Insurance Carriers Are Starting to Require Telematics Data. Here’s What That Means for Your Fleet.

The Shift in Commercial Auto Insurance

I founded TrackNet in 2000. In the 25 years since, I have watched commercial auto insurance go through a lot of changes, but the one happening right now is the biggest. Some major underwriters will no longer write commercial fleet policies unless the fleet subscribes to a telematics data platform like SpeedGauge or TruckerCloud. Read that again. They are not asking nicely. They are not offering a discount. They are making it a condition of coverage.

A few years ago, I would have told you that telematics was optional for a small to mid-sized fleet. That it was a smart investment if you wanted to reduce claims or improve safety, but you could run without it. I will not tell you that anymore. The insurance market has shifted, and the fleets that do not get out in front of it are the ones that get blindsided at renewal.

What This Means for Your Fleet at Renewal Time

If you operate commercial vehicles, the stakes are straightforward. At your next renewal, your broker may come back and tell you the carrier needs telematics data before they will quote. If you cannot provide it in the format the carrier wants, you have three options, none of them good: pay a higher premium to a less selective carrier, scramble to install a platform on short notice, or lose the coverage altogether.

The worse version of this story is the fleet that has cameras and GPS already, but no way to deliver that data into the insurance carrier’s workflow. The data is sitting on the device, but it might as well not exist. That is the gap most of my customers were running into.

How TrackNet Bridges the Gap

That is why my team and I built integrations with three platforms: TruckerCloud, SpeedGauge, and ProMiles. The first two solve the insurance data problem. The third extends the same idea into routing, fuel tax, and compliance. Once a fleet is running our fleet dash cams and GPS tracking, the data flows into all three platforms in the background. No manual exports, no spreadsheets, no separate uploads from the fleet manager.

Our Insurance Data Integrations: TruckerCloud and SpeedGauge

These two platforms are the ones underwriters are pointing to. They do related but different things, and the distinction matters when you are talking to your broker.

TruckerCloud

TruckerCloud is a telematics aggregator built specifically for commercial auto insurance. It sits between fleet telematics providers and insurance carriers, normalizing data so that underwriters can use it for risk scoring, claims, and usage-based programs. According to TruckerCloud, the platform is compatible with more than 90 percent of commercial vehicles on the road, supports 170+ https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/hours-service/elds/electronic-logging-devicesELD and camera integrations, and helps insurers reduce the cost of claims by 10 percent or more. It also delivers First Notice of Loss details within minutes of a crash, compared to an industry average of 13 days.

For our customers, the integration means our dual-facing dash cam footage, GPS data, and driver behavior signals flow into TruckerCloud automatically. From there, the data feeds into the underwriting and claims workflows of carriers like Crum & Forster, Canal Insurance, Great West Casualty Company, Fundamental Underwriters, AmWINS, and Northland Insurance.

SpeedGauge

SpeedGauge is a driving behavior analytics company that aggregates telematics data and formats it into reports used by insurance carriers, brokers, and agents to set commercial fleet rates. They hold 10 US patents and partner with more than 90 telematics service providers. Their TIPR report — short for Telematics Information Profile Report — is the document many brokers and agents pull when they are trying to get a fleet into a better rate.

For our customers, the SpeedGauge integration means your driving behavior data is automatically included in those analytics. If your drivers are safe, the data shows it. If your incident rate is low, the report makes that case for you. The fleets that benefit the most from SpeedGauge are the ones who already run a tight operation. The integration just makes sure the carrier sees it.

Beyond Insurance: Routing, Fuel Tax, and Compliance with ProMiles

ProMiles serves a different audience. The company has been around for more than 40 years, and it is the platform a lot of trucking companies, owner-operators, and compliance professionals rely on for truck-legal routing, IFTA fuel tax automation, fuel cost optimization, and oversize and overweight permit routing.

Our integration with ProMiles means the GPS and trip data from our fleet management solutions flow into those routing, tax, and permit workflows. For a fleet operating across multiple states, this cuts a lot of the manual work out of IFTA fuel tax reporting and helps drivers stay on legal, permitted routes. We built the ProMiles integration because our customers kept asking for it. They did not want fleet data in one system and tax data in another.

Why These Three Integrations Matter Together

I went after all three of these integrations because they solve three different parts of the same problem: making fleet data useful to the people who already need it. TruckerCloud connects you to commercial auto insurance underwriting. SpeedGauge feeds the analytics that influence your insurance pricing. ProMiles handles the operational side: routing, fuel tax, and permitting.

A fleet running TrackNet today is not just running cameras. It is running a data engine that talks to insurance carriers, brokers, and compliance tools in parallel. That is how it works in practice, and it is the direction this industry is moving whether a fleet is ready for it or not.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do insurance carriers require commercial fleets to share telematics data?

A growing number of insurance underwriters require commercial fleets to share telematics data through approved platforms before they will issue or renew coverage. Some major underwriters will not insure commercial fleets that do not subscribe to platforms such as SpeedGauge or TruckerCloud.

What is TruckerCloud?

TruckerCloud is a telematics aggregator built for commercial auto insurance. It connects to ELD and camera systems and normalizes the data so that insurance carriers can use it for underwriting, risk scoring, claims, and usage-based insurance programs.

What is SpeedGauge?

SpeedGauge is a driving behavior analytics company that aggregates telematics data from fleet providers and formats it into reports used by insurance carriers, brokers, and agents to set commercial fleet insurance rates and evaluate fleet risk.

What does ProMiles do for commercial fleets?

ProMiles provides trucking software for truck-legal routing, automated IFTA fuel tax reporting, fuel cost optimization, and oversize and overweight permitting. It is used by fleets, owner-operators, and compliance professionals to plan legal routes, automate tax filings, and manage permits across multiple states.

What is First Notice of Loss (FNOL) in commercial fleet insurance?

First Notice of Loss (FNOL) is the initial report a fleet or driver provides to an insurance carrier after a crash or incident. Faster, more accurate FNOL reporting can speed claim resolution, reduce disputes, and support more accurate liability decisions. Telematics platforms such as TruckerCloud can automatically deliver crash details, including ELD and camera data, to insurers within minutes, compared to an industry average of 13 days.