The best dash cam for semi truck

Truck dash cams are cameras installed on commercial trucks as well as semi-truck dashboards. These dashboard cameras can be either front-facing or both front-facing and driver-facing.

The primary objectives of these dashboard cameras are to improve truck and driver safety. Also, dashcam improves driver performance, and

Furthermore, fleets that adopt the use of dashcams can benefit from better visibility, enhanced fleet safety, and better driver accountability.

Dashcams for trucks and semi-trucks are often powered by the vehicles’ power systems. They may be switched on and off manually or automatically whenever the ignition switch is turned on.

With a pairing of dashboard cameras and fleet management systems, fleet managers may get a wider understanding of fleet safety. And this includes details such as fast acceleration, collision detection, hard cornering, hard braking, speeding, and so forth.

Types of Truck Dash cams

The following are the several types of dash cams that may be installed on commercial vehicles:

Front-facing Dash Cams

Front-facing dash cams are meant to improve visibility for fleet managers by capturing excellent footage of the road ahead through g-sensor.

The Front-facing dash cams can be mounted on the truck windshield in less time, giving truckers and fleet management a direct view of their fleet’s activities.

Some advanced front-facing dash cam employ sensors to detect incidents and immediately send video to the fleet manager.

Dual-facing Dash Cams

Dual-facing dash cameras record both inward as well as outward-facing video for a complete view of the road ahead and the vehicle.

The wide-angle lens of this dash cam, intended to boost driver behavior, provides clear pictures of in-cab activity and external surroundings.

And this allows fleet managers to spot negligent or unsafe driving fast. Later, this footage can be used as a starting point for driver coaching.

Are you concerned about driving at night? Take it easy.

A lot of dual-facing dash cameras, such as Samsara’s CM31 and CM32 dash cams, have an infrared LED for use in low-light conditions or on unlit roadways.

Multi-camera System

Multi-camera systems give a 360° view of every vehicle, assisting in the safety of drivers as well as their CDLs and this allows drivers to view the entire image of what’s beside and behind them.

And thus, reducing blind-spot crashes and increasing visibility into truck interiors.

Exterior Vehicle cameras

Exterior cameras can be put on the truck’s exterior to obtain a 360° view of the vehicle and its surroundings.

This camera is especially helpful when truckers are faced with blind spots and therefore need to make tight maneuvers or simply change lanes.

It might be difficult for a truck driver to see the wider picture, specifically while driving a large vehicle.

Exterior cameras record what drivers may not see, removing any doubt in the case of an accident or personal injury.

Other trucks or items behind the truck that could go undetected in the rearview mirror are captured by rear cameras, and side cameras capture an ultra-clear image of items besides the truck.

License plates are readily caught by any camera, allowing other drivers to be identified in the event of an accident.

Interior cameras

Interior cams record activities from the inside of a truck to keep truckers safe and increase cargo safety.

To help prevent vandalism or harassment in passenger transport vehicles, video is captured and stored.

Interior cams in trucks and trailers can help prevent or eliminate cargo theft by continually monitoring all in-cabin activities.

Key Features of Truck Dash Cams systems

When it comes to dash cams, there are numerous possibilities. Which one would be best for you and your company’s fleet?

Whatever option you prefer, make sure your dash cams capture high-quality footage that is accessible when you really need it.

When choosing the finest truck dash cam for your fleet, keep the following features in mind.

Video Quality

Sharp video quality is essential while examining your footage so that you can easily see and recognize people, objects, and clips.

When examining video footage, high video quality is essential.

Look for dash cameras with a wide-angle lens or full HD footage that has a wide dynamic range (WDR) for the best quality.

If you ever want the highest solutions powerful enough to read license plate numbers and determine whether eyes open or closed, choose FHD or HD 1080p video.

Storage

All of the fancy dash cam features would be for naught if the captured information isn’t accessible in the future.

Micro SD cards or memory cards with set storage limits or internet-connected dash cameras that automatically upload the video to the cloud, bypassing the need for manual recovery, are the two most common storage solutions.

Durability

The finest truck dash cam for semi-trucks and trailers ought to be high-quality and dependable.

This is very important especially if you’re engaged in accidents or lawsuits that would need government authorities, insurance providers, and others to investigate.

For example, heavy-duty dashcams and those with IP68 (waterproof and dustproof) casings are one of the best available options.

