How to know if your fleet tech is actually working

Investing in technology is one thing. Making sure it actually improves your operation is another. You can have dashboards, GPS, sensors, and inspection apps, but if you’re not tracking what matters, it’s hard to know if any of it is working.

Fleet performance is more than uptime and revenue. It’s how effectively your systems support safety, maintenance, compliance, and decision-making. With Gearbox, you can see what’s working and what’s not, using real data from the field. Here’s how.

1. Compliance rate: are you staying on top of critical tasks?

Your compliance rate is the percentage of inspections, services, and reports completed correctly and on time. It’s one of the most important metrics to track. A low compliance rate usually means issues are being missed, paperwork is late, or teams aren’t following process.

Gearbox helps you measure compliance in real time. You can see which inspections are overdue, which faults were logged but never closed, and whether service intervals are being hit. If something starts to slide, you know exactly where to look.

2. Fuel efficiency: where waste shows up fast

Fuel costs are a constant pressure. If consumption climbs, your tech should catch it. Gearbox integrates with fuel and odometer data so you can track cost per kilometer or per hour. Rising consumption could point to overdue maintenance, engine performance issues, or inefficient driving.

With this data in hand, you can compare assets, routes, and time periods. That lets you investigate the cause and act before costs spiral.

3. Vehicle uptime: less idle time, more output

Uptime is one of the clearest signs of a well-run fleet. Gearbox lets you log every repair, inspection, and work order against the asset. You’ll know how long it was out of service and why.

That visibility lets you identify which assets are consistently down, which ones cause scheduling headaches, and how long it takes to close out key jobs. More uptime means more productivity and fewer scheduling surprises.

4. Driver behavior: the human side of fleet costs

The way your vehicles are driven has a big impact on wear, fuel, and fault rates. Even small behavior changes make a difference. Gearbox lets you connect driver-reported faults, Prestart history, and even feedback from inspections to build a picture of how your team interacts with equipment.

When drivers report issues quickly, complete inspections thoroughly, and treat gear with care, it shows in the data. When they don’t, that shows up too. Good data supports better training and better culture.

5. Cost per kilometer or per hour: your bottom line

This is where everything adds up. How much does it actually cost to run your assets? Gearbox lets you see parts, labor, third-party costs, downtime, and admin rolled into one clear picture.

When cost per kilometer rises, you can break it down by asset or work type. That helps you answer tough questions like whether to keep repairing or replace. It also helps justify capital spending with clear evidence.

Gearbox makes these metrics easy to track

Gearbox makes fleet data visible in real time. It captures every jobcard, fault report, inspection, and service event and ties them to the asset that triggered it. Over time, this creates a digital footprint for every unit in your fleet. You can filter data by location, team, or asset type. If you want to see how different sites are performing or which equipment brands are most cost-effective, the answers are already in the system.

That kind of visibility helps teams stay ahead of downtime, track spending, and make better decisions—without spreadsheets. It also brings field teams and office staff onto the same page. Drivers log faults directly in the Prestart app. Workshop staff get automatic alerts. Managers can view trends and metrics in one dashboard. Everyone sees what matters, right when it matters.

You don’t have to wait until the end of the month to review what happened. You can act in the moment. That’s the difference between reacting and managing.

The impact on your people

Technology works best when it helps people do their jobs, not just collect data. Gearbox does that. Drivers know they’re being heard. Mechanics can plan their work better. Managers spend less time following up and more time making improvements.

When your team can see that the system works—and that it makes their jobs easier—they buy in. That improves everything from safety to morale. And it reduces the mental load of having to remember what’s due, what’s open, and what’s been missed.

Turning insight into action

Data only matters when it leads to action. With Gearbox, you’re not buried in reports—you’re equipped to move faster, plan smarter, and make decisions that improve the way your fleet runs every day.

If you’re ready to make your tech work harder for you, let us show you what Gearbox can do.