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Samsara vs Teletrac Navman

Two fleet telematics platforms that construction firms use for trucks, yellow iron and driver safety video. Samsara sells a broad connected-operations platform with AI dash cams, a worker-safety wearable and its own AI assistant and agent builder; Teletrac Navman sells TN360 and DIRECTOR with Video AI driver monitoring and sections for aggregates, ready-mix and paving. Neither publishes prices. Vendor pages read Oct 23, 2026; desk research, not tested, no winner.

DESK RESEARCH, NOT TESTED. Compiled from vendors' public websites (accessed Oct 23, 2026). Vendor claims are not verified by Means & Methods Lab. No scores or rankings.

In short: Samsara (Fleet telematics & video safety; no public prices (quote / sales)) vs Teletrac Navman (Fleet & equipment telematics; no public prices (quote / sales)). Facts last checked Oct 23, 2026. No winner declared; not tested.

Side by side

Samsara vs Teletrac Navman: vendor-published facts side by side
Sheet rowSamsaraTeletrac Navman
CategoryFleet telematics & video safetyFleet & equipment telematics
AI role (our label)AI features added to established productAI features added to established product
What it doesConnected-operations platform with a construction offering for fleet tracking, AI dash cams, equipment monitoring and worker safety. Features listed: GPS fleet tracking, dual-facing and front-facing AI dash cams with real-time safety alerts and driver coaching, asset tags for small and unpowered assets, utilization, dormancy, and machine-use reporting for equipment and vehicles, preventive maintenance and remote fault-code alerts for vehicles and yellow iron, fuel reporting, and a worker-safety wearable. Its AI page describes Samsara Assistant (plain-language questions about your operation), Agent Studio (custom AI agents and automations), and Samsara MCP, which connects Samsara data to tools such as Claude, ChatGPT, or Copilot while respecting existing permissions (vendor description). Re-checked Oct 19, 2026: the AI page still describes Samsara Assistant, Agent Studio (custom agents from plain-language instructions or ready-made templates) and Samsara MCP; the construction page still lists AI dash cams, asset tags (now including an Asset Tag XS for the smallest assets), asset scheduling, maintenance and fault-code alerts for vehicles and yellow iron, and the worker-safety wearable (one-click SOS, fall detection, location sharing). Re-checked Oct 21, 2026: the AI page (now headed AI and Agents) still describes Samsara Assistant, Agent Studio and Samsara MCP; Agent Studio is now described as starting from a pre-built agent or a custom chat or voice agent described in plain language that runs on its own when a trigger fires, with permissions, audit trail, AI observability and AI evaluations listed as controls. The construction page is unchanged in substance (AI dash cams, Asset Tag and Asset Tag XS, maintenance and fault-code alerts for vehicles and yellow iron, the worker-safety wearable) and names OEM integrations including Ford, GM, Stellantis, John Deere, Komatsu, Caterpillar, Volvo, CNH Industrial and Vermeer. Customer quotes with collision figures are not used. Re-checked Oct 22, 2026: the AI and Agents page still describes Samsara Assistant, Agent Studio and Samsara MCP, and now also lists in-cab guidance and start-of-shift briefings for drivers, AI-powered ride-alongs and automated calls when a high-risk pattern shows up (vendor description); the construction page is unchanged in substance. Customer savings figures are not used. Re-read Oct 23, 2026 for a compare: the construction page is unchanged in substance (mixed fleet of vehicles, heavy equipment and unpowered assets in one dashboard, OEM integrations including CAT, John Deere, Komatsu, Ford and Volvo, Find My Asset, AI dash cams, Asset Tag and Asset Tag XS, maintenance and fault-code alerts for vehicles and yellow iron, the worker-safety wearable); the menu still promotes Agent Studio for building your own AI agents.Fleet and equipment telematics vendor tracking construction equipment, from yellow iron to pickup trucks, with Video AI driver monitoring. Its construction page covers: locate equipment across jobsites, engine hours and fuel, geofencing against unauthorized use or theft, idle equipment that could move to another job, preventive maintenance alerts and logs, cost-of-ownership and rent-vs-buy reporting, and monitoring of payloads, cycle times and daily production targets. Platforms named are TN360 and DIRECTOR. Video telematics is integrated into TN360, and the page says "Video AI monitors driving behavior including speeding, distracted driving and tailgating", with scorecards, coaching apps and video access for claims. Also lists aggregate mining, ready-mix concrete, asphalt/paving and construction trades. A Sherwood Construction case study says GPS tracking led police to a stolen loader backhoe and skid steer that would have cost over $160,000 to replace (vendor case study, not verified). Re-checked Oct 19, 2026: the construction page is unchanged in substance (TN360 and DIRECTOR, equipment utilization, maintenance alerts, cost-of-ownership reporting, Video AI for driver behavior, the Sherwood case study). The homepage also describes its video telematics as using AI to simplify risk management, and promotes an Energy Hub for fuel and charging data and a vendor research report on idle equipment (vendor claims, not verified). The AI described is still in driver video, so the tag stays. Re-checked Oct 21, 2026: construction page unchanged in substance (TN360 and DIRECTOR, Video AI for driving behavior, the Sherwood Construction case study). Re-checked Oct 23, 2026: construction page unchanged in substance (TN360 and DIRECTOR, equipment location, engine hours and fuel, geofencing, maintenance logs, cost-of-ownership and rent-vs-buy reporting, Video AI for speeding, distraction and tailgating, aggregates, ready-mix and paving sections).
Who it's forContractors and other operators running vehicle fleets, yellow iron, and mixed assets.Contractors, ready-mix, aggregate and paving operations running mixed on-road and off-road fleets.
Pricing (as publicly stated)Not publicly listed (the pricing page, rendered in a headless browser on Oct 16, 2026, shows a "Check our prices" questionnaire that starts with fleet size and no prices; the site routes to sales; unchanged Oct 19, 2026: the page still starts by asking how many vehicles or assets you have and shows no prices). Re-checked Oct 21, 2026: unchanged; the pricing page still opens a questionnaire asking how many vehicles or assets you have and shows no prices. Re-checked Oct 22, 2026: unchanged; the pricing page still opens a questionnaire asking how many vehicles or assets you have and shows no prices. Re-read Oct 23, 2026: unchanged; the pricing page still opens a questionnaire asking how many vehicles or assets you have and shows no prices.Not publicly listed (Get Pricing form; teletracnavman.com/pricing returned 404). (Checked Oct 16, 2026.) Re-checked Oct 19, 2026: unchanged. The Get Pricing form and the interactive product builder are still the only pricing routes; /pricing still returns 404. Re-checked Oct 21, 2026: unchanged (Get Pricing form; no prices shown). Re-checked Oct 23, 2026: unchanged (Get Pricing form and product builder; no prices shown).
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Vendor links
Sources