Ease of use

Dashcams for trucks are designed to help improve driving habits and enhance safety.

Truck dash cams should be simple to operate and undistracted, allowing truck drivers to concentrate on the road.

Internet Connectivity

Truck Dash Cam footage may be automatically uploaded to the cloud for future access via Wi-Fi or internet connections.

Therefore, choose a truck dash cam that has the ability to upload footage on the cloud.

Mounting and Installation

Truck Dash Cams may be mounted on the truck using a suction cup or adhesive. Adhesive attachments are a high-quality solution that may be installed quickly, easily, and securely.

The easiest truck dashcam to set up and install is one that is simple to use.

Reporting Capabilities

When establishing driver scorecards to assist your training, coaching, and incentives programs, reporting features should make it easy to retrieve key data and dashcam footage.

Smart Features

Some dashcams employ artificial intelligence (AI) to gather more detailed information and insights that may be used in coaching and other activities to help fleet drivers improve their driving habits.

Example of Truck Dashcams

Truck dash cams, help you improve your fleet’s safety and efficiency.

Investing in them protects your company’s assets and provides additional advantages.

Here are 7 of the best truck dash cam in the fleet management industry.

1. Smart Dashcam’s AI-technology from Motive (formerly Keep Truckin)

The Truck dash cam automatically detects and identifies risky driving behavior such as harsh braking, tailgating, and distraction.

This AI-technology Smart Dashcam from Motive (formerly keepTruckin) comes with some key features such as AI detection, DRIVE risk score, and real-time visibility.

Motive’s (formerly Keeptruckin) DRIVE risk score examines the video in its entirety.

Gives Insights to the Safety Hub in real time, where administrators may intervene to educate drivers and avoid accidents.

2. Samsara CM31 and CM32 Truck dash Cams

Dash cams from Samsara record driving incidents and instantly upload high-quality camera footage to the cloud.

It captured anything from unexpected braking to full-fledged crashes.

When this AI-powered platform identifies risky driving, it instantly alerts fleet managers, who may then take appropriate action.

The dash cams from Samsara give crystal-clear details into a fleet’s performance and reliability.

The following are some of the features of the Samsara dash cam system.

• Ai driven platform
• Submit footage of harsh events over the internet
• Capture High-quality video, especially in poor lighting conditions
• On-demand video retrieval for a maximum of 60 hours of driving time
• Plug-and-play setup that gets you started in minutes with a power cord that attaches directly to Samsara’s vehicle gateway

3. Multi-Cam Smart Dashcam from Teletrac Navman

Teletrac Navman HD dual and quad AI cameras are built on AI edge computing systems.

It records the entire driving time and shows front and driver-facing angles.

At night or in any poor-lighting situation, this infrared technology offers unrivaled clear video footage.

The truck dash cam comes with the following features.

• Receive immediate safety notifications for seat belt violations and events such as distracted or sleepy driving.
• Record and analyze all moments of driving time to ensure that only the most important situations are seen.
• With built-in GPS and LTE connection, fleet managers can view footage in real-time from anywhere.
• Multi-camera, AI engine, driver coaching, fraud prevention, and real-time warnings are just a few of the features available.

4. AI-Driven Verizon Connect Integrated Video

The Verizon Connect Integrated Video allows you to see the following on the computer or smartphone.

• Watch video events
• Learn who the driver is or how fast they were traveling
• Monitor the vehicle’s whereabouts in real-time using GPS tracking
• On the Verizon Connect fleet management platform, you’ll also receive an alert when a video is ready

The Verizon Connect Integrated Video enables fleet managers to get a near-real-time, 360-degree view of the fleet’s activities.

And this enables the company to save expenses, improve performance, keep track of vehicle repairs, and make the most out of every workday.

5. Rand McNally OverDryve 8 Pro

Rand McNally released an all-in-one truck dash cam device that features:

• Truck navigation
• SiriusXM radio
• Voice assistance
• Hands-free calling and texting

The OverDryve 8 Pro is also e-log ready, as part of Rand McNally’s OverDryve OS Connected Vehicle platform.

The device, which was designed exclusively for experienced drivers, combines important driving as well as business tools, in-cab entertainment, and hands-free safety improvements.

