CompareWhich do you needChecked 23 September 2026
Fleet management software vs telematics
For a fleet of 2 to 50 vehicles. One puts a device in the vehicle and tells you how it is being driven. The other runs from a phone and tells you what the vehicle costs and when it is due.
Telematics is a device installed in each vehicle that reports where it is, whether the ignition is on, how hard it is being driven and, on heavier units, what the engine is doing, all fed to a platform that sells by quote. Fleet management software, the way Axlerun means it, is a record of each vehicle that lives on a phone and the web: its trips, its rego and CTP dates, its servicing, fuel, tolls and fines, priced per vehicle on a website. Big fleets often need both. A fleet of two to fifty vehicles usually needs one, and buying the wrong one means paying for hardware you do not use or missing the compliance dates you do.
You need telematics
You need to see trucks and plant live, coach drivers from the vehicle, or meet heavy-vehicle rules, and you can carry a device, an installation and a quote per vehicle.
Software is enough
You run 2 to 50 utes, vans and cars and need the FBT logbook, rego and CTP dates, fuel and fines per vehicle, from the phones your drivers already carry.
How to tell
What you need to know
Where every vehicle is right now and how it is being driven, reported by the vehicle itself.
What each vehicle costs, when its rego and service are due, and where its trips went.
The vehicles
Trucks and plant under heavy-vehicle rules: NHVAS, HVNL and electronic work diaries.
Utes, vans and cars under ordinary registration, with private use to account for.
Drivers and phones
Drivers will not run an app, or vehicles are shared by people you cannot rely on to log in, so the device has to do the recording.
Drivers carry phones and will run one app, and you want trips recorded without buying anything.
Fuel
You claim Fuel Tax Credits on off-road use and want it measured from the vehicle.
You want fill-ups recorded against the vehicle and the cheapest fuel nearby, which Axlerun shows for NSW, QLD, SA, VIC and WA.
Safety
You want dash cams, in-cab coaching and harsh-braking detection from the vehicle.
You want to know who had the vehicle when the fine arrived, and a driver score built from trips.
Budget shape
You can carry a device per vehicle, an installation, and a term, and you will usually get a quote rather than a price.
You want a per-vehicle price on the website, month to month, with nothing to install.
The FBT logbook
You already have devices; several telematics platforms offer a trip classification add-in on them.
You need the logbook kept per vehicle without buying a device. Axlerun records from the phone and exports the ATO-compliant logbook on Cruise.
When the answer changes
Your fleet passes the point where a person can no longer see it: dozens of heavy vehicles across sites and shifts.
You are running 2 to 50 vehicles and the spreadsheet has stopped working.
What you need to know
You need telematics if
Where every vehicle is right now and how it is being driven, reported by the vehicle itself.
Software is enough if
What each vehicle costs, when its rego and service are due, and where its trips went.
The vehicles
You need telematics if
Trucks and plant under heavy-vehicle rules: NHVAS, HVNL and electronic work diaries.
Software is enough if
Utes, vans and cars under ordinary registration, with private use to account for.
Drivers and phones
You need telematics if
Drivers will not run an app, or vehicles are shared by people you cannot rely on to log in, so the device has to do the recording.
Software is enough if
Drivers carry phones and will run one app, and you want trips recorded without buying anything.
Fuel
You need telematics if
You claim Fuel Tax Credits on off-road use and want it measured from the vehicle.
Software is enough if
You want fill-ups recorded against the vehicle and the cheapest fuel nearby, which Axlerun shows for NSW, QLD, SA, VIC and WA.
Safety
You need telematics if
You want dash cams, in-cab coaching and harsh-braking detection from the vehicle.
Software is enough if
You want to know who had the vehicle when the fine arrived, and a driver score built from trips.
Budget shape
You need telematics if
You can carry a device per vehicle, an installation, and a term, and you will usually get a quote rather than a price.
Software is enough if
You want a per-vehicle price on the website, month to month, with nothing to install.
The FBT logbook
You need telematics if
You already have devices; several telematics platforms offer a trip classification add-in on them.
Software is enough if
You need the logbook kept per vehicle without buying a device. Axlerun records from the phone and exports the ATO-compliant logbook on Cruise.
When the answer changes
You need telematics if
Your fleet passes the point where a person can no longer see it: dozens of heavy vehicles across sites and shifts.
Software is enough if
You are running 2 to 50 vehicles and the spreadsheet has stopped working.
Questions to ask before you sign up
- 1
What is the hardware, who installs it, and who owns it at the end?
Telematics vendors sell devices outright or rent them on a term with installation bundled. Ask what happens when a vehicle is sold, and whether a device moves with it or is billed again.
- 2
Is there a price on the page, or only a quote?
Of the telematics vendors compared on this site, only EROAD publishes figures, and only as 'from' prices without naming a currency. Axlerun publishes every plan. A quote is fine, but it is a sales process, not a price.
- 3
What is the term, and what happens to the data if you leave?
Rental plans run for a term that covers the hardware. Ask for the term in months, the exit cost, and the export formats. Axlerun is month to month and exports the logbook to Excel or PDF on Cruise.
- 4
Does the FBT logbook live on the vehicle, and what does it export?
A trip classification add-in on a device is a start. Ask whether it helps pick the 12-week period, names what is missing, and produces the per-journey export the ATO's logbook method describes.
- 5
Who sees the rego date?
Telematics platforms are built around the live vehicle, and some list no registration or CTP renewal handling at all. If nobody in the system is watching the rego date, it is still living in a spreadsheet.
Common questions
Common questions
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