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A geofence can be defined as a virtual fence around a delimited geographical location. Geofencing is the use of this digital fence to trigger an action when entering or leaving this perimeter.
Geofencing is used by companies in multiple industries. Have you ever seen ads regarding something specific to your neighborhood? Or, perhaps, the weather in your city? Well, these are a few examples of how modern geofencing is used in the marketing business.
However, geofencing also has extremely valuable usages for fleet managers.
How does geofencing work?
Geofencing utilises GPS, RFID, wifi or cellular data to establish a virtual boundary around a geographic area. Software is used to draw this boundary on a map, which can be circular or custom-shaped. When a vehicle equipped with a GPS device crosses this boundary, the geofencing system triggers a predefined action, such as sending a notification or recording the event in fleet management software.
Types of geofencing
The type of geofencing you should use varies according to whether the fence boundaries move during operations, whether the designated area is temporary and how precisely the boundaries need to be set.
- Static geofencing: geofence boundaries stay fixed in one place. Typically used for long-term sites like depots, warehouses or restricted zones.
- Dynamic geofencing: boundaries move automatically to follow an asset and save manual monitoring. Alerts can be programmed based on proximity.
- Temporary zones: managers can mark out areas for short-term needs like roadworks to avoid, events or seasonal work. To avoid ‘zone clutter’ within the system, they delete automatically after a set time.
- Permanent zones: zones that are always active unless manually modified or removed. They are drawn around sites that are regularly visited, e.g. headquarters, key delivery points, loading bays or prohibited areas
- Zone precision: fleet operators can select how tightly a geofence is drawn.
- High precision: fences trace a detailed shape around specific assets or locations. High precision is key for compliance or high-security operations where boundary crossing must be displayed with granular visibility.
- Low precision: zones expanding over a broader region. It’s useful when you only need general awareness rather than pinpoint accuracy, and reduces the chance of false alerts if exact boundary lines aren’t important.
What is geofencing in fleet management?
In fleet management, geofencing is a GPS-based feature that allows you to digitally draw geofences in key locations to trigger a pre-defined action. These key locations can be your main office, secondary offices, customer’s locations, secure areas or even cities, to name just a few.
Creating geofences in Webfleet
Geofences are called ‘areas’ in Webfleet. Webfleet areas help you to keep track of your vehicles. You can automatically receive different types of notifications generated by Webfleet when one or more of your vehicles enter or leave a specific area.
Areas become active immediately and remain active in Webfleet until you delete or deactivate them manually. You can also create a temporary area that remains active for a certain period of time only by defining a start and an end date.
The following shapes of areas are available:
- Circle for low-precision areas
- Polygon for high-precision areas
Webfleet gives you control over how geofence alerts work. You fix the areas, the rules and the triggers. You can also download an alerts report to maintain a complete historical log of activity.
Geofencing use cases per industry
Setting up areas that trigger alerts for motion detection is highly valuable for companies. Different fleets do so for different objectives. Here’s how geofencing boosts safety, security, control and compliance across several industries.
Transport:
- By geofencing customer sites, facilities receive arrival alerts and can prepare for a vehicle in a timely manner. This can reduce dwell time and detention costs.
- Geofence alert data can confirm that vehicles followed approved routes and completed regulated stops, supporting compliance.
Construction:
- Outline hazardous onsite areas such as crane zones or excavations so that alerts are triggered when someone enters a high-risk area. Managers can react quickly and prevent workers from unknowingly putting themselves in danger.
- Prevent equipment theft with alerts when machinery is moved off a job-site during off-hours.
Service and maintenance:
- Confirm job‑site visits with automated enter/exit alerts for customer locations, helping with transparent billing and service verification.
- Improve time tracking by logging when technicians leave and return to the home base via automatic geofence time stamps.
How can geofencing improve your fleet efficiency?
As mentioned above, a geofence can be drawn in key places like your main parking lot. With GPS-based geofencing, you can monitor fleets whenever they enter or exit this pre-defined area.
Geofencing can help you to easily keep track of important events, like entering a country, with real-time notifications, which are also referred to as Geofence Alerts. These alerts can also ensure you get immediate notification if a serious incident of some kind occurs. For example, if one of your vehicles exits an area that it is not supposed to leave or at a time that was not planned, you get notified in real-time and can quickly act on the information.
The benefits of geofencing in fleet management
Geofencing is highly valuable for organisations with mobile workforces and fleets, as it gives you greater visibility over your operation and productivity. This positively impacts your planning and helps you improve resource allocation.
Geofencing also helps you to:
- Simplify communications. Receive notifications when fleets reach a certain location or checkpoint.
- Analyse operations. Keep track of location visits, average time spent with customer and detention details.
- Reduce detention times. You can improve detention times thanks to automated alerts that can be sent to facilities and receivers to notify them the vehicle is about to reach them.
When integrated with telematics software like Webfleet, geofencing can give you full visibility over your operations, increasing safety and transparency in your organisation. If you want to learn more about geofencing, get in contact with one of our experts today.
Benefits of geofencing
Geofencing offers several practical benefits for fleet managers who want greater control over vehicles and daily operations. By defining virtual boundaries around important locations, organisations can automatically monitor movement and activity, removing the need for manual check-ins. This creates a reliable foundation for improved operational oversight and informed decision-making.
Geofencing time clocks for tracking work hours
Geofencing automates the tracking of employee working hours. For hourly-paid technicians, it helps monitor their time on job sites by creating virtual timecards. When a worker leaves a job site, the virtual timecard records the time spent, automatically logging hours into payroll. This saves time and allows businesses to focus on core activities.
Driver performance and arrival monitoring
Geofencing enhances driver accountability and helps them stay on schedule. When a driver enters a designated area, recipients can prepare for the vehicle's arrival. Instead of contacting a field technician, geofencing alerts you when they reach the site, fostering trust, boosting efficiency and saving time. Time saved translates to cost savings.
Theft prevention
According to the Transport Asset Protection Association (TAPA), cargo thefts in the EMEA region increased by nearly 700% in 2023, resulting in losses totaling €552,199,741. Geofencing acts as a preventive measure against theft. Fleet managers can set up geofences around specific areas where assets are located. If a vehicle or asset leaves the defined area, an instant notification is sent, allowing for immediate action to prevent theft and save costs.
Is implementing geofencing complicated?
With the right setup, geofencing is easy to implement if broken into clear steps:
- Define the locations where geofencing will be applied. These may include customer delivery points, distribution centers, fuel stations or restricted areas where fleet vehicles should not enter.
- Set rules for when an asset enters or exits the chosen location. These can include sending alerts, logging events or automating tasks.
- Check if the geofencing system works properly. Adjust boundaries or notifications if needed.
- Activate geofencing and track performance. Use data to improve accuracy and efficiency.
Geofencing integration with fleet management systems
Geofencing integrates with existing fleet management systems by tracking vehicle whereabouts via GPS, wifi, cellular or RFID data. When a fleet reaches or leaves the boundaries defined on the system’s digital map, the software immediately sends an alert.
How does Webfleet use geofencing to improve fleet management?
Webfleet helps fleets track assets and reduce costs. In addition to the benefits mentioned, it provides data on asset usage, including current position, trip details, maintenance and automated reporting. This means you can monitor your entire operation from a user-friendly interface.
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