If your fleet already uses GPS tracking and fuel cards, the last thing you need is another system that creates more work. Your GPS system already knows how your vehicles are being used. Your fuel card provider knows where fuel is being purchased and how much is being spent. Your fleet maintenance software should fit alongside those systems, not force your team to replace them.
Your fleet already runs on multiple systems
Most fleets use more than one system to manage day-to-day operations. GPS and telematics provide information about vehicle location, mileage and usage, fuel card systems capture fuel transactions and accounting software manages purchasing and financial records.
Then there's the maintenance work itself: services, repairs, inspections, parts and work orders.
Each system has a job to do. The challenge is making sure the information you need doesn't get trapped inside each one.
What should fleet software integrate with?
At a minimum, look at the systems your team already relies on.
GPS and telematics
GPS and telematics systems can provide useful information about how an asset is being used.
For maintenance teams, that can include odometer and engine-hour readings. Having those readings flow into your maintenance system means service schedules can be based on actual usage rather than someone having to update them manually.
That's particularly useful for fleets where vehicles or equipment are working different amounts from one week to the next.
Fuel cards
Fuel is a significant operating cost for many fleets, so it's useful to be able to connect fuel information with the asset it relates to.
When fuel records are tied back to individual assets, you can get a clearer picture of what it costs to operate them. It also gives you another piece of information when looking at asset performance over time.
Accounting and ERP systems
Your accounting system is where the financial side of the operation lives and fleet software shouldn't require your team to enter the same information twice. Connecting the two systems can reduce manual data entry and keep information such as purchase orders and costs moving between the systems you already use.
Integration should make life easier
An integration is only useful if it removes work or gives you better information.
For a fleet team, that might mean:
- Service schedules updating from actual vehicle usage
- Odometer and engine-hour readings coming through automatically
- Purchase order information flowing into your accounting system
- Parts and maintenance costs staying connected to the job
- Less manual data entry between systems
- Better information about what individual assets are costing to maintain
The point isn't to connect everything for the sake of it. It's to make the information your team already has more useful.
You shouldn't have to replace everything
One of the biggest questions to ask when choosing fleet software is whether it works with the systems you already have.
If your business has invested in GPS tracking, fuel cards, accounting software or other fleet technology, you probably don't want to rip it all out and start again. Good fleet software should sit alongside the technology you already rely on and bring the relevant information together.
That gives your team one place to manage the maintenance work without creating another disconnected system.
What to look for when comparing integrations
Don't just look at the number of logos on an integrations page. Ask what the integration actually does.
- Does it bring through the information your team needs?
- Does it remove manual entry?
- Does it keep asset information current?
- Does it help maintenance schedules reflect actual usage?
It's also worth checking whether the integration is available on the plan you're considering and whether there are any limitations around the data that can move between systems.
The best integration is the one that solves a real problem for your team. That's the role integrations should play: less duplication, better information and a clearer view of what's happening across your fleet.
Connect Gearbox with the systems you already use
Gearbox connects with telematics, accounting and other fleet systems, helping you keep the information behind your assets up to date and connected.
See how Gearbox can fit into the systems your fleet already uses.