Facts last checked: Oct 23, 2026. Prices change; check the vendor page before relying on them.

Where the vendor descriptions differ

  • Fleet scope: both cover mixed fleets of on-road vehicles and off-road equipment. Samsara's construction page lists vehicles, heavy equipment and unpowered assets in one dashboard, with OEM integrations naming CAT, John Deere, Komatsu, Ford and Volvo, plus Asset Tag and Asset Tag XS for small assets. Teletrac Navman's construction page covers yellow iron to pickup trucks, engine hours, fuel, geofencing and moving idle equipment to another job.
  • Equipment economics: Samsara lists utilization, dormancy, power take-off and machine-use reporting, job scheduling for powered and unpowered assets, and automated time-on-site reports for billing. Teletrac Navman lists cost-of-ownership and rent-vs-buy reporting, payload, cycle-time and daily production monitoring, and maintenance logs and alerts.
  • Driver and crew safety: both pair video with coaching. Samsara lists driver- and road-facing AI dash cams with incident alerts and on-demand video retrieval, plus a worker-safety wearable with one-click SOS, fall detection and location sharing. Teletrac Navman says its Video AI, integrated into TN360, monitors speeding, distracted driving and tailgating, with scorecards, coaching apps and video access for claims.
  • AI beyond video: Samsara describes Samsara Assistant (plain-language questions about your operation), Agent Studio (custom AI agents that run on triggers) and Samsara MCP for connecting its data to tools such as Claude, ChatGPT or Copilot. Teletrac Navman's pages read describe AI in driver video only. Both are tagged AI features added to established product.
  • Industry focus: Teletrac Navman has dedicated sections for aggregate mining and quarrying, ready-mix concrete, and asphalt and paving. Samsara's construction page is organized around construction fleets generally, with real-time ETAs and location sharing for deliveries.
  • Pricing (checked Oct 23, 2026): neither publishes prices. Samsara's pricing page opens a questionnaire that starts with how many vehicles or assets you have; Teletrac Navman routes to a Get Pricing form and a product builder (/pricing returns 404).
  • Not used here: customer savings, accident and recovery figures and vendor research statistics (vendor material). Neither tool has been tested by Means & Methods Lab.

Paraphrased from the sources listed above. Vendor claims are reported as claims.

What users say

The facts above come from vendor websites. Whether either tool is any good for your work is something only people who use them can say. These are member reviews, all ratings shown, never edited or removed for being negative.

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Questions to ask in your review

  • Which OEM feeds each pulls in for your mix of machines, and which need extra hardware
  • What hardware, install and per-asset costs look like for a fleet your size
  • Whether Samsara's AI agents or MCP access cost extra on top of the base subscription
  • What did you use it for, on what kind of work and project size?
  • How long did setup and training take, and who on your team did it?
  • What does it cost you in practice, compared with what the sales call said?

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