Geofencing.

What it is

Geofencing is a GPS-based virtual perimeter drawn around a defined location — a shipper's dock, a fuel stop, a state line, a home terminal. ELD and telematics systems trigger events when a truck enters or exits the zone, generating accurate arrival and departure timestamps without driver action. Common uses include automatic customer arrival notifications, detention-timer start and stop, fuel-theft alerts (truck moving when it shouldn't be), and automatic IFTA mileage-by-state tracking at state-line crossings.

Geofencing is a standard feature on Samsara, Motive, Geotab, and Verizon Reveal. It integrates with TMS systems for automated workflow — auto-billing when a delivery geofence triggers, auto-starting detention timers when a pickup geofence is entered, auto-closing dispatches on terminal arrival. GPS accuracy typically runs 50–100 feet, which is precise enough for dock-level zoning.

Why it matters for trucking finance

Geofencing automates detention pay timestamping, which is critical for collecting detention reliably from brokers and shippers. Drivers routinely forget to manually log arrival and departure under load pressure, and brokers often refuse detention claims without precise timestamps from a verifiable source. A geofence creates audit-ready records that hold up in dispute and convert directly into collectible accessorial revenue.

IFTA reporting accuracy improves dramatically with geofence-based state-line detection compared to manual driver-entered logs — fewer audit flags, faster quarterly close, less back-office reconciliation time. For fleets, geofence-based productivity reporting reveals which drivers and which customers cost the most operational time, surfacing detention-prone shippers that should either be rate-adjusted on the next contract renewal or dropped entirely. Insurance pricing reflects telematics adoption broadly, and geofencing is part of the operational-discipline signal carriers weigh at renewal alongside ELD and dash cam data.

Related terms

• Vehicle Telematics — Connected vehicle data (location, speed, fuel, engine diagnostics, driver behavior) transmitted to fleet management systems for analysis and reporting.
• Detention Pay — Compensation paid to a carrier when loading or unloading takes longer than the contractually free time (typically 2 hours).
• IFTA — Reciprocal fuel-tax agreement among US states and Canadian provinces consolidating fuel-tax reporting for interstate commercial vehicles.
• ELD — Electronic Logging Device that automatically records driving time, replacing paper logbooks; mandated for most CDL operators since December 2017.

Related Dispatched products

• Owner-operator financing