Motive: Pros & Cons, Prices, and More!

Motive is an American company based in San Francisco, California. The company offers fleet management software solutions that are used widely by businesses across the United States. Motive’s most common products are the Hours of Service monitoring system, the GPS tracking system, and the dashcams. Continue reading our full review to learn everything about Motive in terms of features, tools, functionalities, prices, alternative fleet management software systems, and more.

Motive at a Glance

Motive is one of the best fleet management software systems in the United States, one that is trusted by more than a million registered drivers and over 60,000 fleets nationally. The company was founded and established in 2013 with its headquarters in San Francisco. Its solutions and advanced technology are designed to help fleet operators and managers track their vehicles and assets and maintain electronic logs on everything through physical logging devices.

Motive is known for its platform that offers key aspects to help in fleet tracking and management; such aspects include fleet tracking software, telematics, integrated solutions, and hardware products, like dashcams, GPS trackers, and more.

With the help of such solutions, businesses and fleet managers will be able to track their vehicles and assets in real-time and view historical data whenever they need to. Solutions on the Motive platform are designed to work together in order to offer companies the chance to audit their driver logs, manage and reduce fuel costs, reduce any paperwork, streamline processes, reduce administrative workload, and more.

Motive supports different sizes and types of businesses in different industries, including the following industries:

• Agriculture
• Construction
• Delivery
• Field Services
• Food & Beverages
• Oil & Gas
• Passenger Transit

• Trucking & Logistics

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Motive Solutions and Features

Fleet Safety Solution

Motive’s AI-powered safety platform will surely reduce your fleets’ accidents by up to 30% with its many features and tools. Some of these features are:

• AI Dashcam – This cam is powered by a leading-edge AI processor and advanced computer vision algorithms; this means it will easily detect unsafe driving with its industry-leading accuracy. The AI dashcam can instantly detect any unsafe driving behaviors, like distraction by a cell phone, and will alert drivers in real-time. Some dashcams can have inaccurate data and send false alerts; Motive’s dashcam has high levels of accuracy to prevent any false alerts. This accuracy will also help drivers have quick reactions to reduce the number of accidents on the road.
   
• Automatic video review and coaching – Motive’s in-house safety team will analyze all of your videos instantly to determine the severity of each event and send coaching notes and tips to your drivers when upon completing their trips. These insights show the type of event that has taken place, the type of road on which it happened, the traffic conditions, the severity of the accident on a scale, and more. This technology will automatically filter out any low-risk events that do not pose any actual risk on your fleet or your drivers, which allows your team to focus on important and critical events. And every time a trip is completed, your drivers can see coaching tips that will help them improve their performance.
   
• DRIVE – This tool will help you improve the performance of your drivers. DRIVE offers a risk score that provides you with a holistic view to help you understand your drivers’ performance over time rather than leaving you with the analytics of each event separately. Your events will all be benchmarked against the broader Motive network of over 400,000 vehicles, which will help you objectively determine the accurate risk profile of each driver. DRIVE scores help you get an understanding of how often you should be holding coaching sessions; while DRIVE Insights will show you the impact of these sessions.

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GPS Tracking

Motive provides best-in-class tracking solutions for your fleet, including vehicles, trailers, and equipment, all in one platform. The following are some of the features and tools that help with fleet tracking:

• Command-Center visibility – With Fleet View, you get to see your fleets’ locations, any safety events, Hours of Service (HOS), and much more on a single screen. Motive’s Fleet App puts you in full control of your fleet. You can manage your business at any time, from anywhere, using your mobile device or tablet. You will have your fleet at your fingertips by watching your vehicles, equipment, and trailers in real-time. Watching your fleet in real-time gives you the chance to know if any delay is to happen in arrival or departure times, and so, you can immediately notify your customers with instant email alerts.
   
• Maximize fleet productivity – With Motive’s real-time fleet tracking software, you get to eliminate any existing or potential inefficiencies in your fleet’s daily operations to increase efficiency and maximize productivity. You can set custom geo-fences so that you know when your fleet enters a certain area or client facility; this will help you stay on top of resource allocation and billing. Automated reporting will help you know where your vehicles are and what your drivers are doing which, in turn, will help you utilize your fleet and assets to their full potential. And of course, keeping an eye on all of your vehicles and assets helps you ensure they are not lost or misused. Dispatching is made easy; all you have to do is find the closest drivers to your pick-up location and integrate with your TMS.
   
