Samsara has launched its Commercial Navigation tool in Canada, saying it can help reduce wrong turns, overpass strikes and routing mistakes.

The launch comes as provinces face frequent bridge hits and other avoidable incidents, Samsara says, citing statistics that say Saskatchewan recorded four overpass strikes in less than a month in March, while British Columbia has logged more than 50 since 2023, including a case in which a driver struck a Vancouver overpass after following GPS onto a truck-restricted route.

Samsara said in a news release that its new platform addresses gaps in consumer navigation, noting that its commercial navigation system is designed specifically for fleets and provides turn-by-turn directions that factor in vehicle height, weight, length, and hazmat restrictions. Administrators can also create avoidance zones to keep drivers away from high-risk areas.

The company has integrated the tool directly into the Samsara Driver App and in-dash displays through Apple CarPlay, allowing drivers to access navigation and hours-of-service data in one interface rather than switching between multiple apps.

Using the Navigation Profile syncing feature, managers can assign and lock profiles across vehicles to prevent unauthorized changes. For mixed fleets, configurable vehicle profiles allow administrators to apply these specific routing restrictions across any asset type.

Samsara is also targeting what it calls the “last 500 feet” problem — the confusion drivers might face when approaching customer sites. The system can route trucks to designated facility entry points and provide details such as gate codes, check-in instructions and other site-specific notes.

Other features include fuel optimization tools. With the ability to input fuel card discounts directly into the Samsara Cloud Dashboard, fleets can now see accurate, discounted fuel prices along their routes. To proactively protect margins, automatic low fuel detection alerts drivers and suggests an optimized reroute to the nearest preferred vendor the moment fuel levels drop below a set threshold.