Here are the best dash cams for fleet vehicles

It’s 2023, which means we have some excellent news for fleet owners and managers: dash cam technology today is incredibly advanced, and can provide you with unparalleled insights into what’s happening with your fleet, at all times. When you choose the best dash cam for fleet vehicles, you get full connectivity, can view a remote livestream in an instant, and of course, will get crystal-clear footage of all drives.

Because fleet dash cam technology is so advanced today, fleet owners and managers have plenty of options to choose from. We’re rounding up the top fleet dash cams, so you can choose one which gives you maximum visibility of your fleet, while making your job easier.

What is a dash cam for a fleet vehicle?

What exactly is a dash cam for a fleet vehicle? A dash cam for a fleet vehicle is a small, compact commercial vehicle camera which is mounted inside your fleet vehicle. The best dash cams for fleets record crisp, high quality video (day or night), allow users to remotely view live streams, and automatically upload footage to a cloud storage system, which can be accessed from anywhere.

When it comes specifically to fleet vehicles, dash cams are even more useful than they are for private vehicles. That’s because dash cams give fleet owners and managers 24/7 insights into exactly what’s happening with their vehicles, drivers, and goods. Plus, when you choose the best dash cam for fleet vehicles, you’ll get next-generation features which make fleet management a breeze (such as being able to view your fleet history, and matching drivers to vehicles).

Benefits and key functionalities of dash cams for fleet vehicle

There are many benefits when it comes to the best dash cam for fleet vehicles.

• 24/7 view of your fleet: The best dash cams for fleet vehicles have GPS tracking and livestream capabilities, so you can see your vehicles from anywhere, at any time.
• Easy-to-use dashboard: When you want to access your dash cam and fleet information, you’ll do so through an easy-to-use dashboard, which provides you with all of your fleet information in one place.
• Incident alerts: When you’re using the best dash cam for fleet vehicles, you’ll likely have some sort of incident detection system. For example, fleet owners and managers who use Nexar Fleets are protected with smart incident detection, which sends alerts and automatically clips videos in the event of a collision or hard brake.
• Assign drivers to vehicles: With commercial vehicle cameras, you can link drivers to vehicles, so you can know exactly what their driving habits are like.
• Insurance reports: If you need to file an insurance claim, your dash cam should make it as seamless as possible. The best dash cams for fleets today come integrated with features which allow you to easily create insurance reports.

How to choose the right fleet dash cam for your needs?

Here are some things to consider when choosing a fleet dash cam system.

• Video quality: Is it important for you to have crisp, crystal-clear footage, day or night? If so, you should take a careful look at the specs of the dash cams you’re considering. Keep in mind that 4K resolution is typically considered the best resolution for dash cams today.
• Interior camera: Do you only want to film in front of your fleet vehicles, or do you want to film inside the cabin as well? While filming in front of fleet vehicles is standard, many fleet owners and managers choose to add on a cabin-view camera.
• Smart alerts: If you’re interested in real-time alerts from your fleet vehicles while they’re out on their drives, then look for a fleet dash cam system which has some type of smart alerts.
• Unlimited cloud storage: Video footage requires some sort of storage system, and this can be particularly challenging if you’re choosing a 4K dash cam (because 4K video files can be quite large and take up a lot of storage space). In order to ensure you don’t run into storage issues, look for a fleet dash cam system that addresses your storage needs. An excellent solution to this issue is when a fleet dash cam includes unlimited cloud storage.
• Fleet size: Not every fleet dash cam system is appropriate for every size fleet. For example, some fleet dash cam systems might only be designed for very large fleets, while others might be suitable for small to medium sized fleets.

Best 5 commercial dash cams for fleet vehicles comparison:

With all of that in mind, here are the five best commercial dash cams for fleets, and a breakdown and comparison of their features.

Nexar Fleets

Nexar Fleets is Nexar’s most powerful, connected fleet dash camera system that provides you with 24/7 tracking, crisp footage, live streaming, and automatic unlimited cloud uploads. Nexar Fleets allows fleet owners and managers to stay connected to their fleet vehicles, drivers, and assets at all times. Nexar Fleets is powered by Nexar One, the connected dash cam with advanced AI-powered features.

Here are some of the main features of Nexar Fleets:

• 24/7 connectivity: You can access your dash cams from anywhere, at any time, and see real-time GPS locations on a map.
• Incident alerts: Receive alerts in the event of a hard braking or collision.
• Cloud storage: Enjoy unlimited cloud storage of your 4K video clips.
• Suitable for microfleets: Nexar Fleets is excellent for small and medium sized fleets.

