SpeedGauge Glossary

GPS Provider (aka AVL (Automatic Vehicle Location) or TSP (Telematics Service Provider)) - SpeedGauge provides service in partnership with GPS providers. Your Company is a customer of a GPS provider, and the data that your GPS provider collects on your vehicles is forwarded to SpeedGauge for analysis and reporting. The accuracy and configuration of the vehicle, speed, location, time, and driver data provided to SpeedGauge are the responsibility of your GPS provider.

Customer - the name of the company that is using SpeedGauge. Customer accounts are divided into Vehicle Groups for reporting purposes, and Customer-type users are associated with the Customer account.

Vehicle Group - a sub-fleet within your company. Depending on your GPS provider, you may create Groups manually in the SpeedGauge Safety Center, or they may be imported automatically from your GPS provider’s portal. SpeedGauge reports are configured by Group, and by default you have one unchangeable Group called All Vehicles which contains all of your company’s vehicles. Click here for more information about Vehicle Groups.

User - that’s you! Customer-type users (Customer Admin, Customer User, Customer View Only User) are associated with a Customer account, while Group-type users (Group Admin, Group User, Group View Only User) are associated with a particular Vehicle Group within a Customer Account. Users can access SpeedGauge charts and reports online, and, depending on their permissions, configure Report Settings, Vehicle Group membership, and user settings. Click here for more information about Users and Accounts.

Dashboard: Your Vehicle Groups - if you are a Customer-type user, this will be your main page on SpeedGauge. It contains the Speeding Frequency Trend - Group Comparison chart, links to the Report Archive and Vehicle List for each group, and, depending on your permissions, links to the Report Settings and Manage Users pages for each group, and the Rules Restrictions page for the Customer.

(Vehicle) Observation (aka Ping or Breadcrumb) - the data sent to SpeedGauge by your GPS provider. Observations include the vehicle’s location, speed, direction, and a timestamp. They may also include a driver ID and an odometer reading, depending on your GPS provider. If an Observation shows the vehicle traveling above the Speed Limit, it becomes a Speeding Incident. The frequency of your observations and the accuracy of their data is determined by your GPS provider. Learn more about observation frequency here.

Speed Limit - in SpeedGauge, the effective Speed Limit may be determined by several factors. By default it is simply the posted legal speed limit. Your company may have Custom or Geofence speed limits in place which override the posted limit according to your reporting needs. Vehicle Groups can also set a Speed Cap Limit for each Vehicle Type and Road Type. The Speed Limit displayed in reports is not necessarily the posted speed limit. If it is a Custom, Geofence, or Speed Cap Limit, this will be noted on the report.

Speeding Incident - when a vehicle is observed traveling above the Speed Limit and any applicable Thresholds, a Speeding Incident is generated. Speeding Incidents are collected in Incident Reports, and the percentage of Incidents out of the total Observations is found in the Summary Report as % Speeding. If Alerts are enabled for your account, an Incident may also generate a Real Time Alert.

Real Time Alert (RTA) - Alerts can be sent by email whenever a vehicle generates a Speeding Incident according to your Alert Thresholds. This enables safety managers to keep a closer eye on fleet behavior and to intervene immediately in the most extreme cases. To enable RTAs for your fleet, please contact your GPS provider. More information is available here.

Custom Speed Limit - if your company wishes to override the posted speed limit on a specific stretch of road, you can create a Custom Speed Limit zone. The Custom limit will be treated as the effective Speed Limit in SpeedGauge reports. More information is available here.

Geofence - to apply a custom limit over a wider geographic area, such as a transport yard or oil field, Customers can apply a Geofence. Geofence limits work in the same way as Custom Speed Limits but are not limited to a single continuous stretch of road. More information is available here.

Dashboard links and phrases

Rules Restrictions - if your company has any Custom Speed Limits or Geofences in place, they will appear here with reference numbers in case any changes are needed. This page is only available to Customer Admin users.