• Give customers real-time visibility – You can communicate and share live locations, accurate ETAs, real-time alerts, and more with you your customers. You get to create more accurate invoicing with reports that can calculate the time spent on each job. You get a full view of traffic, weather, and more, which you can utilize to reroute your drivers or prep for delays. You can also review each day’s trips to ensure timely delivery and eliminate any discrepancies.
   

Dispatch and Workflow

This end-to-end, integrated platform will simplify your daily tasks with its many features and functionalities. Some of these features include:

• Streamline operations – Your hours of service and GPS data are combined in one place to help you pick the best driver for the next task. This tool will also send you real-time dispatch updates and deploy navigation for you from within the same app. To get proof of delivery, you get document uploading, which will also help you instantly validate work. You can further optimize your operations by connecting apps like McLeod, TMW, Prophesy, and more.
   
• Save time and money – make data-driven decisions with Motive’s powerful insights. All of your decisions will be well-informed and studied ones with better insight into facility dwell times. Leave all the guesswork behind by being able to see all of your drivers, vehicles, and assets in one platform.

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Fuel & Maintenance Management

Motive helps you reduce operating costs with its AI-powered insights. Some of the features related to this aspect include:

• Fuel consumption – Motive’s Fuel Hub helps fleet managers save up to 10% on annual fuel costs. It increases visibility for you by providing a consolidated view of your fleets’ fuel consumption and spending, one that is benchmarked across their entire network of vehicles (400,000 vehicles). Motive’s AI automatically pinpoints any driver behavior that can lead to unnecessary waste and spending. To better control and improve your fuel consumption, you can create a custom incentive program to reward drivers based on some ground rules you set, such as good fuel economy.
   
• Maintenance – This tool helps you increase your vehicles’ uptime and reduce repair costs. In this platform, you get to track your service history, schedule reminders for vehicle and asset inspections, and more to avoid paying extra costs for repairs. This tool also helps you catch vehicle defects early with its fault code detection and real-time alerts. In addition to that, you can create custom electronic DVIRs for any vehicle or asset type.
   

ELD Compliance

Ensure that you never run into any violations, lower costs, and be proactive with Motive’s automated compliance management tools. Some of these tools include the following:

• Automate compliance – This tool helps you reduce HOS violations and the time spent on compliance tasks by up to 50% with its risk management approach. Motive’s Compliance Hub and Fleet App give you a 360-degree view into your fleet’s compliance health, which will help you efficiently manage data, detect and resolve any violations, and stay compliant. Your drivers will also be able to work more efficiently with Motive’s AI-powered unidentified trip matching, fast log editing workflow, automatic yard move assignment, and other tools. With its forecasted CSA scores, Motive helps you reduce risk and insurance costs. It also helps you stay below intervention thresholds by presenting you with information regarding which compliance areas you need to focus on.
   

• Easy compliance for drivers – Motive’s #1 certified ELD and its Driver App work together to help fleet drivers complete their daily compliance tasks with the least time and effort needed. To help drivers prevent violations, Motive offers intuitive HOS clocks and proactive alerts in the Driver App. To make it even more convenient, drivers can manage IFTA, DVIR, and HOS in one single compliance platform solution. The tool also offers reliable Bluetooth and USB ELD connections to help your drivers stay compliant anytime, anywhere, even in remote areas with poor cell coverage or reception. The process is very quick and easy; installation is simple with no mechanics needed. All you need to do is simply plug in the Vehicle Gateway, connect to a phone or tablet device, and get on the road.

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Main Benefits of Motive

One of the key benefits of using Motive's platform is the real-time GPS tracking. This feature allows businesses to see the location of their vehicles at all times, making it easy to dispatch the closest vehicle to a job site or keep track of vehicles that are running late. Additionally, the platform includes alerts and notifications that can be set up to notify managers or dispatchers of specific events, such as when a vehicle goes off-route or exceeds a certain speed limit.

