samsara has an online support center and a team of support agents available via phone, web, or live chat for customers to access through their client login. When it comes to customer onboarding, Samsara has a dedicated implementation team because the process can be weeks or months long.
Testimonials
Clients love Force’s customer service, features, ease of use, and overall value for money.
★★★★★
“Force has been a game changer for us. For years, we were flying blind on our fleet performance. Now we have the data we need to hold our drivers accountable, encourage good behavior, and address issues with our vehicles before they become catastrophes. The ability to send tracking links to clients adds to the ‘wow’ factor we are trying to build into our customer experience.”
Owner, Lake State Cleaning
Troy, MI
Samsara customers appreciate the real-time location information and the ability to track everything from within a single interface. A customer from Delta Constructors noted that “with Samsara, we can manage our equipment, fleet, and sites all from a single pane of glass. One application can view the whole company across three regions.” Some Samsara customers have also flagged that they would prefer more direct integrations without requiring another app.
Hear it straight from the horse’s mouth. See what Force customers have to say about our small business solutions.
Price comparison
Force offers a 14-day free trial, including sending the GPS tracking devices with no obligation. After the trial has ended, Force’s pricing is small-business friendly with a price tag of $20 per vehicle per month, with no contract and no additional hidden fees.
Samsara offers a free trial, after which the price is more than double Force’s around $40 per vehicle per month requiring a 3-year contract. Typically, the hardware costs start at around $100 per hardware unit, then it’s $40 per vehicle per month for software use.
The bottom line
Force is the most affordable and effective GPS fleet tracking solution available for small businesses seeking to see real bottom-line impact by improving driver safety, vehicle maintenance, and accountability.
Samsara provides an effective tracking solution for logistics and heavy-duty industries that are extra complex and happy to commit to long term contracts.
See the savings, and your fleet, in real time. Start your free trial today.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is Force different from other fleet tracking software?
Force is 100% optimized for small businesses and home services companies. From easy-to-use features to low pricing and no contracts, Force offers the best value for money for fleets of 2 or more vehicles.
How does the free trial work?
When you sign up for a 14-day free trial, Force ships you a free GPS tracking device for each of your vehicles. If you’d like to keep using Force after the trial period, simply continue using the service. Your first billing date will be 14 days after you began your trial. If you choose not to continue after your trial, just notify the team and they’ll send you a prepaid shipping label to return the devices. No fuss, no stress.
How do I know if my vehicle is compatible?
Force is compatible with virtually any vehicle that has an OBD-II port. Nearly all cars, vans and light trucks manufactured from 1996 on will be compatible. If you’re unsure, contact the team and they’ll verify your vehicle compatibility.
How much time does installation take?
Force can be installed in just a few minutes per vehicle. Simply plug the devices into the OBD-II port in each of your vehicles and follow a few simple on-screen instructions online.
What if I need help getting started?
If you need any help getting started, Force’s team of friendly support agents are on call and the Help Center is full of resources to help you get started.
How much money can my small business save using Force Fleet Tracking?
How much you save using GPS fleet tracking will depend on the issues your business is facing. Between preventing wage loss, stopping expensive driving habits, avoiding breakdowns, and improving customer satisfaction, this can add up fast. An average fleet running 5 vehicles will save more than $4,400 in fuel costs in a year, just by managing idle time! And that doesn’t even include the value of getting to more jobs on time.
