A geofence is a virtual boundary on a map. When a vehicle crosses in or out of that boundary, the system can fire an alert, log an event, or trigger an automated action. Used properly, geofences turn passive tracking into active fleet management.
The three common shapes
Circular geofences
A simple radius around a point. Best for customer sites, depots, fuel stations, and bus stops.
Polygon geofences
Custom-shaped boundaries that follow the actual outline of a property or zone. Best for warehouses, large compounds, and city zones.
Route corridors
A buffer along a planned route. Best for detecting deviations on long-haul or high-value cargo runs.
Five high-value use cases
1. Arrival and departure notifications
- Tell customers when a vehicle is approaching
- Time-stamp arrivals at job sites for billing
- Track employee attendance at remote sites
2. Unauthorised use detection
- Alert when a vehicle moves outside approved zones
- Flag after-hours or weekend movement
- Catch theft and personal-use abuse
3. Speed-zone management
- Lower speed thresholds in residential areas
- Enforce school-zone speed limits
- Slow vehicles in warehouse yards
4. Automatic status updates
- Mark deliveries complete on arrival
- Clock drivers in and out automatically
- Keep customer portals up to date in real time
5. Compliance and proof of service
- Confirm vehicles serviced every required location
- Measure time spent at each site
- Generate audit-ready reports
Best practices for designing geofences
Sizing matters
- Too small → false negatives, missed entries
- Too large → premature triggers far before arrival
- Rule of thumb → 50–100 m radius for standard accuracy
Naming conventions
Adopt a consistent style so dispatchers can scan a list quickly:
CUSTOMER-ABC-WarehouseDEPOT-MainZONE-NoGo-Industrial
Regular review
Geofences need maintenance. Customers move, sites close, new ones open. Schedule a quarterly review to:
- Remove obsolete fences
- Update relocated customers
- Resize fences that are firing too early or too late
Implementation tips
- Start with high-value locations — depot, top 10 customers, fuel stations.
- Test before enabling alerts — drive through each fence and confirm the trigger fires correctly.
- Train dispatchers on how to handle alerts, especially at night.
- Document the purpose of each geofence so the next person to inherit your dashboard knows why it exists.
Geofencing turns a map full of dots into a system that runs your operation. Request a demo and we will show you how to set up your first ten high-value geofences in under an hour.