Clue vs Trackunit
Compare Clue and Trackunit to see how GPS telematics stacks up against one platform connecting equipment, maintenance, jobs, and costs in a single live view.
Platform Capabilities Overview
| Feature / Capability | How it works (The Workflow) | Clue | Trackunit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Equipment / Asset Tracking | Track all owned, rented, and leased assets across jobsites with full lifecycle history. | ✔Owned, rented, leased -- full lifecycle | ✔Powered and non-powered equipment plus small tools via BLE -- construction and rental fleet tracking |
| GPS / Telematics | Real-time GPS location, engine hours, and movement history from OEM and third-party devices. | ✔OEM + third-party hardware | ✔Real-time GPS and engine hours via Trackunit hardware -- Iris platform unifies OEM and third-party telematics data |
| Work Orders | Create, assign, and close maintenance and repair work orders with parts and labor tracking. | ✔Full WO lifecycle with parts, labor, photos | ✖No native work order management with parts and labor tracking -- Trackunit is a telematics platform, not a CMMS |
| Preventive Maintenance (PM) | Schedule recurring maintenance based on hours, mileage, calendar dates, or custom intervals. | ✔Hours, miles, calendar -- multi-trigger PM | ✔PM alerts by runtime hours, calendar, and mileage -- maintenance notifications via the Trackunit platform |
| Parts & Inventory | Manage spare parts, set reorder points, and link parts consumption to work orders. | ✔Parts catalog, reorder alerts, WO linkage | ✖No parts or inventory management |
| Inspections | Digital pre-trip and custom inspections with photo, video, and defect capture. | ✔Photos, video, custom forms, defect logging | ✔Digital inspection forms via Trackunit On operator app |
| Fuel Management | Track fuel consumption per asset, flag excessive usage, and log fuel fills from the field. | ✔Fuel logs, idle fuel tracking, consumption per hour | ✖No confirmed fuel management or fuel card integrations |
| Dispatch / Scheduling | Assign assets and crews to jobsites, plan deliveries, and manage daily schedules. | ✔Drag-and-drop dispatch with calendar view | ✖No dispatch or crew scheduling module |
| Fault Codes / Diagnostics | Receive DTC fault codes from connected equipment and route them to work orders automatically. | ✔OEM fault codes with alerts and repair workflow | ✔OBD-II and J1939 fault code monitoring via connected hardware -- no automatic work order creation |
| Idle Time & Cost Tracking | Flag excessive idling, calculate idle fuel cost, and surface by asset or jobsite. | ✔Idle alerts with dollar cost per hour | ✔Idle time tracking with configurable alerts and utilization reporting |
| AI-Powered Features | AI recommendations for maintenance scheduling, reporting, and fleet optimization. | ✔AI report builder, smart PM recommendations | ✖No confirmed AI features -- platform strength is open API and OEM data aggregation, not AI analytics |
| OEM Telematics Integration | Pull live telematics data directly from OEM APIs -- Cat, Komatsu, Deere, Volvo, and more. | ✔30+ OEM integrations via direct API | ✔100+ OEMs via Iris platform and AEMP 2.0 -- one of the broadest OEM connectivity ecosystems available |
| ERP / Accounting Integration | Sync asset data, job costs, and work orders with ERPs like Vista, Spectrum, and Foundation. | ✔Vista, Spectrum, Foundation, HCSS, and more | ✖No confirmed out-of-box integrations for Vista, Spectrum, Foundation, or HCSS -- Iris API enables custom integrations |
| Mobile App | Field crews use mobile to log inspections, fuel, defects, and hours from any device. | ✔iOS & Android -- offline mode | ✔Two iOS & Android apps -- Trackunit Go (managers) and Trackunit On (operators) |
| Offline Mode | Continue capturing data in areas without cell coverage -- sync automatically when reconnected. | ✔Offline mode -- inspections, timecards and dailies work without signal | ✖Offline mode not confirmed in public documentation |
| Reporting & Analytics | Pre-built and custom reports on utilization, costs, downtime, and fleet performance. | ✔Custom reports + AI-generated insights | ✔Fleet utilization, uptime, idle, and equipment performance reports via Trackunit Manager |
| Custom Dashboards | Build role-specific dashboards for managers, dispatchers, and executives. | ✔Drag-and-drop widgets per role | ✔Customizable dashboards for fleet and equipment managers |
| Job Costing / Cost Codes | Assign equipment hours and costs to project cost codes for accurate job financials. | ✔Cost codes linked to assets and WOs | ✖No construction job costing or cost code mapping |
| CO2 / Emissions Tracking | Estimate carbon emissions per asset and project to support sustainability reporting. | ✔Emissions estimates by asset and fleet | ✖No confirmed CO2 or emissions reporting |
| SMS / Text Alerts | Push critical alerts -- fault codes, PM due, idle thresholds -- via SMS, push, or email. | ✔SMS + push + email alerts | ✖Email and in-app alerts -- SMS not confirmed |
| Direct SQL Access | Ability to query raw database for specialized custom reporting and data exports. | ✔Available for enterprise customers | ✖ |
| Implementation Time | Time from contract to having live data and active users in the system. | ✔Days -- guided onboarding, no hardware install required | ✖Hardware must ship and activate before data flows -- implementation timeline not published |
| Training & Onboarding | Structured onboarding with dedicated support to get your team productive fast. | ✔Dedicated CSM + in-app training | ✔Structured onboarding with dedicated support team and training resources |
| Customer Support | Ongoing live support from a team that knows construction fleet operations. | ✔US-based support + dedicated success team | ✔Construction and rental industry support team with strong user reviews |
| Construction-Specific | Built for the workflows of heavy civil and specialty construction -- not adapted from another industry. | ✔Purpose-built for construction fleets | ✔Built exclusively for construction and equipment rental -- not a general fleet platform |
| Open API | REST API access so you can connect Clue data to your own BI tools, ERP, or custom apps. | ✔Full REST API with documentation | ✔Iris REST + GraphQL API -- one of the most open and developer-friendly APIs in the construction telematics space with 100+ OEM connections |
* Trackunit has the broadest OEM telematics ecosystem in the industry -- the Iris platform connects 100+ OEMs via AEMP 2.0 and is built exclusively for construction and rental. Where it falls short for heavy civil contractors: no work order management with parts and labor, no fuel management, no dispatch, no job costing, no construction ERP integrations for Vista, Spectrum, Foundation, or HCSS, and no AI-powered maintenance recommendations. Clue combines the same OEM telematics breadth with a full CMMS, construction ERP integrations, fuel management, and job costing -- in one platform without needing a custom API build.
Clue
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Trackunit Overview
Trackunit is a telematics platform that connects equipment using GPS hardware. Teams use it to track location, monitor utilization, and see activity like run time and idle time across mixed fleets.
How It Compares to Clue
Both Trackunit and Clue support location tracking, utilization reporting, and fleet visibility. The difference is what you do with that data day to day.
Trackunit is telematics first. It helps teams connect equipment, standardize signals, and monitor where assets are and how they are being used across sites.
Clue uses telematics data inside equipment operations. It connects engine hours and fault signals to inspections, preventive maintenance, and work orders, and ties equipment usage back to jobs and costs so teams can manage fleet performance, not just track it over time.
Where Clue May Be a Better Fit
Clue is a real-time construction asset tracking platform built to connect equipment activity, maintenance, jobs, and costs into one operational view.
