---
title: "Fleet Management & GPS Tracking with MQTT | ConnectMQ"
description: "Real-time fleet tracking over MQTT: trucks and vans publish GPS, CAN and driver data over cellular to your dispatch, TMS and ETA apps, with per-vehicle ACLs."
url: "https://connectmq.com/use-cases/fleet-management/"
language: "en"
---

Use case

# Fleet tracking that keeps up with the road

Telematics devices in trucks, vans and trailers publish GPS position, ignition, fuel or charge level, driver status and reefer temperature to ConnectMQ. Dispatch, your TMS, the workshop and customer ETA notifications all subscribe to the same live data.

[Try it free](https://app.connectmq.com/signup) [See pricing](https://connectmq.com/pricing/)

No card required

Used in

-   [Automotive](https://connectmq.com/industries/automotive/)
-   [Utilities](https://connectmq.com/industries/utilities/)
-   [Transportation & Logistics](https://connectmq.com/industries/transportation-logistics/)

Example message

PUBLISH fleet/dallas/truck-084/position

```
{"ts":"2026-10-22T06:31:44Z","lat":53.5511,"lon":9.9937,"speed_kmh":82,"heading":214,"ign":true,"fuel_pct":63,"driver":"D-1182"}
```

QoS 1 · TLS 8883 · PUBACK

The problem

## Dispatch is working from five-minute-old dots

Many fleets rely on a telematics vendor portal that refreshes slowly and keeps the data inside its own system. Getting positions into the TMS, ETAs to customers and fault codes to the workshop means scheduled API exports — and a mixed fleet with several tracker brands ends up in several portals.

## How it works

1.  1
    
    ### Trackers publish
    
    Each tracker or in-cab gateway publishes position, speed, ignition, fuel or state of charge and CAN/FMS data to its vehicle topic, adapting the rate to movement to save data.
    
2.  2
    
    ### Normalise a mixed fleet
    
    Devices that cannot publish MQTT directly go through your device gateway, which translates their protocol and publishes into the same topic tree — one format for every brand.
    
3.  3
    
    ### Systems subscribe
    
    Dispatch maps, the TMS, the maintenance system and the customer ETA service subscribe live to the vehicles and data they need.
    
4.  4
    
    ### Alert and instruct
    
    Threshold rules alert on overspeed, low fuel or reefer temperature, and dispatch publishes a new job or route to the vehicle’s command topic with QoS 1.
    

ConnectMQ

## What it needs from the broker

### Built for mobile networks

Lightweight packets, keep-alive and persistent sessions, so vehicles reconnect after dead zones and pick up queued jobs.

### Vehicle online state

Last Will and a retained status topic show which vehicles are connected right now and when each one was last seen.

### Per-vehicle security

Unique credentials and ACLs per vehicle; a subcontractor’s trucks can be limited to their own topics.

### Live view and alerts

The live dashboard and topic monitor show incoming positions, and threshold rules send notifications without a separate alerting service.

## What you get

-   Live positions in dispatch and the TMS, not in a separate portal
-   One data stream for a mixed fleet of tracker brands
-   Customers kept informed with ETAs based on live positions
-   Faults and reefer excursions reported while the vehicle is still on the road

Example topics

```
fleet/dallas/truck-084/position
fleet/dallas/truck-084/can
fleet/dallas/truck-084/reefer/temperature
fleet/dallas/truck-084/status          (retained)
fleet/dallas/truck-084/jobs
```

## Industries that run this use case

 [![](https://connectmq.com/images/industries/hero/automotive.webp) Automotive](https://connectmq.com/industries/automotive/) [![](https://connectmq.com/images/industries/hero/utilities.webp) Utilities](https://connectmq.com/industries/utilities/) [![](https://connectmq.com/images/industries/hero/transportation-logistics.webp) Transportation & Logistics](https://connectmq.com/industries/transportation-logistics/)

## Related solutions

[

### Fleet Telematics

Vehicle tracking, telematics and cold chain

Learn more](https://connectmq.com/fleet-logistics/)

## Frequently asked questions

Is MQTT good for GPS fleet tracking?

