GPS Tracking
Connect hardware trackers or Samsara, see fleet vehicles and tracked units on the dispatch map, and manage device health, consent, and retention.
GPS Tracking
Buying trackers inside PortaPro, Samsara, the dispatch map, device health, geofence events and alerts, proof of service, customer-facing ETAs, driver transparency, retention, and troubleshooting.
Introduction to GPS Tracking
GPS Tracking puts fleet vehicles and high-value tracked units on the dispatch map in real time, sourced from trackers bought inside PortaPro, your own hardware, Samsara, or the driver app.
Tracking Sources: Hardware, Samsara, and Driver App
Three sources feed the same GPS map, hardware trackers via Flespi, Samsara, and driver app phone GPS, each labeled on every pin.
Enabling GPS Tracking (Consent and First-Time Setup)
Enabling vehicle tracking requires a one-time driver-notification disclosure acknowledgment, a legal requirement in several US states.
Hardware Trackers: PortaPro-Shipped and Bring Your Own
Hardware you buy inside PortaPro sets itself up and arrives with cellular service included. Trackers you already own can often be re-pointed at PortaPro by email, then registered from Device Health.
Connecting Samsara
Connect an existing Samsara account with a read-only API token to bring your fleet onto the PortaPro map within minutes.
Device Health: What the Statuses Mean
Device Health shows whether each tracker is Healthy, Stale, or Offline, using kind-aware thresholds so parked trucks and daily-heartbeat tags don't false-alarm.
Assigning Trackers to Vehicles and Units
A tracker is not the same thing as the asset it's attached to. Reassigning a tracker preserves history against both the tracker and the asset.
Vehicles on the Dispatch Cockpit Map
Turn on the Vehicles layer on the dispatch map to see every actively-tracked vehicle alongside jobs, drivers, and disposal sites.
Tracked Units on the Map
Tracked units like restroom trailers and holding tanks appear as a separate map layer, showing only units with an active tracker assigned.
Vehicle Location Tab
Every fleet vehicle profile has a Location tab showing its current pin plus a 24-hour trail, with clear empty states when no tracker is assigned.
Unit Last-Known GPS Card
A tracked unit's profile shows a Last Known GPS card with coordinates, age, source, battery, and a drift warning when the tracker strays from its expected placement.
Driver Transparency and Disclosure
PortaPro puts a visible tracking-status card on every driver's profile so tracking is never quiet, backed by the org's recorded consent acknowledgment.
Reporting Cadence and Battery Life
More frequent tracker reporting means shorter battery life. Understand the cadence-vs-battery trade-off and how PortaPro's health thresholds account for it.
Data Retention and History
PortaPro retains raw GPS position history for 90 days, while device assignment history, consent acknowledgments, and usage metering stay indefinitely.
Usage Metering and Cost Visibility
PortaPro meters GPS ingest usage per tenant from day one, even though there's no per-usage fee today, as groundwork for future tiered pricing.
Disconnecting a Provider
Disconnecting Flespi or Samsara stops position ingest but never deletes your history. Reconnecting restores everything to the same state.
Simulated Demo Devices
Demo organizations can seed simulated trackers to exercise the entire GPS stack without hardware, always clearly labeled Simulated (demo).
Troubleshooting GPS Tracking
Common GPS Tracking issues and fixes: consent banners, stuck Flespi setup, rejected Samsara tokens, offline devices, and empty map layers.
How much does GPS Tracking cost, and what plan do I need?
GPS Tracking requires the Growth plan. Trackers are bought inside PortaPro: $200 one-time per device plus $10/month for a vehicle tracker or $1/month for a unit device, starting on first report.
What does GPS tracking hardware actually cost to run?
PortaPro-shipped tracker pricing next to 2026 US street pricing for bring-your-own hardware, bundled turnkey vendors, Samsara, and a 5-year worked example.
Can drivers see when they are being tracked?
Drivers see a visible tracking-status card on their profile whenever tracking is active. Covers state disclosure statutes in NY, CT, DE, NJ, and CA.
How do I turn on GPS Tracking for my organization?
Enable GPS Tracking with a one-time driver-notification disclosure acknowledgment covering NY, CT, DE, NJ, and California state statutes.
Buying Hardware Trackers: Vehicles, Units, and Your Orders
Buy vehicle trackers and unit tracking devices inside PortaPro from Settings → GPS Tracking, what the fit verdicts mean, what to do with trackers you already own, and how the Your orders card works.
Events and Alerts: Geofences, Theft, Fuel, Maintenance
Every fresh tracker position is checked against automatic geofences around yards and customer sites. Which events exist, which ones page you, and how dedupe and the freshness window work.
GPS Proof of Service
When the assigned truck crosses the fence around a job's service address on the scheduled date, the job is stamped with GPS arrival and departure times, independent of the driver tapping Arrived.
Trip History and Idle Time
The vehicle Location tab lists every trip for a chosen day with start and end time, distance, duration, idle time and top speed, and draws a tapped trip on the map.
Yard Location Check (Inventory)
Inventory → GPS Tracking compares where every tracked unit's tracker says it is against what its status says, and flags mismatches in an amber panel with one-click fixes.
Customer-Facing Tracking: ETA Texts, Live Map, Portal
The truck's tracker sends the enroute text when it comes within about five miles of the next job, the tracking page embeds a live map, and the customer portal shows where a customer's own tracked units are.
Driver App: Units on the Map, Arrival Prompt, Odometer
What GPS tracking changes on the driver's phone: tracked units drawn on the route map, a You've arrived banner near an open stop, and a DVIR odometer that prefills from the truck's tracker.
Activity Feed, Alert Routing, Speed Alert, and Custom Zones
The Activity & alerts feed under Settings → GPS Tracking, the two per-user GPS notification rows with their SMS switch, the optional speed alert, and custom zones you draw yourself.
Verified Rental Dates, Job Prompts, and Weekly Reports
GPS-verified delivery and pickup times on tracked units, proof of service printed on invoices and service reports, the mark-complete job prompt, one-click status fixes, the weekly report, and battery service dates.