Speeding Frequency Trends - Group Comparison - this chart allows you to compare the performance of multiple vehicle groups over time. It shows a summary of the combined Speeding Frequency for each selected Vehicle Group plotted over the past 12 months or 12 weeks. Speed units, road type and other filters can be changed while viewing the chart, and its underlying data can be downloaded as a CSV or XLSX spreadsheet. Understanding trends and what they tell you about overall fleet performance will help you get the most out of the SpeedGauge Safety Center - please contact [e-mail] for coaching on how to use charts and reports together. Additional information about charts is available here.

Vehicle List - this page provides a list of all the vehicles in a given group, including the following fields:

• Reported Vehicle ID - the vehicle ID provided to SpeedGauge by your GPS provider.
• Vehicle Nickname - the vehicle name that will be displayed in SpeedGauge reports. Depending on your GPS provider, it may be imported automatically or it may be editable in the SpeedGauge portal.
• Vehicle Type - the legal classification for the vehicle in your jurisdiction. For example, Trucks may be subject to different speed limits than Cars. The Vehicle Type tells SpeedGauge which speed limit and Thresholds to apply to the vehicle.
• VIN - the vehicle identification number for a vehicle can be added on the Vehicle List page for reference.

Report Settings - the settings for an individual Vehicle Group. This is where you set email recipients, units, Thresholds, Speed Cap Limits, filters and Report Frequency. If your company has manual group creation, this is also where you manage the Group’s vehicles. It is also where you control your Alert Settings if Real Time Alerts are enabled. Configuring your settings is essential to getting the most out of the SpeedGauge Safety Center. Please contact [e-mail] if you have any questions about how to configure your settings.

• Report Emails - the email addresses where reports for the Group will be sent. More information.
• Units - speeds are reported in MPH or km/h. Depending on your location, you may have one or the other, or both. The units used in charts are determined by your account’s country. The units used in reports are set at the Group level.
• Report Retention Period - this setting tells SpeedGauge how long to save your scheduled reports in the Report Archive.
• Default Vehicle Type - tells us which Vehicle Type should be applied to vehicles as they are imported into a group.
• Threshold (or Speeding Threshold) - the forgiveness buffer over the Speed Limit which a vehicle is allowed to travel before generating a Speeding Incident. For example, if the limit is 65 MPH and there is a threshold of 5, a vehicle will need to travel 71 MPH before generating an Incident. Thresholds are set for each Vehicle Type and Road Type. 
• Road Type - SpeedGauge uses two road type classification systems: the older City/Highway system, and the newer Interstate/Non-Interstate system. Depending on your GPS provider, you may have one of these systems available, or both. City/Highway roads are determined by the posted speed limit - City roads are under 55 MPH (88 km/h), Highway roads are over 55 MPH (88 km/h). The newer Interstate/Non-Interstate system is based on road safety engineering, with Interstate covering all “controlled-access” roads with divided travel, on- and off-ramps and other safety features, while Non-Interstate covers all other roads. 
• Interstate/Non-Interstate - see Road Type
• City/Highway - see Road Type
• Speed Cap Limit - the maximum speed that the vehicle is allowed to travel. If this limit is violated, it will generate a speeding incident regardless of any Thresholds. 
• Incident Filter Interval - this setting causes SpeedGauge Incident Reports to display only the first Incident to occur within the Interval period. 
• Report Subscription Settings - this is where you configure reports based on frequency and type.
• Report Frequency - how often a report is generated: daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly.
• Report Type - the type of report: Incident or Summary. Reports are vehicle-based by default, but if your GPS provider includes driver information, you will see driver-based options here as well.
• Signature Block - included on individual incident maps, this provides a space for drivers and safety managers to sign off on a printout of the incident location after discussing a specific speeding event.

Manage Users - if you have the proper permissions, this page allows you to manage the Group-type users associated with a specific Vehicle Group.