Yes. MQTT keeps one lightweight connection per vehicle, sends small messages over cellular and handles reconnects with persistent sessions. That makes it a common choice for sending positions and vehicle data from trackers to fleet and logistics applications.

How do I get data from my telematics devices into MQTT?

Many trackers and in-cab gateways can be configured to publish MQTT directly. For devices with proprietary protocols, a small device gateway or the vendor’s data forwarding feeds your own service, which publishes to ConnectMQ. Either way, your applications see one topic tree.

How much cellular data does MQTT fleet tracking use?

MQTT’s fixed header is only two bytes, so almost all the data is the payload itself. Compact JSON or binary payloads, publishing on movement instead of at a fixed rate and a sensible keep-alive keep monthly usage low; the exact amount depends on your reporting interval.

## Build it on ConnectMQ

Start on the Free plan — no card required — connect your first devices today and upgrade when you go live.

[Get started](https://app.connectmq.com/signup) [See pricing](https://connectmq.com/pricing/)

## More use cases

-   [Predictive Maintenance](https://connectmq.com/use-cases/predictive-maintenance/)
-   [Asset Performance Tracking](https://connectmq.com/use-cases/asset-performance-tracking/)
-   [Industrial Agentic AI Operations](https://connectmq.com/use-cases/industrial-agentic-ai/)
-   [Energy Management](https://connectmq.com/use-cases/energy-management/)
-   [Connected Vehicles](https://connectmq.com/use-cases/connected-vehicles/)
-   [EV Charging Management](https://connectmq.com/use-cases/ev-charging-management/)
-   [Remote Asset Monitoring](https://connectmq.com/use-cases/remote-asset-monitoring/)
-   [Tank Level Monitoring](https://connectmq.com/use-cases/tank-level-monitoring/)
-   [Smart Metering](https://connectmq.com/use-cases/smart-metering/)
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-   [Cold Chain Monitoring](https://connectmq.com/use-cases/cold-chain-monitoring/)
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-   [Hospital Equipment Monitoring & Tracking](https://connectmq.com/use-cases/medical-equipment-tracking/)
-   [Real-Time Notifications](https://connectmq.com/use-cases/real-time-notifications/)
-   [Smart Store Operations](https://connectmq.com/use-cases/smart-store-operations/)
-   [ATM & POS Terminal Monitoring](https://connectmq.com/use-cases/atm-pos-terminal-monitoring/)
-   [Telecom Network Equipment Monitoring](https://connectmq.com/use-cases/network-equipment-monitoring/)
-   [IoT Platform for Operators](https://connectmq.com/use-cases/iot-platform-for-operators/)
-   [Real-Time Market Data](https://connectmq.com/use-cases/real-time-market-data/)
-   [Agricultural Drones](https://connectmq.com/use-cases/agricultural-drones/)
-   [Greenhouse IoT Sensors](https://connectmq.com/use-cases/greenhouse-iot-sensors/)
-   [Data Center Monitoring](https://connectmq.com/data-centers/)
-   [Smart Irrigation](https://connectmq.com/smart-agriculture/)

## Articles

[All articles](https://connectmq.com/blog/)

Managed MQTT Cloud

### [How to Choose an IoT MQTT Broker: 12 Criteria and the Questions to Ask Your Vendor](https://connectmq.com/blog/how-to-choose-an-iot-mqtt-broker/)

A practical 12-point checklist for choosing an IoT MQTT broker, a table of questions to ask every vendor, and a five-minute hands-on test you can run against broker.connectmq.com.

September 21, 20269 min read

MQTT Fundamentals

### [MQTT QoS Levels Explained: QoS 0, 1 and 2 with Packet Flows and Examples](https://connectmq.com/blog/mqtt-qos-levels-explained/)

A practical guide to MQTT QoS: how QoS 0, 1 and 2 work on the wire, why the delivered QoS can be lower than you asked for, how sessions queue messages and which level to choose for each use case.

August 20, 20269 min read

MQTT Security

### [MQTT Security Best Practices: A 12-Point Checklist for IoT Teams](https://connectmq.com/blog/mqtt-security-best-practices/)

A hands-on MQTT security checklist covering TLS, credentials, client IDs, topic design, payload validation, rate limits and certificate checks, plus how ConnectMQ handles each point.

September 28, 202611 min read