How to Evaluate GPS Fleet Tracking Options for Construction
- Seth Derstine
- December 18, 2025
Construction operations are complex, high-stakes, and constantly changing. With assets scattered across multiple jobsites, assets ranging from heavy machinery to small tools, and crews moving daily, having clear visibility into your fleet is critical. Here’s where GPS fleet tracking comes in.
GPS fleet tracking is a technology that uses hardware devices and IoT cloud software to monitor the real-time location, performance, and usage of construction vehicles and equipment.
If you are a contractor, selecting the right platform is mission critical to truly manage your operations.
Generic fleet systems fall short when it comes to construction-specific needs. In this guide, we’ll explore how to evaluate GPS fleet tracking options for construction, compare on-road vs. mixed fleet tracking, and highlight key construction fleet tracking features that every contractor should prioritize.
On-Road vs. Mixed Fleet Tracking: What You Need to Know
Many fleet tracking tools are designed for logistics, trucking, or multi-industry use. While they monitor vehicles well, they often fail when applied to construction operations. Common challenges include:
- Limited coverage for heavy equipment, small tools, and attachments
- Inaccurate hour meters and asset utilization reporting
- No automatic equipment-to-project association for job costing
- Poor hardware durability for typical, rough jobsite conditions
- Inadequate maintenance tracking tied to assets and projects
- Dispatching that ignores jobsite context, leading to delays and idle time
- Safety monitoring focused only on drivers, not operators or equipment
These gaps create inaccurate billing, over-renting, project delays, and misaligned maintenance, costing contractors both time and money. Contractors who rely solely on on-road GPS systems leave themselves open to data gaps and operational inefficiencies, while mixed fleet tracking provides full visibility into every asset and project workflow.
Key Difference #1: Asset Types and Operating Environments
On-road GPS fleet tracking:
- Designed for trucks, vans, and service vehicles traveling on highways and public roads
- Optimized for routing, dispatching, fuel efficiency, and driver compliance
- Typically assumes stable connectivity and predictable movement patterns
Mixed-fleet construction tracking:
- Must support dozens of asset categories in addition to on-road, including excavators, loaders, cranes, generators, pickups, trailers, and attachments
- Operates in rugged, signal-challenged environments such as tunnels, remote jobsites, and dense urban work zones
- Requires multiple sensor types (e.g., GPS, telematics, Bluetooth, engine diagnostics) to accurately track a wide range of equipment
Because construction operations depend on high amounts of assets scattered across constantly changing sites, only a mixed-fleet solution can provide full visibility and reliable utilization insights. Read more about the benefits of asset tracking hardware for mixed fleets.
Key Difference #2: Depth of Equipment Data
On-road systems typically capture:
- Location
- Speed and driving behavior
- Route history
- Fuel use and idle time
Mixed-fleet systems capture much more, including:
- Engine hours vs. miles driven
- Machine utilization and work modes
- Maintenance needs and diagnostic trouble codes
- PTO usage
- Location within complex jobsite boundaries
- Financial data
This is where generic GPS platforms often fall short. Heavy equipment requires far more nuanced telematics to support job costing, maintenance planning, and productivity tracking. Read more about the importance of construction equipment data.
Key Difference #3: Jobsite-Specific Features
Traditional vehicle-centric GPS does not account for construction workflows. Mixed-fleet construction platforms deliver:
- Geofence automation to assign costs, utilization, and billing by jobsite
- Dispatch arrival/departure logs for equipment and operators
- Asset safety and security features such as heavy equipment cameras, unauthorized exit alerts, back-up tracking methods, and tracking options for assets traditionally difficult to track
- Integration with project systems like field management, procurement, and accounting
- Equipment inspection workflows tied to maintenance programs
- Telematics-driven dispatching
- Mobile access to critical field features
These construction-specific capabilities drive daily efficiencies that generic GPS systems cannot replicate.
Key Difference #4: Operational Goals
On-road fleets focus on:
- Reducing fuel costs
- Improving routing
- Monitoring driver safety
- Managing compliance (ELD/HOS)
Construction mixed fleets focus on:
- Eliminating wasted rentals, over-purchasing, and underutilization
- Improving efficiencies in dispatching and jobsite coordination
- Improving job costing and internal billing
- Ensuring the right equipment is on the right job at the right time
- Protecting high-value assets from theft
- Optimizing the total cost of ownership of high value, mission critical assets
When selecting a GPS fleet tracking platform, contractors should prioritize construction fleet tracking features that directly support productivity, utilization, and jobsite logistics—not just road-based transportation goals.
Key Construction Fleet Tracking Features to Look For
When evaluating GPS fleet tracking for construction, look for a platform that includes:
- Real-Time Location Tracking
- Live data for all assets accessible through a unified dashboard
- Enables faster dispatching and efficient equipment assignment
- Geofencing and Virtual Boundaries
- Trigger alerts when assets enter or exit designated zones
- Prevents theft, enforces jobsite boundaries, and verifies deliveries
- Driver and Operator Behavior Monitoring
- Tracks speeding, harsh braking, idle times
- Integrates AI dashcams for proactive safety coaching
- Fuel Usage and Equipment Optimization
- Reduces unnecessary fuel use, idle time, and emissions
- Optimizes use of trucks and equipment
- Engine Diagnostics and Maintenance Alerts
- Monitors engine health and triggers proactive servicing
- Supports parts tracking, mobile mechanic timecards, and automated scheduling
- Field-Friendly Dashboards and Reporting
- Centralized visualizations and automated reports
- Mobile access and customizable widgets for utilization, maintenance, and inspections
- Hardware Reliability and Connectivity
- Diverse, rugged GPS devices for all equipment types
- High signal strength, long battery life, and weatherproofing
- Integration Capabilities
- Syncs with ERP, accounting, project management, OEM telematics, fuel card providers, and procurement platforms
- Scalability and Growth Support
- Systems that grow and scale with you to support expanding fleets and job sites
- Dedicated account management and top tier customer service
Why Tenna Delivers What Generic Systems Cannot
Tenna is built exclusively for construction mixed fleets, providing capabilities that generic fleet tracking tools cannot match:
- Full mixed fleet asset management for heavy equipment, trucks, small tools, attachments, parts, material inventory, consumables and more
- Jobsite-centric tracking with automatic asset-to-project association
- Construction-grade hardware built for rugged environments
- Integrated maintenance and parts workflows, reducing downtime and costs
- Real-time scheduling and dispatching, powered by telematics, across projects and crews
- Comprehensive safety monitoring beyond driver behavior with AI dash cams for fleet vehicles and heavy equipment, plus driver and operations scorecards
- Robust mobile app with offline mode functionality, catered to field use needs and workflows
- Seamless integration with construction systems
- U.S.-based support and dedicated account managers for contractors
By addressing construction-specific pain points, Tenna helps contractors maximize asset utilization, reduce operational waste, improve job costing accuracy, and streamline communication across field and office teams.
Want to see first-hand how Tenna is different from generic GPS fleet tracking systems?
Seth Derstine
Seth Derstine is the Regional Territory Manager for Tenna, leading enterprise sales and account strategy across the Greater Midwest. With a strong focus on new business acquisition and strategic growth, Seth partners with regional account executives to deliver innovative construction technology solutions that drive efficiency and results for large-scale operations.