User Types

• Customer Admin is the most senior user type in the SpeedGauge system for a company. This user can create Users and Vehicle Groups, assign permissions levels and adjust all Report Settings. Every company has at least one Customer Administrator. Some companies have more than one.
• Customer Users can manage Report Settings and Vehicle Groups and create Group Users. They cannot create new Customer Users or assign user permissions.
• Customer View Only Users can view charts and reports for every Vehicle Group in their company, but cannot create users or modify any Report Settings or Vehicle Groups.
• Group Admins can manage Report Settings and Vehicle Group membership for a single Vehicle Group. They can create Group Users and Group View Only Users for the Vehicle Group that they manage.
• Group Users can access and manage Report Settings for a single Vehicle Group. They cannot manage user settings for other users or create new users.
• Group View Only Users can view charts and reports for their Vehicle Group but cannot create or manage users, or modify any Report Settings or Vehicle Groups.

Report Archive - this page contains all of your scheduled reports going as far back as your Report Retention Period allows, as well as the Speeding Frequency Trend and Speeding by Vehicle charts for the group. Reports can be downloaded or viewed online. More information is available here.

• Speeding Frequency Trend - this chart shows a summary of the performance of a single Vehicle Group over time, plotting the Group’s overall Speeding Frequency over a 12 month or 12 week period. It is meant to provide a broad overview of fleet performance and does not apply the same filters and thresholds as Incident and Summary reports. 
• Speeding by Vehicle - this chart provides an overview of the relative performance of the vehicles in a given group by plotting the Speeding Frequency against the total Observations for each vehicle during the past week or month.
• Incident Search Tool - found with the Search Incidents by Vehicle/Driver links, this allows you to conduct a targeted search of incidents for a specific vehicle or driver within a relatively short period of time. It should be used to look up a specific event or to search out details that are filtered by your scheduled reports but cannot be used to replace scheduled Incident and Summary reports. If this is currently your primary method of retrieving SpeedGauge data, please contact [e-mail]. 
• Incident Report - a listing of Speeding Incidents during a report period showing the time, location and severity of events. It is filtered based on your Report Settings and is vehicle-based by default, although driver-based reports may be available. 
• Summary Report - a summary of vehicle or driver behavior during the report period. It shows the overall speeding percentage on each road type, as well as the time and location of the worst incident of the period. This report is the backbone of the SpeedGauge Safety Center and provides valuable insight into fleet behavior and speeding patterns within your company. 
• Key - this shows which letters correspond to each Vehicle Type in the Incident List below, as well as showing the Thresholds and any Speed Cap Limits used in the report.
• Period - the start and end dates and times for the Report.
• Incident List - a list of all Incidents in the report period. In Summary Reports this is a list of vehicles or drivers.
• Incident Map - this map shows all of the Incidents in the period.
• Time - the time of the Incident.
• Location - the location of the Incident. This link will open an individual Incident Map for the specific incident.
• Speed Limit - the speed limit that was violated by the vehicle - this is usually the posted speed limit but it may also be a Custom Speed Limit, Geofence speed limit, or Speed Cap Limit and will be marked accordingly.
• Actual Speed - the speed of the vehicle at the time of the Incident.
• Difference - the difference between the speed limit and the vehicle’s speed. This field enables the report to be sorted by the severity of Incidents.
• % Speeding (aka Speeding Frequency or Speeding Percentage) - the total number of Speeding Incidents for a vehicle, driver, or Group during the report period divided by the total number of Speeding Observations in the same period. Speeding Frequency allows you to compare drivers who drive different distances on different types of roads. A driver with 8 Speeding Incidents and 100 Observations is speeding proportionally the same as the driver with 80 Speeding Incidents and 1000 Observations. 
• Max Speed - the maximum speed the vehicle or driver was observed traveling on each road type during the report period.
• Worst Incident Date - the date of the worst Incident of the report period for each vehicle or driver.
• Distance Driven - the distance driven by the vehicle or driver during the report period, based on odometer data.