Motive data export: getting ELD, GPS and video history out

What can you export from Motive?#

Motive, formerly KeepTruckin, typically holds several record families for a fleet: driver hours-of-service logs, GPS location history, engine and fault data, driver vehicle inspection reports, IFTA mileage, safety events and dashcam video. How much of each you can export, and how far back, depends on your plan, your retention settings and the tools your account includes.

Start with the report and download options in the dashboard, then ask your account team about bulk exports and API access on your plan. Read Motive's current documentation instead of relying on what another fleet managed to do, because features and plan limits change.

The reason to map exports carefully is that the families behave differently. Logs and reports are structured and compact. Video is large, is often kept only for a limited period and may need to be downloaded event by event.

Export map: record families and privacy flags#

The export map lists the main record families, the usual way to get each one out and the privacy flag it carries. Use it to plan the order of work and to brief counsel before any use beyond fleet operations.

Unassigned driving events and log edits are worth keeping even though they look like noise. They show where devices, drivers and dispatch disagreed, which matters in audits and in any later analysis of how logs are corrected.

Privacy flags: biometric, plate and location data#

Biometric, plate and location data are the three privacy flags that need decisions before any telematics history is reused. Each is collected for safety or compliance, and each can identify people who agreed to nothing beyond that purpose.

For most fleets the practical rule is simple: structured operational data can often be de-identified, while video and audio of people stay out of outside use unless counsel confirms a basis.

• 1Driver-facing video shows faces and may capture voices; if any feature analyzes facial geometry, biometric privacy laws such as Illinois BIPA may apply.
• 2In-cab audio raises recording questions under state laws, some of which require consent from all parties.
• 3Road-facing video records other vehicles' license plates, pedestrians and private property.
• 4GPS history for take-home trucks reveals drivers' home addresses and personal stops.
• 5Safety scores and coaching notes are performance records about identifiable employees or owner-operators.

Getting it out: an order of operations#

Getting data out of Motive works best in a fixed order, starting with the records you could lose soonest. Begin well before a renewal or cancellation date so there is time to check every export.

Check each export before moving on. Open a sample file from every date range, confirm that the rows and IDs look complete against the dashboard, and note any gaps in the manifest. Problems found after the account closes usually cannot be fixed.

• 1Read your agreement for data access after termination and any export assistance it offers.
• 2List the record families and date ranges your account holds, and note the retention settings for video.
• 3Download video tied to accidents, claims or open disputes first, and log each clip's event ID.
• 4Export structured reports in consistent date ranges, keeping driver, vehicle and event IDs.
• 5Use API exports where your plan allows them, through an admin account, with a written record of what was pulled.
• 6Store everything encrypted in company storage with a manifest of files, date ranges and export dates.
• 7Confirm the new telematics provider's import scope, since few providers take historical video.

Claims, litigation holds and record retention#

Claims and litigation holds come first because video tied to an accident can be evidence. If counsel or your insurer has issued a hold, preserve the relevant footage and data before anything else changes, and do not delete, trim or re-encode it.

Federal hours-of-service rules set the floor. FMCSA guidance says a carrier must keep each driver's records of duty status and supporting documents for six months from the date of receipt under 49 CFR 395.8(k)(1), keep a back-up copy of ELD records on a device separate from the original (49 CFR 395.22(i)), and store these records in a way that protects driver privacy. Six months is a minimum, not a limit, and insurers, customers or open claims may justify keeping more. Confirm the current text with your safety and compliance lead rather than relying on the provider's default retention, and write the period into your archive policy.

Inspection and repair records may also carry retention expectations under federal vehicle maintenance rules. Keep them next to the work orders from your shop or maintenance system so each vehicle's repair history stays complete.

Illustrative: a distributor's private fleet changes providers#

Illustrative: Bluewater Distribution, a fictional foodservice distributor, runs a private fleet on Motive and plans to switch telematics providers at renewal. The COO wants to keep years of logs, inspections and fault data for maintenance planning, and the risk manager wants claims footage preserved.

The team reads the agreement, lists open claims and downloads every clip linked to them first. It then exports logs, inspections, diagnostics and IFTA reports by quarter with vehicle and driver IDs, and stores them in encrypted company storage with a manifest. Driver-facing footage not tied to a claim is left to expire under the existing retention setting.

When the company later asks whether its maintenance and inspection history could interest AI developers, the scope is narrow by design: diagnostics, defects and repairs, with VINs and driver identities tokenized, and no video or location traces.

What is useful beyond the fleet, and how SourceX handles it#

The telematics records most useful beyond the fleet connect a signal to an outcome: a fault code to the repair that followed, a defect on an inspection to the work order that closed it, a late arrival to the reason recorded. Linked maintenance and inspection histories fit that pattern well.

SourceX reviews telematics records under the SourceX five-step transaction, with the Rights step covering the provider agreement, driver notices and the state privacy laws that may apply. Video and biometric data are generally out of scope, and the SourceX Evidence Packet records what was included and how it was prepared.