Set up fleet GPS: plug-in trackers or technicians' phones

Overview#

Fleet GPS puts your trucks and technicians on a live map, detects arrivals at job addresses automatically, shows customers a live ETA on their One Link, and checks timesheets against GPS. You can use plug-in OBD trackers (no phone needed, works with the phone off) or technicians' phones (no hardware). Trackers report through flespi, a tracker gateway with a free tier for small fleets; you need your own flespi account.

Before you start#

• You need the Owner or Admin role.

• For trackers: OBD-II trackers that flespi supports (for example the Teltonika FMC003 class), each with a data SIM, plus a free account at flespi.io.

• For phones: technicians on the TradesWork Field app. They must accept the monitoring notice before their phone shares location.

• Check local rules about monitoring employees in the states you work in.

Steps#

1. Add your vehicles#

1. Open Settings › Integrations › GPS (the page is titled Fleet).

2. Under Vehicles, type a name in Add a vehicle (for example Van 12), optionally the Year and Default tech, and press Add vehicle.

3. In the table you can add Unit #, make, model, plate, VIN, a home base (name, latitude and longitude) and tick Active. Press Save on the row.

4. The default tech's appointments are shown as the truck's appointments on the map.

2a. Trackers: register them#

1. Under Trackers, enter the Tracker IMEI (on the tracker's label), an optional Label (for example Under dash, driver side) and pick the Vehicle.

2. Press Register. Positions from unregistered trackers are refused.

2b. Trackers: connect flespi#

In Tracker gateway setup (flespi):

1. Press Create token and confirm. Copy the ingest URL with Copy URL (it's shown once), then press Done.

2. In flespi, create a channel for your tracker protocol (Teltonika: teltonika) and point each tracker's server setting at the channel's host and port.

3. Plug the tracker into the truck's OBD-II port.

4. In flespi, create a stream of type http, set the URI to your ingest URL, and subscribe it to the channel. Keep the batch size (limit_messages) at 500 or less.

5. Turn the ignition on. The truck appears on the Fleet map within a minute.

2c. Phones instead of trackers#

1. Each technician opens the TradesWork Field app and accepts the location notice.

2. Their phone then shares location while they work. Phones sharing location are listed under Trackers.

3. Privacy, retention and the notice#

1. In Privacy and retention:

   • Off-duty privacy: hide positions recorded outside working hours from everyone in the office (recommended for take-home trucks).

   • Working hours: Dispatch board hours or Custom hours (Custom start, Custom end), and Working days.

   • Keep positions (months): 1 to 36.

   • Press Save privacy settings.

2. In Monitoring notice, edit the Notice text ({company} and {retention} are filled in) and press Save notice. Saving a change asks everyone to accept again. The table shows who accepted which version.

4. Arrival detection and customer ETA#

In Arrival detection and customer ETA, choose what happens When GPS detects an arrival, whether to show a Live ETA on the customer's One Link, Suggest finishing the job on departure, and Allow background location on phones. Press Save arrival settings. Add Geofences for the shop or supply houses, or to fix a job address whose map pin is off.

Settings that change this#

• Settings › Integrations › GPS: everything above.

• Settings › Dispatch Board › Board & Skills: the board hours used when working hours follow the dispatch board.

• Schedule › Timesheets: GPS discrepancies are flagged on timesheets before you export payroll.

Tips#

• Positions during an appointment the tech is en route to or working are always visible, even with off-duty privacy on.

• The customer's live ETA shows the tech's first name, photo, an approximate position (snapped to about 250 m) and the arrival estimate. It stops at arrival and shows no route or history.

• flespi doesn't sign its requests, so treat the ingest URL like a password. Press Rotate token if it leaks, and update flespi right away.

Troubleshooting#

• The tracker never shows up → IMEI typo, no data on the tracker's SIM, or the flespi stream is off. → Check the IMEI matches exactly, the SIM has data, and the flespi stream is enabled.

• It stopped after I rotated the token → the old token stops working immediately. → Paste the new ingest URL into the flespi stream.

• A phone doesn't appear → the technician hasn't accepted the current notice. → Check Monitoring notice: Not yet or Accepted vN only means they need to accept again in the app.

• Technicians worry about being tracked off the clock → turn on Off-duty privacy; positions outside working hours are hidden from the office.

FAQ#

Who can see the live map? Owners, Admins, Dispatchers and CSRs. Accounting and Viewers can't.

Do I need trackers? No. Phones work without hardware. Trackers work even when the phone is off or left at home.

Does TradesWork sell trackers or flespi? No. You buy the trackers and open your own flespi account.

Coming from ServiceTitan#

ServiceTitan connects to GPS providers under Settings › Integrations › GPS. TradesWork works with any tracker flespi supports, or with phones. If your current GPS provider's trackers are flespi-compatible, you can point them at flespi and keep the hardware.