Other features are:

• 8” high-resolution screen
• Audible news, weather, traffic, sports, and more
• Music from drivers’ favorite sources
• A built-in dash camera
• Easy to install magnetic mount
• Navigation and routing with truck POIs, fuel logs, advanced lane guidance, and more

6. EzSmart Dash Camera System from ezlogz

In a nutshell, the EzSmart Truck dash cam is a one-of-a-kind high-tech tool with all of the required features

Aside from the basic functionalities, it has a slew of extra important features.

EzSmartCam was designed to capture real-time road incidents and driver behavior.

Due to its ability to connect via 3G/4G connections and the ability to function from Wi-Fi, the video captured is always accessible and viewed anytime, anywhere.

Computer vision and artificial intelligence are two more amazing features of the device. As a result, the camera is used to capture abrupt acceleration, harsh braking, and even tight turns independently.

The device transmits data about the road accident to fleet management when necessary.

7. Dash Cam 66W from Garmin

The 66W is a decent standalone dash cam with numerous functions.

It has GPS built-in, but it’s more for watermarking recordings with locations and speed than for a full-fledged navigation system.

The Garmin 66W dashcam records in 1440p at 30 frames per second, and you may drop the resolution to 1080p to elevate the frames per second to 60.

It has one of the broadest lens angles of any dash cam on the market, at 180 degrees (most are about 150° to 160°).

When deployed in a large semi-truck, this may be quite handy.

Also, the 66W dash cam has a voice control function.

When you say “OK, Garmin,” you can encrypt a video file, snap a photograph, or activate an audio recording, which might be essential if you are stopped over by the cops.

Important Benefits of Truck Dash Cams

Truck Dash cameras are being mounted on commercial trucks, passenger vehicles, and even motorbikes for a variety of reasons, including business and personal security.

Here are the top 5 reasons to set up a truck dash cam in your fleet trucks.

There are several benefits to having a truck dash cam on board, but we will focus on the five most important ones here.

Video Evidence

The most apparent reason why some people and companies install dash cameras in their trucks is for this reason.

If an accident happens and you have a video of it, you benefit from showing the government officials what transpired and who was (or wasn’t) to blame.

Efficient Vehicles Tracking

A truck dash cam system installed in fleet trucks may be tremendously beneficial to a fleet company.

Several insurance firms are presently offering discounts or outright mandating truck dash cameras’ installation to obtain insurance coverage.

Consider this… if you have a fleet of trucks and a stringent policy against drivers using a cellphone while driving;

How can you enforce this policy without even being personally there in every vehicle, with your drivers?

Surely, this is unfeasible without a dash cam. You’ll be able to simply observe who is and isn’t complying with corporate policies if you use technology.

Help Stop Fraud

Unfortunately, there are several unscrupulous vehicle drivers on the road that prey on the innocent. These drivers purposefully cause accidents and then claim that the other driver is to blame in order to collect insurance money.

By mounting a dash cam on your fleet vehicles, your driver will be able to capture their trip and if they come across these types of drivers, you will be able to readily establish that the collision was caused by the other party.

Therefore, these insurance scams will not affect you or your driver. As a result, fleet managers will be confident that driver’s trips are safe and the business will be more efficient.

Drivers Coaching and Training

Truck dash cams are used to further train fleet drivers and optimize fleet safety as well as coaching. Dashcams would help fleet managers keep an eye on inexperienced drivers or those under training to improve their driving skills and this makes driver training a whole lot easier.

Even if you’re not personally there in the vehicle, you can view exactly what your driver sees when they’re behind the wheel. As a result, you may discover your driver’s bad driving patterns from the transmitted video session.

You may also use past truck dash cam recordings to demonstrate prior driving mistakes and instruct your drivers on how to avoid such incidents.

Lower Insurance Premium Rates

Installing truck dash cams shows insurance companies that a fleet company cares about the safety of the fleet.

Dashcam system enhances driving habits and fleet safety while lowering the risk of accidents.

As a result, when you install a truck dash cam on a trailer or semi-truck, many insurance companies offer discounts and lower rates.

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About the author

Robert Rigman

Former independent OTR trucker that left the road to dedicate his time to research new technology for the transport industry. When the ELD Mandate was approved many questions and daily challenges came up and there was no answer to them. ELDdevices.net was born from the combination of my passion for trucking and my affinity for research and writing.

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