Another important feature of Motive's platform is the vehicle and driver performance monitoring. This feature allows businesses to track things like speed, fuel consumption, and idle time, providing valuable insights into how vehicles and drivers are being used. This can help businesses to identify areas for improvement, such as reducing unnecessary idling or speeding, which can lead to cost savings and increased safety.

The route optimization feature is another great tool that Motive offers. This feature uses real-time traffic and weather data to generate the most efficient route for a vehicle to take. This can help to reduce fuel consumption and travel time, saving businesses money and improving productivity. Additionally, the platform includes tools for creating custom routes and geofencing, which can be used to set up boundaries around specific areas and receive alerts when vehicles enter or exit those areas.

Motive's platform also includes maintenance scheduling feature, which can help businesses to keep track of when vehicles are due for routine maintenance or inspections. This feature can also be used to track the progress of repairs or maintenance that are currently being performed on a vehicle.

In summary, Motive's fleet tracking service is a comprehensive solution for businesses looking to optimize and manage their fleet operations. The platform provides a wide range of features, including real-time GPS tracking, vehicle and driver performance monitoring, route optimization, fuel consumption tracking, and maintenance scheduling. These features can help businesses to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and increase safety and compliance. However, it's important to note that the service may not be suitable for all businesses, and the cost of the service and the need for businesses to invest in the necessary hardware and infrastructure should be considered before signing up.
 

Motive Plans and Pricing

Motive does not advertise any plans or prices on the website and rather requires you to fill out a quick form in order to give you a personalized quote to fit your business needs perfectly at the best price. In this online form, you will be asked to choose your needs from a list that includes ELD Compliance, GPS Tracking, Dashcams, Trailer Tracking, Vehicle Maintenance, Dispatch & Workflow, Smart Load Board, and more; you can choose all that applies to you. You will then be asked about your company’s size in terms of the number of employees. And finally, you will need to provide some contact information which the company’s rep will use to contact you and offer you all the options that fit your needs.

It is worth mentioning, though, that while doing our research on Motive, we have found that the company offers multiple plans, which we will go over down below. However, keep in mind that plans and prices are loosely mentioned, as you still need to contact Motive’s team to get your own pricing. The following are their plans:

• Free plan – This plan is completely free, and it offers E-log books, messaging, and inspection reports. It needs ELD hardware purchase.
   
• Starter Plan – This plan charges $20/month/vehicle, and it offers everything in the Free Plan, plus HOS tracking, DOT, eDVIR, Messaging & Driver Alerts, GPS.
   
• Pro Plan – This plan charges $5/month/vehicle, and it offers everything in the Starter Plan, plus Vehicle Diagnostics, IFTA Fuel Tax Tracking, Idle Time Tracking.
   

• Enterprise Plan – This plan is quote-based.

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Customer Support

Motive offers support to customers through multiple channels, including an online ticket which you can submit and wait for an agent to reach back to you. If you have an urgent inquiry or issue, you can reach out to the support team directly by phone at 1-855-434-3564. The customer support team is available 24/7 for any questions.

Before reaching out to a live agent, you can try to read through Motive’s help pages which include 1. a page dedicated to frequently asked questions, and 2. their support section that includes help guides and articles regarding many topics, like getting started, articles for drivers and others for fleet managers, video tutorials, policies, and a section for news and updates. In most cases, customers tend to find answers to their questions in these help pages without the need to call an agent.
 

Final Words

Motive remains one of the best fleet management platforms in the United States. Its services are trusted by more than a million registered drivers, which should be your reason to entrust your fleet with it. However, after reading our review, you might conclude that Motive is not the right fleet management provider for your business for one reason or another.

The good news is that there are hundreds of fleet management companies on the market, and we have compiled a list of the best ones for you. To ensure you find the one that fits you best, you should do more reading and comparison shopping. You can start off by reading our comprehensive articles that review other fleet management providers on the market. If you’re short on time, you can check our top picks for fleet management providers:

• Samsara
• InTouch GPS
• US Fleet Tracking
• Azuga

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