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Documentation Index

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Tread connects to Samsara and Geotab to pull live GPS and engine data from your trucks. The data drives truck visibility on the dispatch board and lets Tread auto-detect when a truck enters or leaves a geofence — a virtual fence around a site.

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Prerequisites

  • An active Samsara or Geotab account with API access.
  • A Samsara API token, or a Geotab database name plus username and password with API rights.
  • A Tread admin user with the Integrations permission.
  • Trucks set up in your telematics provider with consistent vehicle names or unit numbers.
  • Equipment records in Tread for each truck.

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How it works

  1. Authenticate once — Samsara uses an API token. Geotab uses a credentialed API session.
  2. Match vehicles to equipment — Telematics vehicles map to Tread equipment by unit number or external ID.
  3. Stream GPS positions — Tread polls the provider and updates the dispatch board.
  4. Detect geofence events — When a truck enters or leaves a site geofence, Tread starts a Geofence Timer and can auto-trigger ticket capture.
  5. Pull engine data — Engine hours and idle time feed into equipment usage.

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What flows where

DataDirectionFrequency
GPS positionTelematics → Tread~1 min polling
Engine on/offTelematics → TreadReal time
Engine hoursTelematics → TreadReal time
Vehicle metadataTelematics → TreadOn connect, then daily
Geofence eventsTelematics → TreadReal time

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Setup

1

Open Integrations settings

Go to Settings → Integrations → Telematics.
2

Pick your provider

Choose Samsara or Geotab.
3

Enter credentials

Samsara: paste your API token. Geotab: enter the database name, username, and password.
4

Match vehicles to equipment

Tread lists vehicles from your provider. Map each to a Tread equipment record.
5

Confirm a live position

Watch a moving truck on the dispatch board. The position should update within a minute.

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Limitations

  • One telematics provider per Tread company. You cannot mix Samsara and Geotab.
  • GPS update cadence depends on the provider’s plan.
  • Geofence accuracy depends on GPS quality. Wooded or dense urban sites may need polygon geofences instead of circles.
  • Engine data fields differ between Samsara and Geotab. Some fields (fuel level, fault codes) may not surface in Tread.
  • Vehicles renamed in the telematics provider must be re-mapped in Tread.

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Troubleshooting

Truck not on the dispatch board
  1. Confirm the vehicle is mapped in Settings → Integrations → Telematics.
  2. Check that the truck reported in the last hour at your telematics provider.
  3. Confirm the equipment record is active.
Geofence not triggering
  1. Confirm the site has a geofence with valid lat/long.
  2. If no event fires after a truck drives in, widen the radius or switch to a polygon.
  3. Confirm auto-geofence settings are enabled in Platform Configurations.
Geotab connection error
  1. Confirm the database, username, and password are correct.
  2. Confirm the Geotab user has API rights — some roles do not.
  3. Sign in to Geotab MyAdmin with the same credentials to rule out a lockout.