Connecteam

Connecteam is fleet management software that tracks vehicles, coordinates employees, allows you to run payroll, and is integrated with an app that employees can use to clock in and out of shifts.

Here are some other features of Connecteam:

• Connecteam allows you to see the location of all of your employees on a map.
• You can also reassign workers to different job sites. Plus, if a worker leaves their “agreed-upon work area,” you’ll receive a notification.
• You can assign routes and shifts, can leave open jobs up for grabs, add special instructions, and set up notifications.
• There are also messaging and group chat features.

Samsara

Samsara dash cams come standard with many of the features which allow you to improve visibility into your fleet (with a few exceptions). With Samsara dash cams, you can view live vehicle locations, traffic conditions, and distance from job sites. If a “harsh driving incident” occurs, Samsara dash cams will automatically upload footage.

Here are some more things to keep in mind about Samsara dash cams:

• You can easily install your hardware within a few minutes.
• You can also monitor drivers, view live locations, and use free unlimited cloud storage.
• Samsara dash cams do not come with collision reconstruction features.

Other options:

Lytx

Lytx fleet dash cams are cloud-connected fleet dash cams which provide you with video clips on a searchable online dashboard. Drivers can also capture manual clips as-needed, and all clips are available online. Lytx fleet dash cams are both front and rear-facing, but typically do not record in 4K, and do not include collision reconstruction.

Garmin Fleet

Garmin’s fleet hardware platform is designed to be paired with third-party or custom-developed applications. Garmin’s products help drivers and dispatchers improve customer response, while optimizing fleet resources. Their fleet-ready portable navigators come with interactive navigation and messaging terminals, and fleet-specific features, such as custom truck routing, truck plaza loyalty programs, and information about popular truck routes.

Do insurance companies accept dash cam footage from fleets?

Dash cam footage can be incredibly useful in the event of an insurance claim. By sending clear video evidence of what really happened directly to their insurance companies, fleet managers and owners can exonerate their drivers in the event of a claim.

Case Study: How to improve fleet management with dash cams

When you choose the best dash cam solution for fleet vehicles, here’s how you can improve your fleet management:

• Optimize routes: Use GPS tracking information to view routes, and to optimize vehicle and driver performance.
• Coach drivers: Notice one of your drivers is hard braking often? Use data from fleet management systems to coach drivers and improve safety.
• Check in: Never wonder what’s happening on the road with your vehicles. With fleet dash cams, simply tune into the livestream, to see what’s going on.
• Respond in real-time: If an incident occurs, you’ll know instantly thanks to incident alerts. This means you can respond appropriately, to best support your drivers and vehicles.

Meet Nexar Fleets

Ready to optimize your fleet performance, while understanding what’s happening in real time? Meet Nexar Fleets, your new favorite fleet management system. Here’s what you get with Nexar Fleets:

• Full control over your fleet: You’ll enjoy livestream capabilities and GPS tracking features, and can connect to your vehicle while driving, to see what your vehicles and drivers are seeing.
• Simple dashboard: This user-friendly fleet dashboard is designed to simplify fleet monitoring, so you can easily find all of your vehicles, drivers, and incidents in one place.
• Fuss-free installation: The installation process is straightforward, so you can be up and running with the protection of Nexar Fleets as soon as possible.
• Smart incident detection: Nexar Fleets will notify you in the event of a hard braking or collision involving one of your vehicles. Plus, video of the incident will automatically be clipped and saved to the cloud.
• Driver-vehicle assignment: Link drivers to specific vehicles, so you know exactly who is behind the wheel, and how they’re driving.
• Easy insurance reports: If you do need to make an insurance claim, simply download the incident clip, and send the footage directly to your insurance company.
• Collision reconstruction: Nexar’s AI-vision technology provides an automatically generated, vivid reconstruction immediately after a collision. It shows the accident on a map, and accurately locates all cars involved, using the input of camera footage and motion sensors.

Final Thoughts

When you choose the best dash cam for fleet vehicles, you’ll be able to always know what’s going on with your vehicles and drivers, optimize and coach drivers on their performance, and swiftly navigate any insurance claims. Because of how transformative fleet dash cams can be, be sure to carefully compare your options, to choose a fleet dash cam system that’s best suited for your needs.