Geotab has launched a new tool designed to help fleets investigate crashes, complaints, property damage, and other incidents without having to piece together information from multiple systems and sources.

Geotab Investigations brings telematics data and other evidence related to an incident into a single case file, giving safety, compliance, and operations teams a clearer picture of what happened before, during, and after an event.

Bringing Incident Information Into One Place

Investigating a fleet incident can require information from operations and safety teams as well as insurers and legal departments. Vehicle and driver data may be in one system, while photos, video, reports, emails and other documentation are stored elsewhere.

Geotab said Investigations is designed to reduce that manual work and help fleets resolve cases more quickly, while creating a consistent record that can be used for insurance claims, compliance reviews or legal proceedings.

“Fleet-related incidents have cost companies billions of dollars in litigation and reputational damage, largely because critical data remains siloed,” said Sabina Martin, vice president of product management at Geotab.

“Geotab Investigations changes this by turning raw data into a structured, defensible system of record, providing fleet managers with the intelligence to mitigate risk and the evidence to protect their drivers, operations and bottom line.”

Reconstructing What Happened

The system uses existing telematics data to reconstruct vehicle activity surrounding an incident. Users can search by location and time to identify vehicles that may have been involved, then review trips, speed events, driver behavior, and location information to build a timeline.

That can also help protect drivers when complaints or claims don't match the data by giving fleets objective information about where a vehicle was and what it was doing at the time.

Building a Complete Case File

Fleets can add supporting evidence — including notes, emails, reports, documents, photos and video — to the same case rather than maintaining those records separately.

Another feature is a structured workflow that tracks a case from opening through resolution and maintains an auditable record of the investigation. The combined information can then be used by operations, safety, insurance, compliance, and legal teams when reviewing an incident or making decisions about a claim.

Geotab cautions that Investigations is not intended to serve as an evidence-preservation or legal-hold system. Fleets are responsible for preserving evidence and meeting legal requirements, and should consult legal counsel when litigation is involved.